What Corn Can Do For Your Caramel That Sugar Just Can't

When making caramel at home, it can be a bit tricky making sure the sugar, butter, and cream turn into a nice smooth and thick sauce. This is because sugar very easily reverts back to a solid, and too much stirring or changes in temperature can quickly cause your golden caramel to crystallize and turn into an unattractive lumpy mess.

Enter corn syrup. It's the key ingredient for all the best sweet and sticky baked goods like pecan pie, gooey Rice Krispies treats, or those heavenly chocolate chip cookies with crispy edges and chewy centres. Adding even just a small amount of it on top of the sugar can be your secret weapon against grainy caramel. This is because the glucose present in the corn interferes with the coagulation of sucrose molecules in sugar, helping to stop sugar from crystallizing and clumping. The result is a luscious lump-free caramel sauce. Corn syrup is also used in fudge-making and cookie glazes for the same reason. Whenever you need something to be smooth and silky, corn syrup is the way to go. 

With all the talk around the harmful health effects of high fructose corn syrup in recent years, many people are left wondering what exactly the difference is between regular corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. As the names suggests, one contains fructose and the other doesn't. In regular corn syrup, the glucose in corn is extracted and refined, resulting in the golden syrup that is made only of glucose. High fructose corn syrup on the other hand, has enzymes added to it to turn much of the glucose into fructose. Fructose is much harder for the body to break down, and on top of that, the products that have high fructose corn syrup listed in the ingredients usually use a lot of it. Some of the known health risks of consuming too much fructose include fatty liver disease and diabetes.

One important thing to know is that bottled corn syrup is sold in grocery stores, but high fructose corn syrup is only used industrially in highly processed foods. Food companies use it because it's sweet like sugar, but more cost effective. It's one of the common grocery store labels that are a huge red flag, and should be avoided when possible. Essentially, while high fructose corn syrup should be avoided, regular corn syrup is an excellent substitute for sugar depending on what you are baking and what kind of texture you are aiming for. And when it comes to smooth caramel, corn syrup has an advantage that sugar doesn't.