1915 Maple Sugar Pie Recipe - Old Cookbook Show

1915 Maple Sugar Pie Recipe - Old Cookbook Show
Today (2023) making a maple sugar pie requires a 2nd mortgage on your house... but in 1915 Canada maple sugar was relatively inexpensive and abundant. This is essentially a sugar pie - just maple sugar pie; it's also a custard pie, a maple custard pie.
Maple Sugar Pie
Heat one and one-half cups of milk in a double boiler and add one cup of maple sugar broken fine or grated. Bring to the boiling point, add two rounding teaspoons cornstarch mixed, with one-half cup milk and cook eight minutes. Pour a little over the yolks of two eggs and stir and return to boiler and cook until smooth. Pour into a paste-lined plate and bake.
Cover with meringue made of the whites of two eggs beaten stiff with one-quarter cup powdered sugar and brown.
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L1S 0E9

[@nathanross5527]

It's always fun to see Glen's happy dance during the tasting, but I can't recall the last time Julie had such a happy reaction to a dish. That lets me know this is definitely a good pie.

[@stevemonkey6666]

I love the reactions when Glenn makes a really good pie or cake

[@user54389]

Hey Glen,old trick for meringue that wont deflate: add a half teaspoon of cream of tarter. It doesnt change the taste and will hold up stiff, even in the fridge!

[@uninvolvedthirdparty]

I like that the pyrex measuring cup at 3:15 is 'since 1915.' Seems apropos for this recipe.

[@brynnealexandra1087]

Reminds me of my grandmothers butterscotch pie with Graham cracker crust! So delicious!

[@yolandapai-ge7521]

I enjoy the back story 📖 to the recipes and all the lovely vintage cook books you share, Glen you are perfection! 💌📚

[@xkane]

Vicarious milk bag changing for non-Canadians 🙂

[@brucetidwell7715]

I was wondering if milk always comes in bags in Canada, or is that a specialty brand? That seems like a real pain, although it does avoid plastic jugs.

[@jonny2085]

@@brucetidwell7715 but it’s still plastic. Also it sits in the fridge unsealed

[@urluberlu2777]

@@brucetidwell7715 Used to but not since the 70-80s, it ow comes mostly in carton but bags still represent a 10-20%

[@tanaschmidt3728]

This is only a thing in Québec and Ontario and you can buy them in the maritimes. We have jugs and cartons elsewhere. Please stop saying this is a universal Canadian thing. You cannot buy bagged milk in Alberta

[@jonny2085]

@@tanaschmidt3728 it is only found in Canada. Therefore a Canadian thing

[@GingerBlythin]

I needed this recipe today! Have 2kg of maple sugar sitting in my cupboard and I need to use it up

[@donedwards5301]

Ginger! Wow 2 kg. I bet it will be incredible. In Alberta we don't have the right type of maples. I may have to splurge. Enjoy

[@richardmassoth8237]

I found it interesting to look at some of the other recipes on the same pages of the cookbook. A walnut custard that you could use with pecans or other tree nuts. And a prune and rhubarb pie, which sounds like something my grandmother's generation would have made for winter holidays. Fun!

[@tetchedistress]

Rewatching in 2024. This would be excellent with lime sugar I believe. Using sugar that lime peels have been added to for awhile. I love citrus flavors. Thank you again for lovely videos that I can rewatch on cold winter days. Was giggling that you didn't spill on tempering the eggs but did a tiny bit with the meringue. 😂

[@larrykittell726]

It must be really good. Even Julie did the happy dance today.

[@hilotakenaka]

It's interesting that you mentioned that the pie nowadays would be considered pricey - aside from economy jokes, it's just interesting in general how some things have had their cost inflated just because of how artisanal and sought after they are, when they used to be far cheaper and more common. Lobsters and caviar also come to mind (the latter has always been pretty pricey but in the local fishing regions less so)

[@itzel1735]

Like oddly shaped and coloured heirloom tomatoes.

[@brucetidwell7715]

In Brillat-Savarin's The Physiology of Taste (1825) they practically eat truffles by the pound. I assume they must have been more common than they are today.

[@janem3575]

Some of it is due to artisanality. I don't think that's the entire pie. Demand plays a huge part. I was told lobster used to be really cheap because no one knew about it. Now, everyone wants it, and there aren't as many lobsters to go around. Or, as a kid, we used to get pork riblets for free, the restaurant my dad worked for didn't use them. Now, they're just a pricey as regular back ribs. And oxtails? hoooooo weeeee. Used to be dirt cheap, my grandma said pennies on the dollar a pound. Now, it's a special treat.

