Grand-Pères (Maple Syrup Dumplings)
When the weather warms up in late winter and early spring, there’s an event that Québécois enjoy and it’s going to a sugar shack which translates in French as “cabane à sucre”. From March to the end of April, fully loaded buses 🚌 take people on tours, schools organize day trips for students while families plan a day to drive to a nearby location.
There are a few activities on site like sleigh-rides, tours of the grounds and games. One of my favorites is when we gather around a long half empty log where clean snow ❄ is placed and hot maple syrup is poured over. The contact with the cold snow makes the syrup harder and using a wooden stick, we swirl the hard taffy around it… it’s so good!
What people really go for is to enjoy a good ol’ traditional meal inside the shack. The décor is pretty rustic with long wooden tables and chairs. Their menu is pretty simple; anything to do with maple syrup like Baked Beans, Scrambled Eggs & Pancakes topped with maple syrup, Oreille de Crisse (Deep-Fried Pork Rinds), Bacon 🥓 & Sausages cooked in maple syrup along with Creton and fresh Bread, and many more items.
For dessert, there are a few choices such as Pouding Chômeur (Poor Man’s Pudding), Crêpes, Butter Tarts with Maple Syrup, Tarte su Sirop d’Érable (Maple Syrup Pie), as well as Ice Cream – all with maple syrup 🍁!
Another great dessert served is Grand-Pères which are Maple Syrup Dumplings! This is probably the easiest dessert recipe to make. After the dough is done, it is dropped by the tablespoon into a boiling maple syrup sauce. After a short cooking time, the hot dumplings are placed into a serving bowl with the sauce spooned on top. To make it taste even better, a nice generous scoop of vanilla ice cream is served with it… yummy 🤩!
Grand-Pères means literally grand-fathers 👴 in French. The origin of this sweet treat is quite vague. I’m not sure if it’s because the Maple Syrup Dumplings resemble an elderly face or perhaps the grand-daddies were able to eat it despite missing teeth. The most important thing is this dessert is incredibly delicious regardless of the reason behind the name.
When you’re short on time ⏰ and want to serve a gorgeous dessert to your family, don’t hesitate to make this flavorful Québécois recipe. These Grand-Pères (Maple Syrup Dumplings) are a great classic from la Belle Province and certainly a must try…
Bon Appétit!🍽
Check out these other delicious recipes from Québec…😀
– Perfect Poutine with Bacon Gravy
– Tourtière
– Squash à la Canadienne
– Salmon Pie
– Bouilli du Québec
– Sucre à la Crème – Butter & Cream Fudge
– Pork Stew with Meatballs ~ Ragoût de Boulettes & Pattes de Cochon
and for even more dessert recipes 🍩🍰, click on this link… Recipe Category • Dessert
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Grand-Pères (Maple Syrup Dumplings)
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Ingredients
DOUGH
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 3 tbsp. unsalted butter tips & tricks
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract optional
MAPLE SAUCE
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1/2 cup good quality maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Directions
DOUGH
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Add butter to dry ingredients and work until the mixture resembles coarse sand using fingers, pastry cutter or a couple of knives.
- Add milk a little at a time until the dough comes together. Add vanilla extract, stir and set aside.
SAUCE
- In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add butter, water, brown sugar, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Bring the sauce to a simmer.
- By the tablespoon, drop the dough balls one by one into the simmering sauce. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook for 14 minutes. Halfway, spoon the sauce over the dumplings.
- Scoop up a hot dumpling into a serving bowl, spoon sauce over and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
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