What can I use instead of corn syrup?

Question

I saw the question about UK, but I don't think I can find treacle of any kind in Germany.

I am looking for a substitute which will keep the physical qualities of the pie filling reasonably close to the original. I don't mind if the sweetness changes (in fact, I'd probably like it if it is less sweet than the original) and I don't mind introducing new aromas into the recipe.

My first idea was to make a very light caramel, and eventually keep it sticky with a dash of lemon juice. Then I could probably try to solve sugar in maple syrup, which will also introduce a new flavor and also keep it sweet.

Probably the closest thing to real corn syrup sold in the supermarket here is beet sugar syrup. But it isn't high on my list, because I probably won't use the rest up.

I also plan to use walnuts instead of pecans, if it makes any difference (pecans are quite rare here too).

The substitution shouldn't be too adventurous, I am baking this for guests (if I were alone and the filling got too thin or too thick to call it a pie, I'd still eat it as long as the taste is OK).

Answer 1

I did a little research and found this page which has a modified sugar syrup recipe for a substitute.

In case the link breaks:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar (spelling corrected by me)
• dash of salt

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a heavy, large pan. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and put a cover on for 3 minutes to get sugar crystals off the sides of the pan. Uncover and cook until it reaches soft ball stage. Stir often.

Cool syrup and store in a covered container at room temperature. It will keep 2 months. Yield: almost 2 cups. For dark corn syrup add 1/4 cup molasses to the above recipe.

Answer 2

Well, it's basically a Pecan Pie, and there are tons of Pecan Pie recipes that don't include corn syrup. The most common substitution is brown sugar: you can go roughly 1-to-1, but you'll need to increase the amount of butter, and you might as well just replace the white sugar with brown as well. (so, in this case, 2 cups DARK brown sugar (packed), and 1/2 cup butter.

Not sure how the chocolate will react, but your recipe calls for dark syrup, so the taste shouldn't be a big factor.

Answer 3

If treacle would make a good substitute, what about molasses? I think your idea of maple syrup would probably be delicious, so if you have that, it's what I'd try!

Answer 4

If you can find it, glucose syrup is an excellent substitute. It's arguably healthier, preferred in confectionery work, about half as sweet as corn syrup, and a 1:1 substitute in most cases (except for the sweetness).

Here in the US, I have to order mine from Amazon, but it's worth a look in your local stores.

Answer 5

The point of the corn syrup may be to help the sugar dissolve or stop it crystallizing, in which case you need a substitute that includes glucose or fructose rather than sucrose. If you can't get corn syrup or golden syrup or glucose syrup then boiling a syrup made with sugar and an acid such as cream of tartar will convert some of the sucrose to fructose and glucose.

You can probably reduce the need for glucose or fructose by mixing the filling very thoroughly so that the sugar is all dissolved.

Answer 6

not sure if it would yield the same results, but i was going to suggest maybe sorghum syrup? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorghum_syrup

it seems like something that predates the introduction of commercially-produced stuff like corn syrup. it certainly would change the flavor, but maybe it would be for the better. : )

Answer 7

Though this is a quite old discussion, maybe someone researching might want to try this:

There is a syrup made from sugar beets ("Zuckerrübensirup") which is very common as bread spread in Germany. It's quite dark and thick: http://www.grafschafter.de/grafschafter-goldsaft

They also make a light version of it (not too common yet): http://www.grafschafter.de/grafschafter-heller-sirup

There are other brands on the market, but this is the most common one in my area.

Answer 8

I asked my chef-instructor this question once when I took a cake baking class. She replied that Agave nectar is a good one-to-one substitute.

Answer 9

Back then, I chickened out and made a reliable choco-banana cake for the guests. But I still wanted to try the pie, and finally got around to making it, even getting real pecans for it.

I cooked the substitute to get an idea of the desired consistency, but I think it got way too dense. Then I looked over all the sweeteners I had, and settled on a 1:1 mixture of beet sugar syrup and honey. The syrup was there to make it dark and, well, syrupy, and I hoped that the glucose in the honey will prevent sugar crystalization (it didn't do it perfectly, but it was OK) and that I'll get a denser consistency.

Now the pie is ready, after a night in the fridge. The consistency is really good, firm, but not overly sticky. It doesn't have the soufle-foamy feel you sometimes get with egg-heavy pie filling, and this is a big advantage in my book. But the taste would have been much better if it were less sweet. Next time I think I'll skip all the sugar and use less of the honey-syrup mix. Today, my co-workers will get some sweet pie.