Ahpú's gringo name is Hunter Bennett. He was adopted and grew up an American kid in Pennsylvania maple sugar country. He didn’t get this recipe from his mom Helen, but found it in a story called Maple Candy, published in the Backbone Mountain Review, a little Appalachian magazine.

Start with 2 cups maple syrup.
Measure the point where water boils with a candy. thermometer and heat the syrup to 32° F above this temperature.
Take the syrup off the heat.
Add the butter you can hold on the tip of a knife.
Stir slowly with a wooden spoon 3-4 minutes.
When the clear syrup turns cloudy pour into molds.

Coming up: Canadian maple pie! This recipe Ahpú brought back after visiting the monastery St. Benoit du Lac!

While Ahpú harvests maple sap, his brother Celio harvests copal sap in Guatemala. Celio's sacred pom incense is used in the fire ceremony to close the distance between heaven and earth. Here, on the painted dome ceiling of a gazebo in Comolapa, next to Celio's market stall, the four races of men are created on the Witz Mountain. There are the black corn people, the yellow corn people, the white corn people and the red corn people.

Canadian Maple Pie

Blend these ingrediants together with a hand mixer:

• 2 cups grade A amber maple syrup
• half cup light cream
• quarter cup melted butter
• quarter cup flour, presifted
• quarter cup sugar
• 4 eggs

When thoroughly blended, pour the mixture into a 9 inch pie shell. I like to fold over a piece of aluminum foil and tear a hole in it, so that the unfolded foil covers the edges of the crust and not the center. Bake with this foil covering for 30 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven, then remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes.

Helen Bennett's Ham Glaze

Take one cup of dried cranberries and add water until they're just covered, then let them sit overnight in the refrigerator. If you wait to the last minute and try to boil them, the glaze will be thin and dark as opposed to thick and red and beautiful. Of course if you're lucky enough to be making this in November, you can use fresh berries and gel them by boiling in water and sugar in the usual manner.

Drain the berries thoroughly and set the juice aside. Chop finely in a food processor, then add one quarter cup Grade A amber maple syrup, and two tablespoons of dark mustard. Mom uses german mustard in deference to our german speaking Amish neighbors in this part of Pennsylvania. If you like your glaze thinner, add back some juice.

Cut the top of the ham in parallel slices about a quarter inch apart. Bake at 325 degrees with a meat thermometer. It will be done when the ham is 140 degrees at the center. Baste with glaze over the final half-hour -- for an eight pound ham you want to start basting after an hour, sooner for a smaller ham.

Reverend Joe Whitaker's Apple Pie

There’s not much room in the Church of the Living Waters Ministry, and this pie mixes right in the piecrust. The Reverend Joe Whitaker, who has little concrete angels in the grass around his trailer church, cuts the vent in the top crust to look like one of the heavenly messengers.

Fill a 9 inch pie crust with big apple chunks until it’s piled up like a dome – about 6-7 medium apples. Joe uses Granny Smith. Cut a half stick of butter (4 tbsp) into thin chips and spread them around on top of the apples. Sift a half cup of flour over this, sprinkle with 1 tspn ground cinnamon and ¼ tspn ground nutmeg, and then pour 1 cup of maple syrup over all of it.

Cut the vent in the top crust and cover, folding the two crusts over at the edge and pinching together. Bake in a preheated 375° F oven. Bake for the first 30 min with the crust edges foil covered, like with the Canadian maple pie, then cook uncovered for another 20 min or until the crust is golden brown, or as we say in maple country, a nice amber.

This pie is nice because it’s not too sweet, amazing considering Reverend Joe’s legendary sweet tooth.

Hunter's 1-skillet breakfast

Hunter invented this simple recipe one morning in the Great Smoky Mountains with snow falling in the pan. He and two college friends, Sasha, the singer, and Jeff, who collected investor grade diamonds, had driven through the mountains the night before. More accurately, Jeff drove and Hunter walked, since Jeff’s chains wouldn’t stay on the tires and Hunter had to jog alongside in the snow putting them back on every couple hundred yards. Hunter was in awe of his friends, who had more money than he’d ever seen. Even after Jeff got mad at him because Sasha said Hunter had a really nice sleeping bag, he and Jeff were still buddies.

