What Is Corn Syrup? Why Is It Used For Hard Candy? | LorAnn Oils (2024)

FAQs

Why is corn syrup used in hard candy? ›

Provides Smooth Texture: Corn syrup helps to create a smooth and glossy texture in candies, ensuring that they are not grainy or gritty.

Corn syrup is a food syrup which is made from the starch of corn/maize and contains varying amounts of sugars: glucose, maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften texture, add volume, prevent crystallization of sugar, and enhance flavor.

It became a popular sweetener in the late 1970s when the price of regular sugar was high, while corn prices were low due to government subsidies (1).

These sugar monomers will prevent sucrose crystal formation, resulting in a clear, glassy hard candy. Starch chains are found in High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), not in invert sugar syrups.

Candy corn is made with sugar, corn syrup, salt, sesame oil, honey, artificial flavor, food colorings, gelatin, and confectioner's glaze.

Corn syrup is a liquid sweetener made from corn starch that is used in a wide variety of culinary applications, like making candy, jams, jellies, frostings, and baked goods like cookies, pies and cakes.

Often used in baking, corn syrup creates a smoother texture than regular sugar. Think of a pecan pie versus a cake. A pecan pie, which uses corn syrup, is gooier and less spongy than a cake, which uses granulated sugar.

It is often used as a flavoring agent for medicines. The syrup should be kept tightly in a cool and dry place after use for preservation. Medicinal syrups are widely used as medicines for children, but there are also pharmaceutical syrups for adults.

According to Karo, which makes corn syrup and pancake syrup, its high sugar content means it doesn't spoil and doesn't need to be refrigerated. It is also not typically susceptible to mold.

How do you make hard candy soft? ›

To speed that process along, leave the candy in a loosely covered container with a damp paper towel. If the candy is not wrapped, place a double sheet of plastic wrap between the damp towel and the candy. Change the damp towel every two to three days. It will still probably take a month or so for the candy to soften.

You can harden honey by boiling the honey to a temperature of 300 degrees and then letting the honey cool. This causes the honey to thicken and harden. If left alone, honey will also harden naturally or crystalize over time.

It's what gives such foods their sweetness and "is a very common ingredient because it is inexpensive and helps enhance food flavor and texture," says Lisa Young, PhD, RDN, an adjunct professor of nutrition at New York University and author of "Finally Full, Finally Slim."

Corn syrup keeps sugar from crystallizing, a.k.a. hard sugar lumps forming in your otherwise smooth syrup, which is why you'll often see it in homemade candy or caramel recipes. Whether you're making brittle or butterscotch, adding corn syrup along with the sugar results in smooth, never-grainy caramel.

What is the impact of eating too much sugar? In the short-term, eating too much sugar may contribute to acne, weight gain, and tiredness. In the long-term, too much sugar increases the risk of chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

In gummies, corn syrups are highly functional ingredients, preventing crystallization of the sucrose in the high solids (80% to 83%) content of the finished product. They also prevent dextrose crystallization. The resulting sugar blend forms a glass, adding to the desired gummi texture.

Reese's: One PB cup will set you back 105 calories. It's got sugar, peanuts, chocolate, and the questionable preservative TBHQ, but it doesn't contain HFCS or trans fats. If you eat a clean diet, having one of these at Halloween won't be a disaster.

Cream of tartar has been around for a long time; it's a byproduct of wine-making. The purpose of corn syrup in candy recipes is mainly to help prevent the sugar from crystallizing. Any non-sucrose sugar in the mix will help. That includes corn syrup, honey, boiled down fruit syrups, and invert sugar.

Chocolate syrup typically contains high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, sugar, cocoa, water, salt, and other flavors. Hershey's syrup contains high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, sugar, water, cocoa, salt, potassium sorbate, and other flavors.