Maple Syrup Biscuits

Posted on by Jessica Boone

Biscuits Baked in Maple Syrup and Butter

 

Maple Syrup Biscuits

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 cups Vermont maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 Tbsp. butter

Directions: 

  1. Sift dry ingredients together. Cut in shortening. Stir in milk. Form into ball. Roll or pat dough to 1/2″ thick and cut using a cookie cutter.
  2. Mix syrup, water and butter, place in 9″ x 9″ pan. Heat to near boiling in a 400 degree oven, place biscuits on top and bake in 400 degree oven until brown. Put a pan underneath it in case it boils over.
  3. Serve hot or cold. When serving, flip the biscuit upside down and pour the maple sauce in the pan over it.

Credit: 1998 Vermont Maple Festival Cookbook

Farm News! Savoring Summer While We Can!

Posted on by Jessica Boone

This morning I slipped on a long sleeved shirt before heading to work – just a reminder to savor summer as much as I can. We still have plenty of hot days left this season so try the” Vermonter ” – a yummy maple milkshake! My other summertime favorite is Maple Mint Sun Tea. Refreshing but not too sweet! Recipe coming soon! Here’s a quick rundown on farm news this summer!

We Love Visitors!

This summer we’ve been working on cleaning up the farm and the sugarhouse – it’s it crazy how fast piles accumulate?! We’re in the process of creating a 3rd camp site – this one to make it easier for even the largest RV’s to park here. Did you know you can stay at the farm? We use both Hipcamp and Harvest Host. We love having visitors!

Forest News

Now that nesting season is over for the migratory songbirds, we have begun cutting a small section of woods between our place and Dad’s. The goal is to add 2-300 more taps. We lost a lot of taps (and trees) from the tent forest caterpillars a few years ago so we need to add on a few. The trees being cut will primarily become firewood with a few logs that we can sell to the local mills. The remaining trees will have more room to expand and grow. Our cutting procedures are in line with recommendations from our forester in accordance with our forest management plan. We are consciously working to maintain a healthy eco system while we produce high quality maple syrup!

Farm News

The toils of Springtime are paying off – we’ve had an abundant crop of blueberries 🫐 – love Blueberry Muffins with Maple Crumb topping! The veggies are coming fast now and canning and freezing will begin this week. The meat birds are processed and in the freezer. The layers are in full production. I also seem to have an abundant crop of pet call ducks 🤔. At least they’re cute!

Mind Your Beeswax! (And your bees!)

The bees are doing great this year! We did have a period where I stayed away from them – the wild fires from out west affected our air quality and the poor bees were upset. They told me so one day – 41 times – yes I got stung 41 times while requeening one of my hives. Luckily only one bothered my on my hand – the rest were gone within days! This year I successfully requeened a hive and I’ve created 2 “nucs”. A nuc is a new colony of bees that will become a production hive next year if they make it though the winter. I’m using local queens to create a hardy bee colony that’s adapted to the farm. Currently in at 3 production hives and 2 nucs and an ongoing learning experience. Bees are fascinating creatures- the more I learn the more amazing they become!

 

Cherry Pie

Posted on by Jessica Boone

 

Bright red fresh tart cherries + maple sugar = yummy cherry pie!

My cherry trees produced really well this year so I wanted to enjoy the bounty.  I love the contrast of tart cherries and maple sugar.  I don’t have a cherry pitter so I used a chop stick to remove the pits (although another year I may invest in a manual pitter).  I use maple sugar in my pies – you substitute 1:1 white to maple in any recipe you use.  The tart cherries are balanced by the sweet maple sugar.

 

 

For 9-inch Two Crust Pastry

 

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup shortening
  • 6-7 Tablespoons ice cold water

Combine the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening using a pastry blender or food processor on “pulse.”Combine lightly until the mixture resembles course meal or really tiny peas.Sprinkle water over the mixture 1 Tbsp at a time and mix lightly with a fork or your hands.(If you used a food processor, transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl before adding the water.)

Cherry Filling

  • 2 cups Fresh cherries – pitted
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 cup Maple Sugar
  • 2 tablespoons tapioca
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
In a saucepan combine all the listed ingredients except butter. Stir gently. Bring to a boil and cook 3-5 minutes or until it begins to thicken. Prepare pie crust first and place bottom pastry in pie dish.  Pour in filling, dot with butter and add top crust. Crimp the edges.  Cut slits in crust.  Bake at 425* for 45 mins or until filling bubbles and crust is lightly browned.

   Best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream sprinkled with maple sugar