Anyway, the next morning they were cold and sore and had a lot more bottled beer than food, and Hunter put most of what they had into the skillet. He’s been making this ever since.

Quarter stick butter
Eight eggs
Quarter cup milk
Half cup rolled oats (not the instant kind)
Dash (or two) on nutmeg (brought along to make Painkillers)
Scramble all the ingredients together and when ready, put a big blob of maple syrup in the center of the plate and serve the eggs and oats over it.

Maple-pecan cookies

Maple cookies are a tradition in this part of Pennsylvania. This is my mom’s recipe. What I like about it is the way it’s like a pecan cookie when you bite into it, but then it gives you this nice maple aftertaste.

Mix together 1 cup (2 sticks) of softened butter, 1 cup of brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1 cup of maple syrup (Grade-A amber) and 1 cup of pecan chips. In another bowl sift 4 cups self-rising flour, 2 tspn baking powder and ¼ tspn salt. Combine the two mixtures and stir until thoroughly blended into cookie dough. Spoon out balls of dough about 1 and ¼ inches round, 12 on a cookie sheet, and bake in a preheated 350° oven for 10 minutes. The recipe will make about 70 cookies.

Brother Bartholomew's Orange-Maple Scones!

Brother Bartholomew teaches philosophy at St. Boniface’s College. He brought this recipe from his home monastery in West Sussex, England. I knew the British loved the citrus from their old colonies, with their orange marmalade and lemon curd, but the Maple surprised me. Then Bartholomew reminded us that the queen’s portrait is still on the money in Canada.

Sift together 3 ½ cups flour, 2 Tbs. baking powder, ½ tspn. baking soda, 1 tspn. salt and 2 Tbs. sugar. Cut in ½ cup (1 stick) butter and ½ cup shortening.

In a separate bowl, mix ½ cup buttermilk, ½ cup real maple syrup, 1 egg, 2 tspn. maple extract and 1 tspn. grated orange rind. I like to cut the orange with a knife and also give it a squeeze over the bowl. Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients and work the dough together with both hands, then set it in the fridge while you preheat the oven (400° F), grease a couple of cookie sheets and eat the orange.

I like to separate the dough into 4 softball size pieces and roll them out on a floured surface until about ¾ inches thick. Cut it into squares or rectangles 2-3 inches on a side and set them out on the cookie sheets, brush the tops with heavy cream and sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar. Bake at 400° for about 12 min.

Allegheny Highland Buckwheat Cakes

June 2008, and the Pennsylvania Laurel Ridge is covered in white Mountain Laurel like snow. My mother, Helen, made buckwheats this morning, and we passed them around with syrup from our maple camp. Like a lot of things in this part of Pennsylvania, buckwheat came over with the Germans. Gray and gritty, it makes the best pancakes on the planet. If that isn’t reason enough to try these gray puppies, buckwheat has the most perfect amino acid makeup of all the cereal grains. Local fire company buckwheat suppers are traditional fundraisers here in the highlands. They’re not all as big as the Knights of Columbus dinner in Ohiopyle in October, but they’re all delicious.

Sift together 2 cups buckwheat flour, 1 cup white flour, 2 rounded tablespoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/3 cup sugar. Stir in 3 cups buttermilk, 2 beaten eggs, and 1/3 cup vegetable oil. Baked on a hot griddle, these buckwheat cakes are the perfect companion with Grade-A amber pure maple syrup.

The buttermilk is my mom’s variation on the traditional recipe using 2 and ½ cups regular milk. The recipe makes about 25 pancakes.

Brother Barty's Maple Bread Pudding!

