The Maple Syrup Confection Worth its Weight in Gold (2005 IFFA)

I'm honoured to be amongst the food bloggers who have been asked to create and present an award for the inaugural Independent Food Festival & Awards.  The IFFAs, run by TasteEverything.org, gives each blogger the opportunity to come up with an award to present to a person or organization creating exceptional food.  Each award should be creative and unique – so if you take a look at other food blogs today, I’m sure you’ll find many awards that are truly weird and ingenious.

From the start, I wanted to present an award that was distinctly Canadian.  While Canada may not be a food mecca like France or Italy, it does produce some world class food that’s delicious and extraordinary.  Without a doubt, my favourite local ingredient is maple syrup, also known as ‘liquid gold’.  It tastes wonderful by itself and pairs beautifully with other foods including pancakes, fruits, pork, salmon, nuts, and chocolate.  If memory serves me correct, Canada produces 80% of the world’s maple syrup supply.  It’s not as though we brush our teeth with maple syrup, but I probably would, if not for the cavities I would get.

I’m excited to be presenting the award for The Maple Syrup Confection Worth its Weight in Gold.  Over the past few weeks I’ve searched Toronto and the rest of Canada (via the Internet) for confections and sweets that use maple syrup as an ingredient.  Last Sunday, two friends and I met to taste test 11 maple syrup confections.  Needless to say, we were on a dizzying sugar high by the end of the day.

I’ve included tasting notes and rankings for each confection below.  But first, without further delay, I would like to congratulate DC Duby Chocolatier from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for their Wild Squash Truffle, which we’ve chosen as the Maple Syrup Confection Worth its Weight in Gold. 

DC Duby’s Wild Squash Truffle consists of a roasted squash - maple syrup ganache rolled in roasted pumpkin seeds.  While the maple syrup flavour is subtle, its combination with squash and chocolate form a creamy and delicious ganache filling.  In contrast, the crunchy shell of pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate adds bitterness to the truffle.  This is a wonderfully unique and delectable truffle that’s certainly worth its price of $2.94, if not its weight in gold of $375.

Coming in a close second was Bernard Callebaut’s Canadienne Truffle – a maple syrup, white chocolate ganache covered in a milk chocolate shell and garnished with milk and white chocolate shavings.  And placing third was DC Duby’s Maple Caramel and Milk Chocolate Sauce – a blend of maple caramel and milk chocolate with cream and butter.

Testing
The eleven confections were tested independently and randomly, without discussion between testers.  From a total of 100 points, 60 points were allotted for taste, 20 points for appearance and 20 points for originality.  At the end of the taste test, each tester ranked the confections (1-11) based on their scores, and the ranks of each confection given by the testers were added up.

Item Overall  Adrian  Clement  Karen  Sum    DC Duby Wild Squash Truffle 1  1  1  4  6    Bernard Callebaut Canadienne Truffle 2  2  3  2  7    DC Duby Maple Caramel and Milk Chocolate    Sauce 3  7  4  3  14    JS Bonbons Maple Truffle 4  3  2  11  16    Jackman's Maple Brittle 5  5  6  9  20    Maple Butter 5  9  5  6  20    David's Chocolate Maple Crunch 5  4  9  7  20    Laura Secord Milk Chocolate Maple Walnut 8  10  11  1  22    Laura Secord Milk Chocolate Maple Cream 9  8  10  5  23    All the Best Fine Foods Maple Shortbread 9  6  7  10  23    Maple Sugar 11  11  7  8  26

Tasting Notes and Details

While most of the confections tested are readily available in Toronto, many can be ordered online as well.  Below are some of the comments made by Adrian, Karen, and myself during the taste test. 

Wild Squash Truffle
DC Duby Chocolatier, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Rank: 1
Available from: www.dcduby.com
Cost: $2.94
Weight: 20g
Description:  Roasted squash - maple syrup ganache rolled in roasted pumpkin seeds and covered in dark chocolate.

Adrian: Irreguarly shaped.  Unique taste – not just sweet, slightly bitter.
Clement:  Nice sweet, creamy inside – bitter, crunchy outside contrast.  Use of seeds is unique.  Maple flavour is subtle.  Gold leaf imprint adds a touch of elegance.
Karen:  I really liked the creamy centre.

Canadienne Truffle
Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut, Calgary, AB, Canada

Rank: 2
Available from: www.bernardc.ca, and Bernard Callebaut stores in North America
Cost: $1.10
Weight: 10g
Description: Maple syrup - white chocolate ganache covered in a milk chocolate shell and garnished with milk and white chocolate shavings.

Adrian: Crumbly, covered texture.  Quite sweet on the inside.  Some maple taste, not a lot.
Clement: Maple syrup + milk chocolate + white chocolate work well together but are very sweet.  Okay since it's small, but would prefer some bitterness.
Karen: Heavenly!  But don’t eat more than one at a time – very sweet!

