Cinnamon Buns

What the heck!  I’m half French Canadian going back 375 years and born in Montreal and not only have I never eaten those, I’ve never even heard of it. Now I have to have them. Those must be a recent culinary innovation like poutine. I love all things maple syrup but growing up we never had it because it was too expensive. There’s no way my mother would have used so much maple syrup in this way. Now that I can afford pure maple syrup I won’t eat anything else but I still respect it like it was liquid gold.

You go right ahead. I'm a Type II diabetic. 
  A real pity, because of several cabanes à sucre operating nearby.

As far as the origins go, wikpedia says:

Origin
This dessert is said to be of Acadian origin and that its current name dates back from when it arrived in Quebec. The name "grand-père" is assumed to have been given to this dish either because grandfathers could easily eat this dish despite having lost their teeth, because the ball resembled an elderly face or because the dish was prepared by grandfathers who were relegated the easy task of stirring maple syrup in the cauldron.

I first had some in Ulukhaktok, NWT.

What the heck!  I’m half French Canadian going back 375 years and born in Montreal and not only have I never eaten those, I’ve never even heard of it. Now I have to have them. Those must be a recent culinary innovation like poutine. I love all things maple syrup but growing up we never had it because it was too expensive. There’s no way my mother would have used so much maple syrup in this way. Now that I can afford pure maple syrup I won’t eat anything else but I still respect it like it was liquid gold.

You go right ahead. I'm a Type II diabetic. 
  A real pity, because of several cabanes à sucre operating nearby.

As far as the origins go, wikpedia says:

Origin
This dessert is said to be of Acadian origin and that its current name dates back from when it arrived in Quebec. The name "grand-père" is assumed to have been given to this dish either because grandfathers could easily eat this dish despite having lost their teeth, because the ball resembled an elderly face or because the dish was prepared by grandfathers who were relegated the easy task of stirring maple syrup in the cauldron.

I first had some in Ulukhaktok, NWT.

I love that I can keep learning stuff. I suspect the use of maple syrup precluded it even being mentioned in my house growing up. My mom’s philosophy would have been, you can’t have it so why even think about it? 

We moved out west when I was young snd there’s no caban a sucres in Alberta. Maple trees don’t grow here.  That said I do love maple syrup and can eat it straight up. I guess I’m making up  for lost time. My moms repertoire included tourtiere, creton, pate chinois and the deconstructed version we called giblot (phonetic spelling) and I always got a box of sucre a la creme from my grandmother at Christmas. It would be packed in an ok’d Birks or Laura Secord box wrapped in  copious layers of wax paper. Good memories.