A Tribute to VT Maple

This weekend was Vermont's maple open house weekend, and the weather could not have cooperated more. Although I missed excursions to the sugar houses, I did decide to try my hand at a completely invented maple desert on my part. The recipe is below, along with a not-so-nice picture of my finished product. I really should not be in charge of decorating and leave that bit to artistic folks!

Maple Swirl Cheesecake Tart

Crust
9 whole graham crackers, broken into pieces
1/4 cup maple sugar
1/3 cup butter, melter

1) Pulse the graham cracker pieces with the maple sugar in a food processor. When you achieve fine crumbs add the melted butter, and process again until the crumbs begin to stick together on the sides of the bowl.
2) Turn out the crumb into an 8-inch tart pan and press them into the bottom and sides of the pan so that the crust is of an even thickness and covering the whole pan.
3) Bake the crust in a 350-degree oven for 7 minutes and allow to cool once removed.

Filling
8 oz cream cheese (we were low on this ingredient so I used yogurt to cover the remaining of the weight)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup sour cream
3 gelatin leaves, soaked, squeezed, and melted in microwave
1/2 heavy cream, whipped until stiff

1) Combine the cream cheese and maple syrup together in a mixing bowl and whisk together. Add the sour cream and whisk again. Then add the melted gelatin and whisk just until it is even incorporated.
2) Fold the whipped cream into the bowl, making the filling as light as possible.
3) Pour the filling into the cooled graham cracker crust.

Maple Syrup Caramel
1/4 cup maple sugar
2 tblsp butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp rum

1) Heat the maple sugar with one tsp of water in a heavy bottom pan set over medium high heat. Once the sugar has liquefied, add the butter and swirl the pan to mix it in. Next add the cream and bring the mixture to a low simmer and allow it to cook for about 5 minutes. Finally add the rum and allow it to boil to cook off the alcohol.
2) Allow the caramel to cool slightly and then pour it over the filled tart as desired. I tried to be artistic using the tip of a knife, but as so often happens with my little experiments, the art turned very messy. Nevertheless the end result was tasty and a good toast to VT's Maple Open House Weekend.

P.S. The aromas that linger after making this tart might make you think of pancakes;)