[@resolecca]

And then the reverse is also true things that were expensive and now much cheaper relatively speaking

[@itzel1735]

@@resolecca true

[@margaretbedwell3211]

My grandmother always added a tiny amount of lemon juice to her meringue maybe half tsp. or little less for egg whites. It added just a hint of something but not enough to be lemony. Whenever she was asked why her meringue tasted better than any other she always said it must have been something the chicken ate. She never gave you the correct recipe for anything. She was in her mid 80's when she finally told me this secret of hers. I think I would crave this pie if I ever started making it....just like maple sugar candy. Thanks for sharing and y'all have a Blessed day.

[@toddcoteeagle8493]

New( or not) culinary term yummiest yums ever. Those who had the misfortune of growing up without all thing maple, do not know just how decedent a simple thing like maple pie can be. Just watching you put this together made me drool.

[@GaryBoyd02]

The milk bag routine is becoming a show stopper. Soon you will need special attire for the bag ceremony. That pie has my mouth watering from here clear across the country.

[@mylindacasbarro777]

Retro recipes! Yummy…

[@austin2842]

I really enjoyed that maple syrup processing video you made last year.

[@johndonohoe3778]

Beautiful Glen. My cousin gave me a recipe for “Quebec Sugar Pie” at Christmas. Very good too. This is an expensive version. Good job.

[@annies2416]

Nice pie,Glenn! Love Jule’s reaction because I’m sure that would be mine. 😍🥰😋

[@GrillTopExperience]

I planted a maple tree in my yard in hopes that one day I'll be as cool as Glen and be able to make a pie with maple sugar I harvested and boiled down from my own tree.

[@GlenAndFriendsCooking]

It'll be the best Maple Sugar Pie you've ever tasted!

[@321southtube]

Good morning. Maple...Sugar... Pie, you have my attention!! Looks good. We've had some bad weather here in Illinois over the past year...high winds etc. Hopefully, the trees bounce back. Thanks for another wonderful video.

[@WhatAboutZoidberg]

So I was given a bag of Maple Sugar by my mother in law who lives near the Canadian border. I do have a bag of it and no idea what to make to utilize it really well. This looks great. Nice find.

[@vdubboy85225]

Glen "Darn. I have to change the milk bag. Here come the comments". Love it. Definitely not something we do here in AZ, but always entertaining. Hope you have a great week.

[@d56alpine]

Why is milk in a bag? We don't have that in MD either

[@suebrown7548]

@@d56alpine That's how 4 liters of milk is packaged here in Ontario. 3 x 1.33 l. bags sold in a larger bag. You can still get 1 and 2 l. cartons if you don't use so much milk.

[@tuniemert]

@@d56alpine we have milk in bags in Wisconsin too 😊 it’s cheaper to transport on a commercial scale, because of the lower plastic weight (and it is therefore cheaper to buy than a gallon of jug milk, though not significantly) but there’s no real difference as far as I’m aware.

[@murlthomas2243]

This looks SO good! Thank you for the recipe!

[@Dios67]

I have all these interesting videos in my feed then I see "Maple Sugar Pie"... OK, you win.

[@charlesnicholson5715]

nom nom nom, great pie! nom nom nom. (Both of them) nuff said.

[@EastSider48215]

Soooooooo good! I love maple, but yes, this would be good to try with other sugars as well. I have some honey sugar that would be perfect for this.

[@lindachiasson5626]

I've been looking for such a pie recipe ! I'm making this Sunday as a birthday pie. Thank you!!!

[@ColettaDesign]

Wow, that looks EXCELLENT!

[@mndlessdrwer]

Much like Molasses in various desserts is the taste of the east coast of the US, this pie is quintessentially Canadian. I can only imagine how good it is, because the cost of maple sugar where I am is quite extravagant. I'm also one of the few people in my family that legitimately likes strong maple flavor in desserts, so even if I could get a cup of maple sugar to make this, I'd be the only one eating it.

[@susanelainesanner]

Wow! The heck with saving for my own funeral expenses. I'm investing in real maple sugar. Yes, the look on Jules' face as the first bit of pie hit her tongue told me what my new priorities are. Happy days here in northwest Minnesota, U.S.

[@philliplapkovitch311]

That's why I love going to great grandma's house over the River and through the woods close your eyes and follow your nose

[@kaysi6605]

Here in the UK we have something called Treacle Tart, which is basically just Treacle, Golden Syrup and breadcrumbs in a butter crust, I wonder if that would go good with actual Maple Syrup.

[@donedwards5301]

Kay. I think you would probably have to thicken up the maple syrup. or add more corn starch. Go for it, nothing like real maple syrup.

