Homemade Corn Syrup

By stancec44

From Brave Tart: In Kentucky and some parts of the south, many thrifty cooks make corn cob jelly to squeeze every last drop of value from their corn. The jelly has a mild, honey-like flavor. While enjoying some with butter and biscuits, I thought how lovely the flavor would taste with vanilla, and further thought how nice it would taste in a soda. (I’ve been obsessed with soda lately). To that end, I made some corn flavored syrup and along the way discovered it can be used like “corn syrup” in many recipes.

Not that a giant jar of sugar syrup is a health food, exactly, but for those with a fear of commercial corn syrup or a desire to reduce the amount of factory foods in their life, this is a great alternative.

Don’t let the corn throw you off, it just lends a faint, cereal-like flavor no more “corny” than a bowl of Kix. If you’d like to simply make a corn syrup substitute and don’t have or want to bother with the corn, omit the cobs, use 21 ounces of water instead, and skip straight to the second step.

Ingredients

• 14 ounces corn cobs (from about 4 ears), sliced into 1” thick rounds
• 42 ounces water, preferably filtered
• 1 Tahitian vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 36 ounces sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

Preparation

Step 1

In a medium pot, combine the sliced corn cobs and water. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer gently until the water has reduced by half; about thirty minutes.

Use a pair of tongs to fish out the corn cob pieces; discard. Add the vanilla bean and seed scrapings, sugar, and salt. Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves. Simmer for twenty minutes, or until the mixture has taken on a thick, syrupy consistency.

Cool. Store indefinitely in the fridge along with the vanilla bean. Use in any recipe that calls for corn syrup.

The syrup does have a tendency to recrystallize over time, so use with caution in candy making. If you notice the syrup has begun to recrystallize, you can either microwave it or rewarm on the stove with a few tablespoons of water to bring the solution back into balance.