Maple Caramel and Milk Chocolate Sauce
DC Duby Chocolatier, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Rank: 3
Available from: www.dcduby.com
Cost: $9.05
Volume: 190g
Description: A spread made from a blend of maple caramel and milk chocolate with cream and butter.

Adrian: Quite creamy, maple syrupy flavour.
Clement: Nice smooth Nutella-like spread, chocolate with maple syrup.  Not too sweet.  Nice rich colour.
Karen: Tastes so much better than it looks.

Maple Truffle
JS Bonbons, Toronto, ON, Canada

Rank: 4
Available from: www.jsbonbons.com, and JS Bonbons boutiques in Toronto
Cost: $1.25
Weight: 12g
Description: Maple syrup - white chocolate cream covered in a dark chocolate shell.

Adrian: Very gooey, chocolate-y centre.  No maple syrup taste.  Textured, slightly sparkly appearance.  Bitter aftertaste – I like!
Clement: Elegant appearance. Creamy, molten interior.  Nice balance between bitter and sweet.  Subtle maple flavour.
Karen: This should not be in the class of 'chocolates'!!!

Maple Brittle
Jakeman’s Maple Products, Beachville, Ontario, Canada

Rank: 5
Available from: www.themaplestore.com, and Giftworks at St. Lawrence Market South, Toronto
Cost: $3.50
Weight: 85g
Description:  Hand-made peanut brittle made with pure Canadian maple syrup.

Adrian: I like the peanut flavour.  Very crunchy, but no other flavours.
Clement:  Nice crunch.  Not too sweet.  But plain and unoriginal.
Karen: The taste itself is good, but the texture is hard and it gets stuck in your teeth.

Maple Butter
W.C. Haggart, Maitland, ON, Canada

Rank: 5
Available from: St. Lawrence Market North, Toronto
Cost: $5.50
Weight:  250g
Description: 100% pure maple syrup that has been boiled, cooled and stirred until it becomes smooth and creamy.

Adrian: Not much taste – neither sweet nor salty.
Clement: Tastes like pure maple syrup.  Nice spread.
Karen: I don’t usually eat sweet spreads, but the two you have chosen are quite good!

Chocolate Maple Crunch
David’s Fine Belgian Chocolates, Toronto, ON, Canada

Rank: 5
Available from: www.chocolatesignaturesinc.com, and Pusateri’s, Toronto
Cost: $0.75
Weight: 8g
Description:  Milk chocolate with nuggets of maple sugar.

Adrian: Tastes like caramel.  Nutty, brittle, crunchy middle.  Slight maple taste.   
Clement:  Milk chocolate is slightly plastic.  Nice texture – crunchy.
Karen: Nice combination of crunchiness and smooth chocolate.

Milk Chocolate Maple Walnut
Laura Secord, Toronto, ON, Canada

Rank: 8
Available from: Laura Secord stores across Canada
Cost: $1.10
Weight: 20g
Description: Maple Cream and chopped walnuts covered in milk chocolate.

Adrian: Fudge-y all over.  Very ordinary, chocolate bar appearance.  Only slight maple taste.  Rather chewy.
Clement: Very sweet and icky.  Maple tastes fake.
Karen: This was great – sweet, but not overly so, with many textures.

Milk Chocolate Maple Cream
Laura Secord, Toronto, ON, Canada

Rank: 9
Available from: Laura Secord stores across Canada
Cost: $0.52
Weight: 9g
Description: Milk chocolate filled with pure maple cream.

Adrian: Nice maple syrup flavour, but no other flavours, just chocolate.  Not spectacular.
Clement: Shell is too plastic and sweet.  Not much depth in flavour and texture.
Karen: I love the caramel-y centre.

Maple Shortbread
All the Best Fine Foods, Toronto, ON, Canada

Rank: 9
Available from: All the Best Fine Foods, Toronto
Cost: $0.80
Weight: 31g
Description: Shortbread flavoured with maple syrup.

Adrian: Not buttery enough.  Quite crumbly and a bit too grainy.
Clement: Plain and granular, but at least I taste maple.
Karen: I’m generally a big fan of cookies, but I didn’t like the flour-y taste (almost like an aftertaste) at all.

Maple Sugar
W.C. Haggart, Maitland, ON, Canada

Rank: 11
Available from: St. Lawrence Market North (and at many places where maple syrup is sold)
Cost: $0.30
Weight: 10g
Description: 100% pure maple syrup that has been boiled into a sugar.

Adrian: Bad – like fudge but with too much sugar.  Chalky texture. 
Clement: Intense maple flavour.  Homogenous flavour and texture.  Nice melt.
Karen: I don’t really like the texture – very grainy.

