Maple Syrup and Birthday Cupcakes

This past weekend a good friend from high school was visiting Boston. K had a conference here last week and stayed to hang out this weekend. On top of hanging out with friends, Butler made it to the Final Four! K went to Butler and is the president of his local alumni club!


On Saturday we decided to partake in some local fun by heading up to New Hampshire to go to a maple house where they boil maple syrup. We had beautiful weather on Saturday. It was a bit chilly but sunny and not a cloud in the sky. After arriving at the Grant Family Maple House, we had some food and got in line to learn all about how maple syrup is made.


What we learned is that the sap from the trees has about 2-3% sugar in it straight from the tree. At that percentage, it would take 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup!! So they first condense the sap until it reaches about 8% sugar. The sap is then boiled to evaporate off the water.


Once the temperature reads 7 degrees above the boiling point of water, you have syrup! The guy in the maple house even explained how they use a baraometer on the wall to get the barometric pressure so they know the exact boiling temperature of water for that given day. It was all very scientific and extremely interesting.


The small bottles of maple syrup were a sample from each batch they had made at the maple house this season. The guy explained that as the season goes on, the syrup tends to get darker due to the change in the amount of sugar in the sap.


Of course, we had to get some maple products while we were there. Obviously, maple syrup. We also got some maple candies, some maple sugar, and some maple pepper. Can’t wait to find creative ways to use the sugar and pepper. If anyone has suggestions, please let me know!


Also, since K’s birthday was last week, I made him some cupcakes to celebrate. I went with my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe. I love that you can whip these up by dirtying only one bowl and using a whisk! I dipped them in some ganache and topped with festive sprinkles. Aren’t they pretty?

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23 Responses to “Banana Split Cupcake”

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    stephchows — September 15, 2009 at 12:47 pm

    Great cupcake hero entry!!! yum!

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    oneordinaryday — September 15, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    You’re right – it’s a freaking cute cupcake! I especially love that frosting and how you got it to look like a scoop of ice cream. Nicely done!
    This is my first CH and I can’t wait till the voting begins! : )

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    Amanda — September 15, 2009 at 2:49 pm

    Wow, what a yummy looking cupcake! Great idea!

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    oneparticularkitchen — September 15, 2009 at 4:14 pm

    This is ADORABLE!! I love it!

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    Xiaolu — September 15, 2009 at 5:08 pm

    Gorgeous cupcake, Jen! I love how the cherry stands out. How do you get that black background if you don’t mind me asking? I’m pretty new to this food photography thing 8)

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    Amy Kingman — September 15, 2009 at 5:41 pm

    Yummmm!!!!!

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    Jen — September 15, 2009 at 5:51 pm

    Xiaolu – It’s actually just my black table. I’ve also had luck using a plain black piece of construction paper (most of my backgrounds are the 12×12 scrap-booking papers) or a black towel to get the background all black.

    Here is an example using paper, and one using a towel.

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    Xiaolu — September 15, 2009 at 5:59 pm

    Thanks! That’s really helpful.

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    Joanna — September 15, 2009 at 8:28 pm

    Yum! Great idea 🙂

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    Stephanie Wagner — September 15, 2009 at 10:44 pm

    Awesome idea!

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    bcallegra — September 16, 2009 at 2:04 am

    Very creative and it looks great!

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    The Novice Chef — September 16, 2009 at 3:15 am

    What a cute idea! I love it!! And I know my nieces would be in love!

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    nutmegnanny — September 16, 2009 at 3:33 am

    Great idea…they look delicious!

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    jesstyler — September 16, 2009 at 4:08 am

    holy deliciousness! I NEED one of those! 🙂

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    Kerstin — September 16, 2009 at 4:48 am

    How creative, I love them! So cute and tasty with that cherry on top!

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    Ingrid — September 16, 2009 at 3:14 pm

    Very cute looking! I like your idea.
    ~ingrid

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    lifeoftheparty — September 16, 2009 at 7:25 pm

    These cupcakes are pure genius… you’ve definitely got my vote!

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    Jigginjessica — September 17, 2009 at 12:34 am

    Cute idea! What a great entry!

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    thegreatpantryraid — September 17, 2009 at 7:37 pm

    Wow – super cute! A lot of work, I’m sure, but such a big payoff! Great job!

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    Kami — September 17, 2009 at 8:32 pm

    So stinkin’ cute!

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    Caroline — September 19, 2009 at 6:23 am

    Very cute, indeed and loving the pineapple in the frosting. I can just imagine how delicious this would taste. What a great idea.

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    Keiara Wells — September 19, 2009 at 5:57 pm

    MMM, it looks fantastic! I’ll have to try this one 🙂 xox

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    Sweet and Savory — October 15, 2009 at 5:55 am

    These cupcakes are precious besides, I am sure, being delicious. What a great idea.

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