Polydish city guide
Best Maple taffy in San Francisco
“Maple sap boiled past syrup, poured onto snow, rolled onto a stick. Pure maple season in candy form.”
What the real thing tastes like
Maple taffy (sometimes maple toffee in English-speaking Canada, tire d'érable or tire sur la neige in French-speaking Canada; also sugar on snow or candy on the snow or leather aprons in the United States) is a sugar candy made by boiling maple sap past the point where it would form maple syrup, but not so long that it becomes maple butter or maple sugar. It is part of traditional culture in Quebec, Eastern Ontario, New Brunswick and northern New England. In these regions, it is poured onto the snow, then lifted either with a small wooden stick, such as a popsicle stick, or a metal dinner fork.
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Maple taffy is the precise sweet spot between two states of being—boiled maple sap that's gone past syrup but stopped short of butter or granulated sugar. In Quebec, Eastern Ontario, New Brunswick, and northern New England, this candy finds its truest expression poured steaming onto snow, where it's rolled onto a wooden stick or fork and eaten while still warm and pliable. The technique is simple and ritualistic, a direct translation of maple season into something you can hold in your hand.
Order it here when it has
- part of traditional culture
- simple technique
- regional specificity across multiple provinces
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