[@Mark-nh2hs]

​​​​@@Leftatalbuquerque there is normally no molasses in UK Treacle tart it's mainly Golden Syrup - which is a very light syrup. Although there are regional variants of this tart one which is a light Treacle Tart and a Dark which has Molasses added. The ones I've had have always used Golden syrup and never molasses. On the comparison Maple Syrup is way stronger in flavour than golden syrup just tastes of sugar really. But agree anything with molasses kills everything flavour wise.

[@laurensteenkamp7693]

@Mark68 What you're calling 'treacle tart' (aka using Golden syrup) is a mid/ late Victorian iteration of an earlier recipe which used actual black Treacle, if our North American friends wanted to make a treacle tart (depending on where exactly they are) they could probably use Molasses or Maple syrup instead of 'Treacle*'. Indeed during the second World War because both Treacle and Golden syrup being so hard to come by (as they are both byproducts of the sugar refining process, and sugar was heavily rationed during the war) women often used honey as the sweet element of their 'Treacle' tart. *= I understand both Treacle and Golden syrup are reasonably hard to get a hold of in the U.S and Canada

[@elaineevans3844]

Fun to watch. My aunts in Quebec this pie. I live in the states. Thanks for sharing.

[@cindykusek9128]

Definitely going to make this!!!!

[@3kids2cats1dog]

Sorry to hear about your maple stand, hope the trees recover stronger. I didn't know the derecho went that far south and west.

[@abadatha]

I've been making maple syrup pies for the last year, and that's a tradition I'll definitely carry on doing, they're so damn good.

[@julieb7785]

Could you please give me the quantity of maple syrup? Glen thinks it would be approximately 3 cups.

[@abadatha]

@@julieb7785 my recipe is only a cup and a half of syrup.

[@mary-catherine9237]

This is great. I have about 4 cups of maple sugar to use up. Thanks for the idea.

[@KristaJEtco]

Good morning Glen, I am really enjoying the old cookbook show series. Can you buy maple sugar in the grocery store? Thank you

[@EastSider48215]

My local stores don’t carry it and I live in a maple-syrup-producing state. I think that unless you live near a maple-syrup maker, you’ll probably have to mail order it.

[@itzel1735]

Rarely.

[@janem3575]

If you have costco membership, they sell it. But brace yourself. The price will shock you

[@richardharrison1493]

Maple sugar is very expensive. Cheapest I quickly found online was 3 pounds for $35.00 USD.

[@kathrynronnenberg1688]

Our food co-op has it, and I think Market of Choice does, so you might be able to find it in a more upscale grocery store. But, yes, it's not cheap.

[@cmonyoureds]

My that looks delicious! I wonder if you could substitute a brown sugar sweetener, to lower the carbs a little? Swerve is about the same cost, I see maple sugar at 4.89/cad per 100g, on line, Swerve is 12.00/cad for 340g. Your show always inspires me to try your recipes and then make them my own, every time. Thank you!

[@Magius61]

Don’t normally see Julie this ecstatic.

[@phyllisreinking4208]

Glen’s last concern usually is whether the recipe comes out pretty but this meringue topped pie turned out lovely in spite of that!

[@Kolateak_]

Maple sugar pie? Those are 3 words I very much like

[@janem3575]

I'm hoping my family likes it as much as the 2 words they discovered not too long ago. pooooooding showmrrrrrrrrr

[@deejaydubla]

That looks delicious 😋

[@MatthewWeiler1984]

Great recipe. From the display on your oven, it looks like you baked the pie at 350F and then 450 after you added the meringue. But how long did you end up baking the pie for before the meringue and after?

[@shessassy]

It's usually a pretty good sign a recipe has been used a time or two if its pages are splattered like that! :-D

[@monthandley3979]

This reminds me of Hoosier Pie but with Maple Sugar instead of regular Sugar, Looks great.

[@TheCornBanana]

Nice pie buddy

[@caeloMius]

btw starch prevents proteins from curdling so its safe to add the yolks to the cold milk and cornstarch mixture.

[@ChrisB-nx4gw]

Brown sugar substitution 1 for 1?

[@trailduster6bt]

In all my years, Ive never successfully tempered an egg. When I make egg nog, I just whisk the egg into the cold milk and heat the whole mixture over the double boiler to begin with. Always has worked out the same in the end. Also do the same thing to make carbonara (no milk in that, of course). Double boilers are essential for me not to scramble an egg.

