Maple Cake - Beginner

[Joust7.1]

So, I can't make maple cakes for the life of me... I've tried the methods from the Cornell Confections manual, NAMSPM and several posts on the trader. I only have one small mold so maybe I'm trying to make too small of a batch. After I poor into the molds it starts to "outgas" and foam up and make mushroom shaped cakes. They also tend to be a bit harder than I expect. I'm guessing that I am getting inaccurate temp readings due to small batches that start with about 1 quart of syrup. Is there an optimal batch size to get accurate readings as well as not setting up to quickly?

[jmayerl]

What is a maple cake? Do you mean molded sugar. List out your steps and the temps you use.

[Joust7.1]

What is a maple cake? Do you mean molded sugar. List out your steps and the temps you use.
Yes, molded sugar. We grew up calling them maple cakes around here.
1. bring syrup up to 242
2. cool to 170-180
3. stir until before it starts to bind up
4. pour in maple leaf mold
5. they look great for a few seconds then start bubbling up and over.

I've also tried the cooling to close to 160 method then reheating, but I can't get it to melt together again without turning to grainy sugar.

[jmayerl]

Ok, I know what you mean about regional terms and words, apparently a water bubbler is a wisconsin thing. So here is how I do it. I first check my digital thermometer in boiling water, it has always been 212 for me. I use a medium pot, maybe 8" around. I use use about a pint or maybe more. Bring to 239( takes about 10 mins). Skim off any crud, may need a drop of defoamer or oil. Take off heat and when it cools to 200 stir it until it begins to set up like mud. Then back onto heat until it just begins to have a hint if boiling. Then right into a confection funnel and into molds. This is usually enough to fill the funnel twice so while waiting I leave the pot on very low temp on the stove. They set up in 15-30 mins, then I let them dry on a rack for a day before boxing or crystal coating.
I have used lots of different batches of syrup this year and they all worked good, made about 40 pounds.

[lew]

Joust,

Your method sounds right, but It sounds like you may have thermometer problem. Hard to tell without actually seeing your sugar. But the problem you are describing sounds like the syrup may be granulating, hence the bubbling as it cools, grainy texture, and growing into a mushroom. One problem with making small batches is making sure the bulb of the thermometer is completely submerged in the syrup, not jus the foam. THis can give an erroneous reading, usually a reading lower than the actual temperature. Perhaps this is your problem, or perhaps your thermometer is not reading correctly. Checking the accuracy of your existing thermometer is pretty straight forward, place 2 thermometers in the same hot liquid and see if they read the same. I'm guessing this isn't the problem. Most thermometers do not read the same, but they usually read within a degree of each other, close enough for what you are doing. Boiling your syrup in a smaller diameter pan, so that the liquid is deeper, thus covering the bulb of the thermometer is a thought for the other possible problem. Just a couple of thoughts.

[Joust7.1]

Lew,

Thanks for the advice. I've tried a few thermometers that I had on hand thinking that might be the issue. I have a digital as well as a dial candy thermometer. However, I suspect my main issue is the depth of the syrup when it gets close to temperature. I will investigate a smaller diameter pan and try another batch soon to see what happens. I'm already using the smallest diameter pan that I have. I think it is a 1.5 or 1 quart pan with straight sides. What you describe as getting bubbly and grainy sounds exactly like what is happening for me. I've done about 6 batches now and the only one that was remotely close was the first one that I did. Those were just a bit too hard but didn't bubble up. All the subsequent ones have done the expanding mushroom trick and are quite hard and grainy.

[Sugarmaker]

Sounds like temp, but you have checked with several thermometers? Double check your thermometers in boiling water to calibrate them. You may be cooking your batch just a little too hot. I used to make quart batches. I have to admit that I have never had great success with hand batches. Since we built a candy machine, there have been very few failed batches.
I have never seen the syrup volcano in the molds as you have described.
When we made hand batches we were taught to look for a fine withe line trailing the spoon. that was the sign crystals were starting to form and the batch needed to get into the molds!
Regards,
Chris

[SWEETER CREATIONS]

Joust: your welcome to come over anytime that we make molded sugar call me as we usually make candy 2 to 3 times a week. 322-5535 . Mike

[Joust7.1]

Mike, thanks for the offer and I look forward to stopping by at some point this spring. I actually just made another attempt this morning and it may have worked out all right. I checked my thermometer against boiling water and it turns out it read about 9-10* off so I realized that I was overcooking the syrup. I also made sure that I stopped stirring a lot earlier so that it didn't set up so quickly. I appreciate all the advice from everyone and it definitely encouraged me to persevere with making maple cakes. In the end, I just needed to work out the process and the timing with my setup. I am going to order a smaller saucepan as a 1 cup batch just fills my small mold perfectly but isn't really deep enough in the pan to get a good reading with a 1qt saucepan. Can anyone offer the value of maple cakes by the oz? Thanks again everyone that offered advice. I think I ended up trying about everything I've read on here. P.S. Happy New Year!


Joust: your welcome to come over anytime that we make molded sugar call me as we usually make candy 2 to 3 times a week. 322-5535 . Mike

[Joust7.1]

So, I've had some good success with my most recent batches. Is there a preferred method to cooling the syrup to 160* after heating it to 238*. When I let it cool in the pan, it seems to take a long time to get down close to 160 and has a more grainy texture then when cooling it quicker by placing the pan in cool water bath to speed the cooling. I haven't seen anywhere how this is supposed to be done but I know I'm getting a lot better product with the cool water bath technique.