Invert sugar, also called invert syrup, invert sugar or Trimoline —a trade name by which it is also known— is a highly valued ingredient in homemade ice cream and pastry making , and is even used in the production of homemade beers.
The inverted sugar recipe we propose here is especially simple and doesn't require any unusual ingredients that you probably already have at home. As we'll see, to prepare it you'll only need sugar, water, and lemon juice, which will provide the necessary acid.
Regarding the acid, it's very common to use cream of tartar or the typical baking powder packets that include a sachet of tartaric acid. However, it's not necessary to use these products. You can use a much easier acid to find at any time: the citric acid present in lemon juice.
Invert sugar is obtained by transforming sucrose, or common sugar, into its simple sugars, namely glucose and fructose. The product of this reaction is known as invert sugar and has a composition similar to honey, although with a more neutral flavor.
Among its qualities is its ability to retain moisture and prevent sugar crystallization, resulting in creamier ice cream and juicier pastries. It also promotes the fermentation of yeast doughs. Furthermore, it lowers the freezing point of preparations in which it is present, making it especially useful for homemade ice cream, as it helps to create a creamier and easier-to-handle product.
Invert sugar has a greater sweetening power than other sugars, allowing you to reduce the amount of sugar without compromising the sweetness of the final product.
In homebrewing, invert sugar is known as candy sugar , and its preparation is similar to that described in this recipe, with the sole exception that the temperature reached during the brewing process is significantly higher than that used for baking. This results in a darker syrup that adds color and other nuances to the beer.
Before we begin with the invert sugar recipe, let's have a short chemistry lesson that will explain the entire process so we understand the reason behind each step.
For this, I've dug out my old notes on experimental chemistry techniques, since I recently conducted a lab experiment that involved inverting a sucrose solution, on that occasion using hydrochloric acid, in order to determine the percentage of hydrolyzed sucrose by measuring the rotation angle of the resulting solution with a polarimeter.
What is invert sugar?
To understand what invert sugar is and why it has such a peculiar name, we first need to explain what sugar is.
What we know as common sugar or table sugar is a sugar whose specific name is sucrose. Sucrose is a disaccharide, that is, a molecule formed by two monosaccharides, or in other words, a molecule formed by two simple sugars. The simple sugars that make up the sucrose molecule are glucose and fructose.
Sucrose can be broken down into its simple sugars by breaking the bond that joins them, through a chemical reaction called hydrolysis. The product of this reaction is what is known as invert sugar. The resulting mixture contains glucose and fructose in equal amounts, in addition to the remaining sucrose that has not been hydrolyzed and is still present.
Where does the name invert sugar come from?
Sucrose, glucose, and fructose are all optically active molecules. This means that when polarized light passes through them, it rotates the plane of polarization of that light by a specific angle.
In fact, measuring this angle with a polarimeter is a widely used technique in the food industry, allowing the determination of the concentration of certain substances. Each substance has a specific and characteristic rotation value for this angle.
Sucrose and glucose rotate the plane of polarized light to the right, while fructose rotates it to the left, and at a considerably larger angle than glucose. Before hydrolysis, sucrose rotated the plane of polarized light to the right, but after hydrolysis, due to the fructose present in the resulting mixture, the plane of polarized light is rotated to the left. Hence the name invert sugar.
How is invert sugar obtained?
The hydrolysis, or breaking of the bond between the glucose and fructose that form sucrose, can be carried out by a specific enzyme, which is not usually a common ingredient in home pantries, or by an acid, which is much easier to obtain at home.
Thus, by heating an aqueous solution of sucrose in the presence of an acid, we can easily obtain what is called invert sugar.
The purpose of the acid, as well as the heat, is to promote the chemical reaction; that is, the acid in this case acts as a catalyst for the reaction, providing the necessary medium for it to proceed, but it does not participate in the reaction itself. The reactants, therefore, would be sucrose and water, and the products, glucose and fructose.
How can we prepare inverted sugar at home?
