Maple sauce is a dessert sauce which is prepared using maple syrup. The sauce prepared using maple syrup is generally drizzled over waffles, puddings, pancakes or cheesecake. Sometimes maple syrup is also added to savory glazing sauces. Vanilla maple sauce is a popular example of this kind of sauce. Maple sauce is considered to be a signature dish of Canadian cuisine.
Preparation Analysis
Maple sauce can be made sweet or savory depending on their usage.
- Dessert Sauce – This sauce is generally prepared by cooking maple syrup with butter and heavy cream. Sometimes a little salt is also added to the sauce for imparting a distinct flavor. Another popular version of the sauce is created by combining sour cream and maple syrup. This mixture is refrigerated for about an hour before using it. Such no cook sauces can be served as a dipping sauce for strawberry or poured over the strawberry. If served over the strawberry then the sauce is additionally sweetened by adding brown sugar.
- Savory Sauce – Maple syrup is added to different savory sauces used for glazing, and barbecuing meats. A very popular maple chipotle barbecue sauce is prepared by cooking the maple syrup with adobo sauce and other ingredients like garlic cloves, shallots, butter, tomato ketchup, Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce and black pepper. Vanilla maple sauce is prepared by cooking the maple syrup with garlic, chicken stock, dry white wine, vanilla extract, ground black pepper, and butter.
Popular Variations
Following are some of the popular variations of maple sauce.
- Toffee Sauce – This sauce is used as a topping for desserts and it is prepared using two basic ingredients brown sugar and butter. The richness of the sauce is improved by adding maple syrup and is flavored with vanilla essence. Crushed hazelnuts or almonds are also added to the sauce to make it thicker.
- Maple Pudding Sauce – This sauce is also prepared in the same way as the basic maple sauce with the only difference being that it includes egg yolks and the cream is replaced by half and half. The sauce is flavored with vanilla extract. In many Canadian homes this sauce is served over steamed Christmas puddings.