[@caeloMius]

1/4 cup powder sugar has about 50 g or less of sugar, but 2 egg whites have a mass of 60+ g. The ratio for merengas is 1 to 1. And its always best to dissolve the sugar before you start. My favorite is Swiss style as those do not require a thermometer. So My suggestion up the powdered sugar to a third of a cup up to 6 table spoons(3/8 of cup)

[@SeventhSwell]

This looked so good! Thanks for the video. Also, please don't think this is second-guessing you or anything like that. I don't want to be one of "those" comments. I'm just curious about corn starch. To me, here in the US, that looked like a tablespoon. Is it maybe a difference between Canadian and US measurements? I didn't even know there was a difference before I started watching your channel. I mean, I know you did it right because I know you know what you're doing, and it turned out. I'm just curious why that spoon looked so big. Totally willing to believe it's all on my end too.

[@LukeEdward]

Glen is the type of guy who separates the egg, with the sharp shell, over the copper bowl, because he KNOWS he ain’t going to get a speck of yolk in that sucker! That’s “Canadian Thug Life” right there! Maple sugar big ballin’ dolla dolla bills, yo! That’s how a Canadian cook flexes on his peers!

[@texasceechelle]

I know how you struggle with meringues and making them pretty. But it can be better! Take your beater if you’re using a hand mixer, or the end of your whisk, dip it into the meringue and pull up and you’ll have a very nice peaks. Thanks for the videos!

[@ubombogirl]

oh my wow! i'm sure my reaction would be quite the same as julie's! YUM-E!

[@altamiradorable]

My mother would make the exact same pie but with a twist ! She would use syrup instead and add oatmeal in the syrup and let is soak before cooking !

[@willy480able]

Wind and maple trees have a hate-hate relationship.

[@Jeffffrey0902]

I've always wanted to ask this question since I started watching this channel a couple of years ago: why doesn't the milk bag fall out of the jug when you're pouring? Is the bottom of the jug adhesive?

[@SeventhSwell]

Also, why doesn't the bit sticking out above the rim collapse when pouring? Must be some sort of Canadian magic.

[@lawyeredup]

Canadian here. You will notice that Glen always taps the bottom of the plastic jug on the counter after a new bag is put in. That removes all air between the bag and the bottom and sides of the bag. As a result, suction holds the bag in place. As milk is poured, the bag collapses on itself from the top. The seal is maintained between the sides of the bag and the plastic jug, holding the bag in place. The plastic itself is firm enough (stiffer than a freezer bag) that the top does not flop over. Hope this is clear.

[@emilypatterson2027]

I wanted to know if he leaves the milk open in the fridge

[@SeventhSwell]

@@emilypatterson2027 There doesn't appear to be any way to close it.

[@katharinemurphy9062]

🍁❤️

[@kathrynronnenberg1688]

Aha moment: until I watched your action with the spatula, I never knew how my mom got those little peaks in the meringue on her lemon pie.

[@shirleyannconfer9651]

Have you ever had maple sugar cotton candy? It’s pure bliss.

[@Magius61]

The not so subtle bag changes 😂

[@_Higgs]

If we don’t have a pizza stone, would it be worth baking the crust a bit before adding the filling?

[@chrisbates8064]

As an Australian, I've not heard of... let alone tried... maple sugar. That pie sounds delish though.

[@philliplapkovitch311]

I always wanted my great-grandmother's cookbooks don't know what happened to them they were from the 1800 early nineteen hundreds even told you how to put your your own meat farm-raised or hunted. I miss my great-grandma Connor

[@COWELLGIRL]

My gma made what they called Burnt Sugar Pie. Delicious

[@ClassicGr8Cars]

And what should I find in my grocery store today but a package of maple sugar. Almost eight bucks, but the recipe sounded so good I bought it.

[@adamdevereaux2459]

That Milk bag change was 100% intentional.. 😂

[@andrewwebster13]

Haha she loved it no denying it. Glen for the win warm up the bus.

[@jeannecastellano7181]

Could you use a Pyrex pie dish on top of a pizza stone or would the pie dish shatter?

[@nicoled.4472]

love pecan pie made with maple syrup, but don't know if I can do straight maple custard.

[@wbwillie]

that would make a really good frozen custard

[@Donnie_M.]

Rule of 3 "Welcome Back"s. Every video intro Glen says it 3 times....count em.

[@mr.esmusic3079]

Does it seem like Glen always have to change the milk bag?

[@itzel1735]

It’s clickbait. 😂

[@jonathanhaehnel5421]

glen puts in another mild bag, i like

[@anthonydolio8118]

But maple sugar is the creme de la creme. I may have to try that one. Thank you.

[@akadventurer7563]

Interesting you hit on different sugars, 2 seconds before that I started wondering if Birch sugar/birch syrup would ok in it. (No maple trees in Alaska! )

[@joantrotter3005]

Would potato flakes be a good replacement for the corn starch? If not, what do you suggest?