Concluding Remarks

After eating so much sugar, none of us could stand the sight of another truffle, candy, or spread.  During my visits to a dozen or so candy stores and pâtisseries, I had also picked up a number of non-maple truffles and chocolates to try out.  But now it’s likely that those will have to wait – I think I’ll be eating savoury food for quite a while.

I’d like to thank Adrian and Karen for being incredibly helpful this weekend.  It was a very fun and delicious project, something we’ll have to do again sometime, once I’m off my sugar high.  Thanks to Hillel for organizing the International Food Festival & Awards.  If you have yet to see the other awards that are being presented today, it’s definitely worth checking out!

Comments

[Carolyn]

What a neat idea for a tasting!

[chika]

Hi Clement,

wow just reading this (and looking at the pics) almost makes me sugar-high too! That Wild Squash Truffle sounds truly unique and looks delicious... if you are done with sweet stuff for now, feel free to send the rest of truffles to me :) Thanks for sharing goodies of Canada!

[Jeanne]

As always a wonderful exploration around a single theme--maple carmel and maple butter and that truffle--geez, how divine.

[raspberry sour]

mmmm, lucky you. i want to get paid to do a job like that. and read books too, while i'm on the wish list.

[Jennifer]

Clement this is amazing - the sacrifices you made for this award! All that tasting must have been oh so tiring and difficult to get through...I admire you. ; )

Great idea and a wonderful showcase of something so utterly Canadian. And thanks so much for giving me all these places to get maple-laden treats...Next time I'm getting mustard at St. Lawrence I'll be sure to check out Giftworks for some maple brittle and W.C. Haggart's supply of maple butter and maple sugar...those are my two favourite maple candy-type things in the world!

[Delph]

Great survey! Yet I am surprised that you did not try anything from Quebec...
I moved to Montreal three years ago and it is a great place for foodies and chocolate lovers!
Have a look at this website, if you are not tired of chocolate already : http://www.chocolatsgg.com/
The Globe & Mail featured her in an article on chocolate not so long ago, it is really worth a visit!

[Sasha]

You have done a marvelous job here Clement! We were talking in school the other day about Maple Syrup and I was surprised to find that Canada actually imports a great deal of Grade A maple syrup from the USA. I think this is because they export their best stuff for the international market, leaving little for their own. Do you have any insight on this? It was only a brief sidebar in class, but it caught my attention.

[Lisa Bryan]

Thanks for sharing your results with us. I love maple, so I really enjoyed this. Thought I'd mention for your American readers that Trader Joe's (in mostly blue states) has something that looks just like the milk chocolate maple cream you included above. It comes in a box with about 12, half dark chocolate, half milk chocolate, with maple filling. Trader Joe's does a lot of private labeling, so it could be the same product. And they're sublime!

[Clement]

Thanks everyone for your kind words. It was definitely a fun project, something I'd like to do more often.

Chika - I would send you some, but I already ate all the good ones.. but maybe when I make maple macarons and deep fried maple ice cream :)

Raspberry Sour - I wish I got paid to do this too!

Jennifer - W.C. Haggart's maple syrup stand is great. Such a wide selection of maple syrup, and a great source of knowledge. I think I'm going to have to try Anton Kozlik's Amazing Maple mustard.. sounds like the best of both worlds!

Delph - I know.. I would have really liked to have tried something from Quebec, especially since it's the largest source of Canada's maple syrup. Thanks for the link - Geneviève Grandbois' chocolates look beautiful and unique. I will certainly take time to visit next time I'm in Montréal.

Sasha - I didn't realize that Canada imports maple syrup from the states.. it seems a bit odd. Unfortunately I don't know much about the industry. The grocery stores and booths I visited appear to exclusively carry Canadian maple products, and they seem to be widely available. But perhaps some large commercial users of maple syrup may import from the US? - just a guess.

Lisa - Glad you liked the article, and thanks for sharing your maple syrup sources with us.

[S. Worthen]

Inspired by your post, I ordered a box of DC Duby's truffles.

You're right, they're good, and one of the best things about them is how understated the flavorings are.

I'll try a few more of the contenders next time I'm at St. Lawrence Market.

[Clement]

Hi S. - I'm glad you liked the Duby truffles. They're certainly amongst the most unique truffles I've had. If you haven't already done so, take a look at their cookbook, Wild Sweets - it's full of interesting and spectacular recipes.

[Carolyn]

caramel custard candies Karen makes a caramel covered candy that could be adapted to make your squash truffles and then roll in chocolate. I am going to try your idea and her technique to see if I can come up with your taste--it should be a confection for Nouvelle France!

[Clement]

Hi Carol - I apologize for my incredibly slow reply. That's a very interesting and creative idea. Did you end up trying it? If so, how did they turn out?

[chef 'em out]

The 2005 NY State maple syrup production was down by about 13% compared to 2004. Maybe NY state producers will import from Canada this year.