A thick, clear syrup made by breaking down starch. Less sweet than sugar, it gets in the way of sugar crystallising — so caramels stay chewy, sorbets scoopable, fondant smooth and ganache glossy.
thick · mildly sweet · glossy
Kinds
Confectioner's glucose
Very thick, around DE 40 — the pastry-kitchen standard.
Light corn syrup
The American version, thinner and sometimes flavoured with vanilla; fine in most recipes.
Glucose powder
Dried glucose, for ice creams and sorbets — solids without water.
If you can't find it
In the US, light corn syrup; elsewhere, baking shops.
1Light corn syrup
The same
You lose very little.
Goes with
sugarcreamchocolatefruit purée
Knowing it
Where to buy
Baking shops, pastry suppliers and some supermarkets, in tubes or tubs.
Worth knowing
Weigh it straight into the pan, or wet the spoon — it's stubbornly sticky. In a caramel, glucose at somewhere around 10–25% of the sugar's weight keeps it from crystallising grainy.