This is another recipe from Brother Bartholomew, or at least based on his bread pudding recipe. Of course at Saint Boniface’s, Barty uses bread from the old mill where flour is ground between millstones and sold to make money for the monastery. I use Italian bread and slice it into ‘crumbs’ a quarter to a half inch square. Although I think bread pudding was invented as a way to use stale bread, fresh Italian bread makes really good pudding.
Start with 4 cups of crumbs, pressed down a little, and spread out in a 2 quart casserole. Stir in a melted half-stick (4 Tbs.) of butter, then cover with 2 cups of whole milk and let it soak while the spices and eggs are mixed together.
Combine 4 eggs, 1 tspn. of maple extract, ¼ cup sugar, ½ tspn. nutmeg, 2 tspn. cinnamon, and ½ cup raisins. Beat the mixture until well blended.
Pour 1 cup of pure maple syrup into the soaking breadcrumbs and stir. Then pour the eggs-spice mixture over of the crumbs more or less evenly. Do not stir. Bake the casserole in a preheated 350° oven for 50 minutes. Near the end of the cooking time, your kitchen will start to smell like maplecamp during the boiling down. This is one of my favorite deserts. – Hunter.

Maple Cornbread

Combine 1 cup of cornmeal and 1 cup sifted flour, ½ tspn. salt, 1 Tbs. sugar and 1 Tbs. baking powder. Combine separately ¼ cup melted butter, 2 beaten eggs, ½ cup milk and ½ cup maple syrup. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and stir, and then pour into a greased 9 inch square baking pan. Bake in a preheated 425° oven for 20 minutes, until a knife comes out clean.

Maple-Apricot Chutney!

This thick chutney is spicy, but still sweet enough for desert or breakfast. Start with 2 pounds of dried apricots. All chopped up this comes to about 3 pints. Add water until just covered and put them in the refrigerator overnight.

Drain the apricot pieces the next day, saving the water. If there isn’t a full cup, add water up to the one cup line. In a large saucepan combine:

• 1 cup apricot water
• 1 and ½ cup pure maple syrup
• 1 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 and ½ cup raisins
• All the apricot pieces
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 Tbs. grated fresh ginger
• 1 Tbs. mustard seed
• ½ tspn. nutmeg
• 1 tspn. ground coriander

Simmer the mixture until thick, enjoying the wild aromas that fill the kitchen with the steam, and pour into 8 prepared, sterilized canning jars. Add seals and process for 10 minutes in boiling water. It’s delicious fresh and chilled, and for the first couple of months the flavor will just keep getting better in the jars!

Perfect Maple Fudge

Blend the following ingredients in a 1 ½ quart saucepan:

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup white (granulated) sugar
• 1 cup real maple syrup
• 5 fl oz (1 small can) evaporated milk
• 1 Tbs. light corn syrup

A regular saucepan works fine, but if you use a pan with the same diameter, about 6 ½ inches, and high walls, it’s easier to keep the fudge from boiling over and filling your stove-top with hot syrup. Keep a pastry brush nearby in a cup of water. Stir the mixture while bringing it to a boil over medium heat. If it splashes up on the side of the pan, use the pastry brush to wipe the splashes back down into the pan. This keeps sugar granules from building up that could end up in the fudge, making it grainy. When the mixture begins to boil, cover the pan.

After five minutes of boiling, uncover the pan and place a candy thermometer into the mixture. Continuing boiling until the temperature rises to 240° F., and then remove the pan from the heat. Let the mixture cool to 110-120° F. Don’t stir during the boiling or cooling. It’s OK to place the pan on an oven rack or marble slab to speed the cooling, or even in a shallow pan or water. When cool, add:

• 1 Tbs. butter
• 1 tspn. real vanilla
• ½ tspn. maple extract

At this point the mixture will be thick and smooth. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for 20 minutes, then pour into a buttered 8-inch baking pan. Don’t scrape the side of the pan after pouring. This can also increase graininess. Let the fudge cool at room temperature.

Sandi's Maple Biscotti!

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups flour
• 1 tspn. baking powder
• 3 eggs (slightly beaten)
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 1tspn. maple extract
• ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350°. Mix the flour and baking powder together, then add the eggs. Add the maple syrup and extract. Mix together until it forms a stiff dough, adding more flour if necessary. Form the dough into two logs, about 3-4 inches wide and 12 inches long. Place the logs on a baking sheet about three inches apart. Bake until slightly brown and firm, about 30 minutes. Take the logs out of the oven, and reduce the oven temperature to 325°.  Let the logs cool about 15 minutes, then cut them diagonally into biscotti pieces about 1 inch thick. Lay the pieces back onto the baking sheet, and put it back into the oven for about 15 minutes to harden the biscotti. The recipe makes about 20 biscotti, great for dipping in coffee or tea.  Biscotti will last for about two weeks if you store them in an airtight container.

