Welcome to our Maple Syrup and Waffles Photo Collection

Our annual

and

Breakfast
is held on the second Friday of Spring Quarter.

All are welcome to partake!

Hiking out to the maple trees: One of the activities in Biol. 112 lab each year is tapping our local Sugar Maple trees. Students in the lab should know that the scientific name for Sugar Maple is Acer saccharum and it is in the plant family Aceraceae.

Dr. David Fankhauser tapping a maple tree: A brace and bit are used to drill a hole into which the spile will later be inserted.

A close-up of the tree tapping: Note that the hole is to be drilled at a slight angle so that the sap will drain out. If the angle is too steep, a heavy bucket full of sap may pull out the spile.

Xylem being drilled out of the tree: The bit first passes through the reddish phloem of the tree, then into the whitish xylem. Normally, the xylem brings water up from the tree roots to the rest of the tree. Sugary food has been stored in the tree’s roots all winter and is needed by the flower buds that open in the spring. Thus, in spring, the xylem serves the function of transporting stored sugars from the roots to the rest of the tree. Drilling into the xylem taps this resource of “sugar water.”

David pounding in the spile: Any wood shavings are removed from the hole and the spile is then pounded into the hole. The spile will support the bucket and lid as well as channel the sap into the bucket. It is important to remember to place the hook onto the spile, facing in the right direction, before inserting the spile into the tree.

A bucket hanging on the spile: The bucket is hung from the hook so that sap from the spile will drip into it.

Sap dripping off the end of a spile: At this point, the sap tastes like very dilute sugar water. It is a good substitute for water to make a very slightly sweetened tea (tea from home-grown peppermint works especially well for this). The sap drips into the bucket, which must be emptied daily. Don’t forget to put the lid on top to keep the rain out.

Boiling down the sap into syrup: The sap must be boiled to remove water, thereby concentrating the sugars into maple syrup.

Adding more sap to the boiling pan: As water evaporates, more sap may be added. When there is too little of the partially-boiled sap to safely use one of the large pans, the evaporating process is transferred to a smaller pan. The maple syrup is done when the temperature reaches 104° C and oily-looking bubbles foam up in the pan. If the pan is not removed from the heat in time, the whole thing will go up in smoke. While a little bit of this actually improves the flavor by carmelizing some of the sugar, in general, burnt syrup should be prevented by watching it closely for the last several minutes.

Welcome to the Waffle Breakfast: Each year, we encourage the greater Clermont College community to sample our maple syrup by hosting an annual Maple Syrup and Waffle Breakfast. This event, which is traditionally held on the second Friday of Spring Quarter, is hosted by the Biology Lab students.

David pouring batter into one of the waffle irons: Head waffle chef, Dr. David Fankhauser presides over the waffle-making. His recipe includes whole wheat flour, freshly-ground cornmeal, yogurt or buttermilk, sunflower seeds, and other interesting ingredients.

Removing a finished waffle from the iron: Waffles are cooked to golden perfection in 4.5 minutes. It is important to not open the waffle iron too soon, or the waffle will split in half and be difficult to remove.

A perfect waffle (well, almost): David said he’s seen better, but it looks pretty good from here. Waffles are painted with a 50:50 mixture of butter and oil (less cholesterol), then the maple syrup is squirted on top.

Other visitors: We frequently have a few other visitors who attend the waffle breakfast.

All of us full of waffles: We typically serve waffles to about 100 people in two hours. For our 20th Anniversary, we served about 150 people.