Marvel at our sugar galaxy with its cracked nutmeg orb, clove and peppercorn moons, anise stars and wispy blood-orange winds. So goddamn beautiful we can barely bring ourselves to bring the first bite of pancake to our mouth.
Yeah, this is maple syrup — on crack. It’s easy, simple enough even legit crack heads could make time for it. And it’s not too late to enjoy it this winter, be it on a pancake or swirled in a bourbon (bourbon on crack). Even though our world’s returned to 60-degree and sunny, we know there are some psychos in Vermont eating maple taffy right now — that delicacy of maple syrup boiled and poured on a casserole dish of packed snow. To them, we say, get high on this.
MULLED MAPLE SYRUP
750 ml-1 liter maple syrup (B Grade)
2 cardamom pods (or 1 tsp. ground)
4 star anise
6-8” cinnamon stick
2 fresh vanilla bean pods scraped
2 tsp peppercorns
1 nutmeg smashed
6 cloves
1 orange peel
1. Dump the syrup into a heavy bottomed pot and add all spices. Save the bottle for later use.
2. Using a pairing knife, peel the orange, creating several large pieces of peel and add it to the pot (save the fruit for eating).
3. Place pot on a low heat for 2-3 hours, checking on it every 30 minutes to stir and keep from scorching.
4. When you remove from heat, let it cool completely, at least one hour, before returning to the bottle. Using a fine mesh strainer and a funnel, strain the spices out and return to the original bottle. Keeps forever.
