Maple Syrup Season 2016
The Bakepedia Test Kitchen is in New England and this time of year brings us thoughts of everything maple syrup related. Even though we had an unusually warm winter, maple syrup season 2016 is on tap (get the joke?) to be one of the best ever. Apparently once the taps were in the trees the weather was really optimal. Burr Morse, owner of Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks in Montpelier, VT explained that ideal weather conditions for sugaring hover around daytime temperature in the 40s and nighttime temperatures in the 20s. He also said that having more winds from the west and north help the maple flow since “the sap flow has to do with atmospheric pressure, and the pressure inside the trees has to be better than outside.” The weather has been just so. Another producer in Bennington VT, Keith Armstrong, in the southern area of the state has said that this year “was the second-best season we ever had.”
Now, we love pure maple syrup on pancakes as much as the next person, but we also like baking and cooking with it. Here is our take on a gluten-free Browned Butter Maple Nut Bar. It is soft and a bit cake, with pure maple flavor and crunch from the nuts.
To learn more about Vermont maple syrup production, check out vermontmaple.org.
The 50th Annual Vermont Maple Festival will be held April 22-24 in downtown St. Albans. For more information, please visit vtmaplefestival.org.
that got me hooked. How fitting that she herself is festooned with icing for the cover of the 
now.
had been published the year before. I had my first edition in hand, already stained and dog-eared. I was about to meet Rose in person and was quite excited.
Dédé Wilson – Bakepedia is led by Dédé Wilson, who developed the concept and writes much of the original content. She envisions Bakepedia as eventually being the biggest, most comprehensive baking site on the web with community participation led by a crackerjack editorial team. She sees Bakepedia as being of and for our community members and would love to hear from you 
Amy Devore Foster – Amy and Dédé worked together at Bon Appetit where Amy was Executive Director for Brand & Business Development. At Bakepedia Amy is part of our marketing team functioning as a brand strategist and leading the way with partners and sponsors.
Ted Nelson – Ted originally came from advertising, eventually landing in PR and marketing and was an early observer of online communities. He is part of our marketing team focusing on brand articulation, general business development and analyzing user behavior.
April Francis – The third key person in our marketing team, April is not only handling day-to-day SEO, social media and marketing directives but she is also a WordPress rock star where she is currently working on some new design aspects. She also has e-commerce experience, which we hope to put to good use in the future. April helps oversee our interns and can be reached at 
Lauren Chattman – Lauren is one of our editorial team and specializes in Recipes and Tips that are super user-friendly. She knows the home baker and makes sure that you can make her recipes easily without worry or fuss. She has authored 14 books (and counting) including an IACP Award Winner, rocked out QVC with her titles and has been a spokesperson for many major brands including JIF and Pillsbury. Write her at 
Sarah Tenaglia – Sarah recently joined us on the editorial team, creating original Recipes and Tips. She and Dédé had worked together at Bon Appetit magazine where Sarah was head of the legendary Test Kitchen and functioned as Senior Food Editor. She is a cookbook author and began her illustrious career years ago at Chez Panisse as a pastry chef.
Murray Cohn – Murray makes sure everything runs smoothly on our WordPress site. He oversees our technology and is currently working with April on new design aspects that are coming soon such as Star Ratings, an Add Your Recipe button and more.
Cory Greenberg – Cory lives on Dédé’s street so he gets to visit the Test Kitchen regularly. Cory is our general business development partner working with Dédé and our marketing team on business strategy, development and execution.
Stephen Brand – Stephen met Dédé the very day she introduced the Bakepedia concept publically to a mentorship group back in 2012 and has been a champion ever since. Stephen teaches entrepreneurship and is passionate about fostering creativity and innovation in the workplace. He has worked with many different groups from the US Olympic Committee to WGBH to Jim Henson. We’re not sure which experience prepared him best for Bakepedia.
Paige Triplett – Paige is our senior intern, having been with us for many months. She has performed behind-the-scenes duties such as analysis of fellow sites and blogs but recently she has been single-handedly creating our Newsletter so you get to see her handiwork every week.
Peter Muka – Peter gets to come to the Test Kitchen regularly but we make him take pictures before he gets to eat. You will see Peter’s name on many of our posts as our team photographer. He walks in every time with a smile, easy demeanor and on special days he surprises us with props, bringing huge tabletops and backdrops and even tiny antique utensils to the shoots. Somehow he has managed to get the work done with Dédé’s two bull terriers hugging his feet.
Alexa Costi – Alexa came to us via our friends at Harvard Common Press where she had been a kick-ass intern, so we lured her over hereJ Alexa is our Round-Up queen and works with Dédé on popular content topics. You get to hear her voice in her Round-Ups, adding another flavor to our articles.
Bess Walsh – Bess is a recent CIA (Culinary Institute of America) grad with a BA degree in Hospitality and Business Management but she is a huge baking enthusiast! She believes there is nothing more rewarding than taking the time to measure all ingredients precisely (Dédé loves her just for this alone). Bess is also interested in food writing and illustration. Bess will be overseeing Pinterest and we hope to get her writing and drawing soon.
Cray Novich – Cray is our Hampshire College video intern. We had just started producing videos together in the spring and we hope to pick up again when he returns in a few weeks. Our marketing team is assessing how video will play a part in our future, so look for changes.
Sofia Maroulis – Sofia is entering the 8th grade and has been helping us all summer with recipe testing and photo shoots. She has gorgeous hands and nails and we keep trying to use her as a hand model! Her favorite thing to do is learning how to make things that she has never made before. Just yesterday at a shoot she learned to make crêpes and a caramel frosting and how to formally taste chocolate.
