American Baker in Germany

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 sug...

Cream of tartar, despite it's general availability in the US, is not easy to find in all areas of the world. So, what is cream of tartar? It's an acid. It consists of tartaric acid, which is the residue left over from wine making. Cream of tartar stabilizes egg whites, prevents syrup from forming sugar crystals, and when combined with baking soda, causes your dough to rise. It can also lend your sweet treats a bit of a sour note so they're not only sweet. Cream of tartar looks like this. It's a white powder and is occasionally added to baked goods. The most common of these is Snickerdoodle cookies. I've never seen a recipe for Snickerdoodles that did not include cream of tartar. Is it available in Germany? Not really. You can find it online listed as Weinsäure, but generally it's hard to find and quite expensive. So, if you are unfortunate enough to live somewhere where it can't be found, what can you substitute for it? Let's go through the pos...