Maple Snow Taffy, or "Sugar On Snow" is our friend Nicole's recipe, and, like her, it is perfect in every way. If you happen to live in Santa Cruz, where you're much too busy hiking mountains in your bikini and boogie boarding with a margarita in one hand and gathering the Meyer lemons that have fallen all over your patio to scrounge up a bowl of snow, simply spoon the hot caramel into a dish of ice cream, where it will still do its taffy thing.
by Catherine Newman
What you'll need
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup salted butter
- clean snow
How to make it
- In a medium-sized pot over medium heat, heat the syrup and butter together until the mixture reaches 220ºF-235ºF on a candy thermometer, aka somewhere between the thread and soft ball stage, for you candy-making hardcores out there. If you don't have a candy thermometer, time it for about 5 minutes after it comes to a boil, and then pour a little onto a plate that's been waiting in the fridge: when the syrup is ready, it should thicken up into a soft taffy on the plate; if it doesn't, then cook it a minute or two longer. Needless to say, your children should be nowhere near this while it's on the stove.
- Let the mixture cool for a couple of minutes, then pour it by the spoonful over bowls of clean snow (or ice cream) where it will harden into a sweet lump of maple insanity. You won't be sorry -- well, until it's gone, and then you'll be sorry.
