STEAM: Snow Snacks

Hey Kids!

Bears are well-known for their affinity for honey, but I also have a sneaky fondness for maple syrup! And when it gets chilly out, my thoughts turn to enjoying a sticky, sweet treat while embracing the chilly weather.

Long ago, when I was a very young bear, someone read to me from Little House in the Big Woods. There is dancing and family and, of course, some sweet and delicious maple syrup. You may remember this part:

"Grandma stood by the brass kettle and with the big wooden spoon she poured hot syrup on each plate of snow. It cooled into soft candy, and as fast as it cooled they ate it."

Perhaps you would like to make your own maple syrup candy. The first thing you will need is a grown-up because the maple syrup will be very, very, very hot. Remember that Grandma, in the story, had been boiling that maple syrup while everyone else was dancing.

The second thing you will need is pure maple syrup. It’s a good thing that Michigan is such a good place to find it.

The third thing you will need is a plate or baking sheet full of clean, untouched snow, nicely packed in and smoothed down. You can tuck this in the freezer for the right moment.

You will also need a heavy-bottomed pot and a candy or meat thermometer.

Once you have your supplies, boil the maple syrup. You don’t need a lot, but you will need to watch it very carefully. Boil the syrup until it reaches 235-240 degrees Fahrenheit, then pour it into shapes over the packed snow. You can then twirl it up onto a popsicle stick or just let it cool and eat it.

Hot Thorndyke Tip: If it has not snowed lately, or maybe the snow outside where you live has already been enjoyed by other people or creatures, you can make your own snow by putting ice into a chilled blender and blending it until it turns into “snow.”

After you are done, maybe you have questions. Questions like:

• Can you do this with honey?
  • It’s not quite the same, but yes, you can make honey candy. Try it and see what’s different about the process.
• What happens if I don’t want to eat it right away?
  • You can store it in the refrigerator or even freeze it.
• What if I pour the maple syrup into a mold?
  • It should solidify into a powdery candy.
  • If you have enough time and syrup, and your grown-up has enough patience, you can experiment with different temperatures of syrup or different configurations of snow.
• What if the syrup just melts the snow?
  • You may not have boiled it to the right temperature, or your snow was not packed and smoothed enough.
  • If you have enough time and syrup, and your grown-up has enough patience, you can experiment with different temperatures of syrup or different configurations of snow.

Enjoy experimenting with your sticky-sweet cold-weather treat.

Bear Hugs,

Thorndyke