Maple Freeze is a sweet treat that was made with just 3 ingredients, with the main ingredient being maple syrup.

Sugaring was an early spring task in the Smoky Mountains. The whole community or several families would come together for a “frolic” to cook down the sugar water, which had been collected from all the Sugar Maples that had been tapped. It is part of our Forgotten Recipes of the Smokies series.

The Sugarlands area of the Smoky Mountains was given its name by the earliest settlers in the 19th century because of the vast amount of Sugar Maples in the valley. The Sugarlands was mostly cleared, but the Sugar Maple is prevalent throughout the park

Here is the recipe as it appeared in Shenandoah Valley Cooking, Recipes and Kitchen Lore:

Maple Freeze

Beat four medium eggs lightly, pour over this one cup of warmed maple syrup, cook in a double boiler and stir until it becomes very thick. When it cools add a pint of cream beating it until it is well blended and pour the mixture into a mold and pack on ice. (Store in a freezer for several hours.) This frozen dessert is very rich.

Testing Notes:

Because this recipe uses eggs, you want to make sure you cook it at a temperature to cook, but not scramble the eggs, which is 160 degrees. You can use a candy thermometer to ensure you get it to the right temperature, but through the testing of this recipe, 4 minutes once the mixture began to cook was the perfect amount of time.