[@frankiep1387]

I love the traditional Québec Sugar Pie, but you might as well call it Diabetes Pie.

[@berguidf]

Need to know the oven temperature and for how long?

[@ageofsagittarius]

They look like a couple of little kids in Grandma's kitchen.

[@lancegentle6430]

Everytime I see you get your milk out, I'm always reminded of my elementary school. We had bagged white & chocolate milk in our cafeteria. Still strange to see bagged milk still a thing.

[@emilypatterson2027]

We did too. We had to watch a whole video about how to stab the bag and drink the milk. Then kids stabbed the straw all the way through the bag because it was fun and they stopped having bagged milk at school.

[@callioscope]

They DO try and scare you. I had always wanted to make vanilla custard with pastry cream as the base, but they made it seem so intimidating! I just did it like I had seen it done in many YT videos and was shocked at how easy it was. I feel like it is a form of hazing. The custard was great, btw, lightened up with whipped cream. I love maple ANYTHING and am sad about your trees. Hopefully the remainder will rejuvenate.

[@MatthewWaltonWalton]

There's a lot of that in cooking. Tempering eggs. Stirring risotto. I think it's a bit of a price of admission thing, a bit of cliqueness. Egg tempering does need to be explained, but I agree it's not at all scary.

[@adamwelch4336]

I like maple syrup but I'm not sure how much I would like it in a custard pie 🤔

[@Suree.Lifestyle]

Bet this would be awesome with hot, black coffee

[@grahamrankin4725]

What change would you do to use maple syrup instead of sugar.

[@bryanparkhurst17]

I've made the same pie just using honey dust (crystallized) honey.

[@debharshaw1882]

😊

[@rebeccaturner5503]

Oh My... no maple trees here... I guess I need to find and tap a brown sugar tree!

[@BrianWright70]

It's, $16 Canadian dollars(£10) a lb for maple sugar here in Scotland so doubt I'll be making it, pity as I love the taste of good maple syrup.

[@lesliemoiseauthor]

Do you find meringue spreading more agreeable than icing a cake, Glen?

[@Lurker1954]

Would Date Sugar dissolve right for this?

[@DustySplinters]

Wonder if this could be converted to use just Maple Syrup?

[@3kids2cats1dog]

I'm thinking the same, have 1 cup of syrup left from last year. 🍁🥧🪣

[@hilotakenaka]

You’d probably have to change the recipe’s ratios a fair amount due to how the consistency would change. You could make your own maple sugar using syrup though

[@virginiaf.5764]

​@@hilotakenaka You could, but as he said, his maple sugar amounted to three cups of syrup. It would be an expensive pie! Do a search, there are quite a few recipes for maple syrup custards.

[@Annie1962]

welp, that's me out of making it.. maple syrup is darned expensive here. I would def sub with dark brown sugar

[@coloringanddoodling9751]

Maple for the algorithm

[@lindar7099]

Wonder what. The conversion would be to maple syrup.

[@na195097]

No happy dance, but he kept eating, so we know it's good.

[@steveskouson9620]

That looks quite too sweet to me, I "might" consider using buttermilk or creme fresh, AFTER the boil. Do the custard, with 1/2 cup milk, another 1/2 cup, with the corn starch, add the yolks, and then, add a cup of creme fresh, which won't break or curdle the mix. (Buttermilk might curdle it.) Costco has Maple Syrup, for $11.99 a quart here. (I may get a few gallons.) My sweetener du jour, is usually something maple. Yes I have lots of syrup, and 4 pounds of sugar on hand. steve

[@janem3575]

Hi, I'm very inexperienced with baking. Question to those who do bake. What will happen if I try this recipe with maple syrup instead of its sugar? I'm assuming much more moist. Would the pie actually turn out soupy?

[@CAP198462]

Soupy is a good prediction. Maple syrup has a lot of additional ingredients to keep it a high viscosity fluid. Maple sugar doesn’t have those. So, without assistance it won’t thicken.

[@virginiaf.5764]

If you Google "maple syrup custard", you'll find quite a few recipes. I imagine using more eggs and cornstarch would help to get a pudding consistency. Because good maple syrup is expensive, I would cut a recipe in half the first time around.

[@geraldhenriksen3664]

@@CAP198462 I don’t know what your buying but maple syrup should have nothing added to it

[@janem3575]

@@virginiaf.5764 Thanks! Good idea. Half the amount and without crust. Just to test texture.

[@virginiaf.5764]

@@janem3575 You're welcome. I did see recipes that just used little custard cups like you would for any basic custard ... so no crusts.