Review Recipe & Giveaway: Tonewood Maple

Ever since I was a little girl I have loved maple syrup. Now, I don't mean the “maple syrup” that you find next to the quick mix in an anthropomorphically shaped plastic bottle. I'm talking the liquid gold in the glass bottles on the top shelf.

I think it started on a field trip in grade school, where we went to one of the many nature preserves and watched as someone boiled down some sap and then everyone got a small sample of it that we got to cool in the March snow like they did in Little House in the Big Woods!

Then, when I was older, we moved to a house that had plenty of sugar maples for us to tap and make our very own syrup! Alas, I have since moved from my home in the northwoods, and now am in the desert where sugar maple trees are in short supply and good maple products aren't a commonplace thing.

To my rescue came Tonewood and their premium maple products!

Tonewood offers a variety of pure maple syrup items as well as having an “Adopt a Tree” program where you can choose to sponsor a tree from one of two farms.

Aside from offering syrup in four different grades, Tonewood also sells maple wafers, maple flakes, maple seasoning, maple cream, and maple cubes in two different flavors (Golden Delicate with a light, buttery flavor, and Dark Robust with a bold, maple taste), as well as a cookbook and a cube grater.

If you're looking for a variety of maple goodies as well as a way to help support small maple producers, you should definitely check out the Adopt a Tree program.

The Adopt a Tree program includes three packages that are delivered to you through the year; the first package arrives shortly after you place your order, and includes an adoption certificate and a picture of your tree; the second package arrives in the spring and contains their four grade collection of maple syrup as well as a recipe book to help you explore their culinary possibilities; the third package will come in the fall and delivers their sweet pairing package of a maple cube and eight maple wafers.

 You can choose to adopt from one of two farms in Vermont, and support their efforts for $120 a year.

I was lucky enough to be able to try out their maple cube in Dark Robust (16.99) for this review.

I knew the day my package arrived that something wonderful was in store for me! My mailbox smelled like heaven. Inside the deceptively ordinary cardboard box was a business card, a postcard sized maple grade guide, and the Dark Robust maple cube of goodness!

Upon opening the wrapping, I had the immediate urge to lick it like you would a giant jawbreaker of maple divinity.

 Instead, I quickly dished out some plain vanilla ice cream and used my microplaner to put some of the block of joy on top. I was not disappointed!

The Dark Robust certainly lived up to its name, giving me the intense almost smokey flavor of pure maple deliciousness.

 I have since used it with a variety of foods, such as yogurt, oatmeal, puffy oven pancakes, tea, coffee, and bacon, to name a few. Everyone in my family has enjoyed my maple adventuring, even my sometimes picky Mischief!

I store my maple cube of delight in a zippy bag, though you can purchase cube grater that doubles as a storage container.

Here's one of my favorite ways to use the Tonewood Dark Robust Maple Cube:  Baked Maple Bacon! (I'll pause while you drool)

Baked Maple Bacon

Place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet.
(For easier cleanup, I place aluminum foil on the cookie sheet to catch most of the grease)

Lay bacon on top of the rack

Grate the maple cube over the bacon to your desired level of mapleness.

 I like a strong maple flavor, so I grated a lot of the cube, but if you'd like a subtler flavor, just use less.

Bake at 350 until desired doneness. 10 min for chewier 25 for extra crispy in my oven.

ENJOY and try to not burn yourself! ;-)

I am certainly going to be ordering another cube once mine runs out, as well as trying out a few of their other goodies. My family and my tastebuds would never forgive me for letting us live without it!

Tonewood Maple Website

Tonewood Maple on Facebook

Tonewood Maple is letting us host a Giveaway of a Dark Robust Maple Cube ($16.99) of your own!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment in this entry as instructed by the Rafflecopter, then leave the name you commented under and your email in the box in the Rafflecopter entry. (This allows us to contact you if you win!)  This will open up additional optional entries to increase your odds of winning.

This giveaway is open to US RESIDENTS ONLY
and will end just before midnight ET on 4-13-15. 

The winner will be notified by email within 24 hours after the end of the giveaway.  In order to claim the giveaway prize, the winner will need to respond within 24 hours of notification, or an alternate winner will be selected.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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