Maple Coconut Custard

This is a recipe I remembered my mom making once when I was little, but when I asked her about it, she didn’t remember it at all. I tried putting something together to match the memory I had in my taste buds, and I almost got it right on the first try. Unfortunately, everything I tweaked in the recipe after that first attempt left me with little custard dishes of goo. I think that I finally got it right, but a lot of chickens sacrificed a lot of eggs to get us to this point.

Before starting, preheat the oven to 325° F and put a full kettle of water on to boil. Set out 6 glass custard cups in a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.

Combine in a mixing bowl:

• 10 large eggs
• 1 cup of coconut milk (well shaken)
• Pinch of salt
• ½ cup of maple syrup (grade B if you can get it)
• ½ cup sugar

Beat the ingredients together with a whisk. When the mixture is fully blended and the kettle is boiling, ladle the egg mixture into the custard cups. Quickly pour the boiling water into the baking dish so that it comes halfway up the sides of the cups, then put the entire pan into the preheated oven.

Remove after 45 minutes and sprinkle with ground nutmeg.

Cranberry Maple Pecan Granola

This recipe came from a friend and now finds its way to the maplecamp. Delicious for breakfast, it also serves as high-carb, high-energy snack food for long days tapping and cutting hay, and would be a perfect trail food.

Preheat your oven to 325° F, and then combine in a large bowl:

• 4 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats (not instant)
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup shelled, raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds--sunflower seeds can be substituted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 Tbs. orange zest

Combine and whisk together in a small bowl:

• 1/2 canola oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup water

Pour the oil mixture over the oat mixture and stir to combine, then spread the granola on a 12 x 17 inch pan.  Bake at 325° until it begins to brown, about 25 minutes, and then stir. Bake another 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Stir the granola at least one more time as it bakes and watch it carefully during the final minutes because it can burn quickly. Cool for about 20 minutes.

Add:

• 1 cup dried cranberries

Stir to combine, and transfer to an airtight container when completely cooled.  The granola can also be frozen. An added bonus with this recipe is the delicious odor filling your kitchen as it is baking!

Carrots and Parsnips with Maple-Caraway Glaze

This began as a ‘what’s in the pantry?’ side-dish, a glaze poured over carrots from our garden and parsnips from Amish neighbors. Start with the maple glaze and let the caraway and ginger steep while the vegetables are prepared.

Place 1/3 cup maple syrup in a small sauce pan and stir in 1/2 tspn. caraway seeds and 1 tspn. ground ginger. Bring to an early boil – so the little cloud of frothy bubbles just starts to form – then stir, cover and remove from the heat.

Peel 5 large carrots and 5 parsnips and chop them into 1-inch pieces. Steam over a steamer basket until they begin to get tender, about 7-8 minutes, then dump them into a skillet with butter to sauté another 10 minutes. Pour the maple glaze over the vegetables and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring every now and then.

Hot Maple Horchata

I was at my desk writing and Ahpu was in the kitchen making horchata, and immediately I was transported back 30 years to the little town of San Cristobal de Las Casas in the Mexican Chiapas highlands. When you wake up in that cold mountain air, Mayan ladies selling hot horchata are lined up along the highway. Most highways in Mexico smell like diesel exhaust, but in the morning in San Cristobal, it's one delicious cloud of cinnamon over the horchata vendors.

In many places horchata is a cold drink, and I'm sure you could pour this over ice and it would be great, but I'm drinking mine hot, and having my delicious drink and delicious memories both. -- Mike

Mix 1 cup rice (long grain and rinsed), 10 cups water, and 1 cinnamon stick (smashed to bits). Set aside for 3-4 hours.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Set aside so it begins to cool. After 10 minutes or so, stir in 1 cup of pure maple syrup. Ahpu uses Grade B.

After the mixture is just warm, puree in a blender or food processor. Don't rush this step by putting it in the fridge. Pass the pureed mixture through a kitchen strainer to remove the cinnamon bits. Add 1 tspn vanilla and stir. This recipe makes about a half gallon.

Buen provecho!

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