To prepare inverted sugar at home, simply prepare and heat a sucrose solution in an acidic medium. The ideal ratio for easy homemade preparation is: for every kilogram of sugar, half a kilogram of water and one gram of food-grade acid. The easiest food-grade acid to obtain is citric acid.
Since citric acid is present in lemon juice at a concentration of approximately 5%, we need 20 grams of lemon juice to obtain one gram of citric acid. Therefore, to invert 1 kg of sugar, we would need 0.5 kg of water and 20 grams of lemon juice. For other quantities, we would simply multiply or divide these amounts.
Is it necessary to neutralize invert sugar with sodium bicarbonate?
It's not necessary. As we explained earlier, in the reaction that produces invert sugar, the added acid acts as a catalyst, providing the necessary medium for the reaction to occur.
It doesn't participate in the reaction itself, so neutralizing this acid after the reaction is complete adds nothing. Furthermore, the amount of acid added is minimal, and its taste is imperceptible in the final product.
How is inverted sugar used?
It's important to keep in mind that invert sugar has a greater sweetening power than regular sugar or sucrose. Therefore, simply replacing a quantity of sugar with invert sugar will result in a significantly sweeter preparation than the original. Furthermore, it's crucial to remember that in baking, the proportions of liquids and solids must be carefully balanced. Substituting liquid sugar for solid sugar, as is the case with invert sugar, will alter this ratio.
Therefore, substitutions of regular sugar and sweeteners in recipes with invert sugar should generally be partial, moderate, and with the amount of invert sugar added being less than the amount of sugar removed from the mixture. Thus, the portion of regular sugar that is replaced in a recipe should be replaced with approximately 25% less invert sugar.
Regarding the amount of sugar to replace with inverted sugar, it will depend on the preparation, the amount of sugar in the recipe and the other ingredients present, although roughly the order of magnitude would be: for the preparation of homemade ice cream, up to 25% of the common sugar could be replaced by inverted sugar, in pastries up to 20% and, in bread , where the amount of sugar is much lower than in other preparations, around 50%.
Let's get to the recipe!
Recipe Information
- Preparation time : 5 minutes
- Cooking time : 10 minutes
- Total time : 15 minutes
- Servings : 8
- Category : Pastry
- Cuisine type : international
- Calories per serving (kcal) : 125
Ingredients of invert sugar
- 250 g of regular sugar
- 125 g of low mineral content water
- 5 g of lemon juice
Necessary utensils
- A kitchen thermometer
- A stainless steel or glass saucepan (avoid iron, aluminum, or copper as they may react with the mixture)
How to make inverted sugar
First, put 250g of granulated sugar, 125g of water, and 5g of lemon juice in a saucepan and place it over medium-low heat. We'll monitor the temperature rise with a thermometer.
As long as the mixture doesn't boil, we can stir it gently to help the sugar dissolve. As soon as we see the mixture begin to boil, we should stop stirring, as this could cause crystallization.
We continue heating until we see that at some point it exceeds 114°C. Although initially the temperature will rise rapidly and gradually, once it surpasses 100°C, there will come a point where it seems to stop increasing. This is normal. After a few minutes, it will rise again and quickly reach 114°C.
When we see that it exceeds 114ºC, we remove the saucepan from the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
Once the mixture has cooled, your inverted sugar is ready to use. Any unused portion can be transferred to a glass jar and stored in the refrigerator, where it will keep perfectly for several months.
If it crystallizes due to refrigeration, simply reheat it briefly in the microwave, and it's ready to use!
Easy-to-prepare summary
- We combine the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a stainless steel or glass saucepan.
- We mix carefully to help dissolve the sucrose and only until the mixture begins to boil.
- We continue to gently heat the dissolved sugar, carefully controlling the temperature.
- When the mixture exceeds 114°C, we turn off the heat.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the mixture cool.
- We now have homemade inverted sugar ready to use in our favorite ice creams and desserts
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