Liquid sweeteners are essential to many candy recipes and is often the featured core ingredient. Liquid sweeteners are used for a variety of both hard and soft candies.
Corn syrup is a very common sweetener often used. Besides its ability to make a large batch of candy sweeter, it is also used by candy makers due to it being able to regulate the graining of candy. If too much graining is present in the candy, the typical result is candy that is rough or too gritty. Some crunch to the candy is necessary, however too much is reduces the quality of the batch.
An additional function that corn syrup provides is preservation. This is important as many candies have this ingredient at their core due to its properties actually help assist keeping the candy fresh.
Due to a few chemical properties of corn syrup the overgrowth of bacteria is preventable. Bacteria can readily feed on the high sugar content present in the candies. This explains why well-made candy is able to remain fresh for an extended length of time.
When purchasing corn syrup for your recipes, you most likely will be presented with two different choices. These choices are either the light variety or dark variety. The only difference between these is the species of corn used to produce the actual corn syrups, otherwise the sugar content is relatively the same.
The specific type of syrup that you will be using for your candy making depends on what the recipe calls for. Many candy makers prefer light syrup due to the color of the sweetener. The syrup color does have an impact on the final color of the candy product.
If your game plan is to make caramels at home, realize equal amounts of corn syrup(usually the dark variety) and regular table sugar are used.
After successfully cooking your first batch of caramels in your kitchen, attempt this experiment: attempt to add a little more corn syrup to the batch than typically used. Keep the same amount of table sugar, however adding more syrup. This caramel making experiment will yield two benefits.
1. The additional syrup content will add a stronger "bite" or flavor and richness as well.
2. This method will result in a smoother caramel candy which most people have a preference for. This can be accomplished simply by the slight imbalance between the quantities of sugar content and syrup content.
However, be careful not to add too much corn syrup though, as too much can make the caramels way too sticky.
Another liquid sweetener that is common is honey. Honey is a natural liquid sweetener and also has the properties of being a natural food preservative. When corn syrup is not available, substituting honey can typically yield similar results without losing any flavor or sweetness. The only potential downside to using honey is that often the candies are typically softer than a batch made with corn syrup.
Hopefully this information will give you the knowledge to experiment a little and tweak your candies until they are just perfect for your liking.