Baking Basics: Substitutions for Corn Syrup

Just a warning. I am not talking about making corn syrup in this blog. If you're looking for a recipe, this isn't one. What I want to talk about today, is what you can buy that you can substitute for corn syrup if it's difficult to find where you are. Maybe a recipe will follow someday. When I find one I like.

First of all, what is corn syrup? Isn't corn what you eat on the cob with salt?

Well, yes. But corn is also called sweet corn because it contains a surprisingly high amount of sugar. When this sugar is extracted and boiled down, it turns into a thick syrup that is often used in candy making, particularly in the US. Why the US? Well, corn is native to North America. So, corn syrup is actually cheaper in the US than regular sugar, so American candy makers will use it rather than sugar in many sweets.

Let's quickly talk about light versus dark corn syrup. Light corn syrup means light in color. It is flavored with vanilla. Dark corn syrup has another sugar in it similar to molasses which gives it a richer flavor. 
Can you find corn syrup in Europe? Not really. It has to be imported as a general rule. You might strike gold occasionally at specialty shops, but in general, you will be paying a lot for shipping. Seems rather superfluous. Not to mention pricey. Isn't there an alternative? Anything at all?
 Of course there is. Rice is also starchy and the sugar can be extracted to make a syrup. Rice syrup is significantly easier to find in Germany. It can be found in natural food stores and some well-stocked drug stores. It works pretty much just as well as corn syrup in recipes. The taste is very similar. If there is a difference, I would say it's that corn syrup tastes a bit more strongly of vanilla. But they both react just about exactly the same in recipes.
 If you can't find that, glucose syrup is available from wholesalers and candy makers as well as online. There are different kinds of glucose, and they are marked by a number that is called DE or Dextrose Equivalent. Although it's often marked with a degree symbol or percent symbol, it's actually DE. This one is 43 DE. That's the thinner version. The other one I've used is 45 DE, which is thicker than corn syrup. The 43 DE glucose is more similar to the consistency of corn syrup.

As far as taste goes, glucose syrup is a bit tasteless. The good part of that is that it won't effect the flavor of your recipe. However, if you need the vanilla taste of corn syrup, you need to add some extra vanilla flavor to your recipe.
 So, while corn syrup's position as the queen of candy making will undoubtedly never be seriously challenged, it is possible to make your favorite recipes containing corn syrup even if you don't live in North America.
Watch us talk all about this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/VgxUZbbxVKQ
Schaut zu wie wir auf YouTube darüber reden hier: https://youtu.be/gWUwj4UMtVQ

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