Left to itself, the syrup will form coarse
crystals thinly coated with the remainder of
the brown, flavorful syrup. Maple cream, a
malleable mixture of very fine crystals in a
small amount of dispersed syrup, is made by
cooling the syrup very rapidly to about
70ºF/21ºC by immersing the pan in baths of
iced water, and then beating it continuously
until it becomes very stiff. This mass is then
gently rewarmed until it becomes smooth and
semisoft.
Birch Syrup The inhabitants of far northern
parts of the globe, including Alaska and
Scandinavia, have long made a sweet syrup
from the sap of birch trees, various species of
Betula that are the dominant forest trees in
northern latitudes. Birch sap runs for two to
three weeks in early spring. It is much more
dilute than maple sap, around 1% sugars,
mainly an even mixture of glucose and
fructose. It takes around 100 parts of sap to