Maple Syrup Eggs Recipe
Sure, Maple Syrup Fried Eggs sounds a little unusual, and you might be questioning this combination of sweet and not-sweet, but don't knock the idea until you've tried it.
The idea is pretty basic: fry an egg in maple syrup and serve it on a waffle or pancake. Easy, right?
Is maple syrup good on eggs?
When enjoying a big breakfast, have you ever accidentally mixed a bit of syrup from your pancakes on other items, like eggs? It’s pretty good, right? We think it is, but maybe looking back at the origins of combining eggs and maple syrup would help persuade you.
Why do maple syrup and eggs belong together?
Somewhere along the way, somebody, either by accident or on purpose, decided to try eggs with maple syrup. From that discovery, a new flavour combination was born and became a new way to enjoy eggs. But who came up with the idea in the first place?
What are the origins of the recipe for maple poached eggs?
As Canadians, we have all enjoyed time at the sugar bush. Getting all bundled up and checking trees for the sap running into buckets is just part of being a kid in many parts of Canada! In many places, enjoying stacks of pancakes, sausage and eggs outside in the fresh air was a delicious part of the trip.
In Quebec, somewhere along the way it became a tradition to boil eggs along with the sap as it was being prepared into maple syrup to make Maple Poached Eggs - or oeufs dans le sirop d'erable – as it is known there. Although not quite as popular as maple candies or taffy, it’s still a popular way to combine two classic ingredients. Speaking of combining ingredients, let’s take a look at what happens when you cook an egg in syrup!
What happens when you put an egg in maple syrup?
Here’s where some science comes into play. Did you know that if you cook an egg in maple syrup, through osmosis, the egg becomes smaller in size! Since there is a higher concentration of water in the egg than in the syrup, the water molecules in the egg will move to the syrup, which has a lower concentration of water molecules. And that (in an egg shell) is osmosis! Therefore, the egg becomes smaller because it loses water molecules.
If that isn’t impressive enough, the egg will also float in syrup! Again, the explanation of why has a scientific answer. Simply put, the syrup is denser than the egg, therefore the egg floats!
If you still aren’t convinced that eggs in maple syrup is worth all the hype, the best way to decide is to try it for yourself! We’ve even come up with step-by-step instructions for you!
Maple Syrup Fried Eggs Recipe
Step 1
Over medium heat, warm one or two tablespoons (15 to 30 mL) of maple syrup in a non-stick frying pan. (we strongly recommend using real maple syrup!)
Step 2
Crack an egg into the syrup. As the egg gently cooks (it will poach more than fry), spoon some of the syrup over top. When the egg is cooked to your liking (you can flip it if you want), place it on top of a freshly cooked or toasted waffle or pancake.
Step 3
Spoon the syrup in the pan over top of the egg and waffle. Add a little more syrup, if you wish. We prefer the yolk of a maple syrup-fried egg a bit runny. It mixes with the syrup and adds a dimension of flavour and richness to the syrup a hard-cooked yolk simply couldn't.
Step 4
Enjoy!