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Everyone loves to eat bakery items from time to time. If you have a sweet tooth, then you probably eat them way more than others. But sometimes, people like to make the bakery items they love so much at home.
This way, they can add the ingredients of their choice and make sure that their cookies or cakes are prepared in a hygienic environment. But recreating the same taste is not that easy.
If you miss one step, you will end up with a final product that looks and tastes nothing like a bakery item. There are also certain special ingredients that are only the baking industry is familiar with.
This is why it is important to know what kind of ingredients are used by bakeries. Otherwise, you won’t be able to recreate the same taste at home.
Pastry and bakery products have sweet ingredients in very high content. These sweetly astounding flavors come from sugars and sweet enzymes.
When it comes to avoiding crystallization and making the end product of confectionary, or other baking much sweeter, an invertase enzyme is a great item.
This enzyme is widely used in food processing and confectionery industries due to its high sugar levels.
However, if you are looking for some other choices and options to use in your confectionary recipe, then you have landed in the right place.
In this article, we will walk you through some of the best substitutes for invertase. Read on to have your hands at the nearest possible alternatives of invertase.
Before we rush towards exploring various commendable alternatives of invertase. Let’s discuss some fun facts about invertase – a highly used confectionary enzyme.
What Exactly Is Invertase?
Invertase Is Basically An Enzyme
When you add the invertase enzyme to sucrose sugars or sucrose-containing foods, this sweet and nice enzyme splits up those sucrose-sugars into their complementary sugar parts such as glucose and fructose.
Once invertase has done its job, the resulting product is known as sugar syrup.
People commonly call invertase “invert sugar” because it breaks down the components of sugar. The invertase or inverted sugar is widely used in the baking industry.
You can also make a nice candy with the help of invertase because of its capability of keeping your baked products moist and de-crystalized for a longer time.
Moreover, when it comes to stashing secret ingredients in candy-making processes, invertase ends up as one of the best sweeteners with high moisturizing capabilities.
Invertase is used in making candy fillers and liquid candy centers. Sweet fondant candies, delicious chocolate-covered cherries, and sweet creme eggs have the main secret item of invertase in them.
Some shopkeepers also sell invertase as a liquid item so people can make candy at home.
But most of the time, invertase is not easily available. Many bakeries don’t sell it as they don’t want people to be able to recreate their recipes.
If you want to make candy at home, you will have to look for substitutes for invertase.
How Do You Substitute Invertase With Other Items?
Invertase enzyme has commendable uses in the preparation process of various candies and chocolate-covered items.
Various types of candy and fondant candies fillings require invertase to maintain the moist and de-crystalized texture.
But if you can’t get invertase, you can use a substitute. You don’t have to give up on making candy at home and getting it from a bakery.
You can find the right substitute at the local grocery store and go ahead with your candy-making process. But it is important to use the right substitute when baking something sweet.
Substituting invertase depends more on what you are making. For instance, if you are preparing a batch of chocolate-covered cherries for yourself, the use of invertase can be omitted.
You can only substitute invertase with other sweet and moist liquids that have similar moisturizing and de-crystallization properties.
If you go with a substitute that is moisturizing but doesn’t de-crystallize, your final product will not turn out to be good.
This is why it is important to keep in mind what invertase does so you can pick a substitute that will do its job properly.
What Is The Best Substitute For Invertase?
Due to the unique and high-end confectionary uses of invertase, you cannot just decide not to use it and replace it with other sweet items.
However, you can still substitute invertase with the items resembling this enzyme. But you should only substitute invertase with something that has similar properties.
You should also keep the recipe in mind when using a substitute for invertase. Not all kinds of substitutes will work well with every recipe.
You can look up the dish you are making, read about its ingredients, and then pick the substitute of invertase that you think will work.
Here are the most common substitutes of invertase:
1. Honey – The Nearest Substitute of Invertase
Honey is a commendable viscous sweet item that stays as moist as possible for a longer period of time.
Due to its highly sweet taste and golden vigorous texture, honey is the best replacement for the enzyme invertase, especially when you are preparing candy fillings.
If you are escaping the excessive use of sugars and cholesterol, honey is a good replacement for invertase while making homemade candies and confectionery.
If you decide to use honey as a substitute for invertase, there’s a high chance you won’t even have to make a trip to the store to buy it. Most homes have at least one bottle of honey in their kitchen.
You can use the honey you have at home to make candies and bakery items.
2. Inverted Sugar Syrup – The Best Substitute Of Invertase
Inverted sugar syrup is a mixture of two simpler sugars glucose and fructose.
This inverted solution of the two simplest sugars is regarded as the best alternative for invertase enzymes. They seem to have the same sugary test and moist texture.
Take an equal quantity of inverted sugar syrup to replace the invertase in your candy-making recipe. A cup of inverted sugar syrup is going to give you the same flavors as invertase.
You won’t have to make a trip to the grocery store if you decide to use inverted sugar syrup as a substitute for invertase. You can easily make inverted sugar syrup at home.
You can use two parts granulated sugar and one part water to make this syrup. If you simmer the sugar and water mixture for five to seven minutes, your inverted sugar syrup will be ready.
3. Sucrose – A Sweet Substitute Of Invertase
Another sugar that can substitute invertase is sucrose sugars. They are derived from sugarcane or sugar beets.
They are not as harmful to diabetic patients as invertase, so sucrose is a healthy alternative for invertase just like honey.
Most of the special ingredients that are used commercially are not good for our health. Even if they are available in the market, it is better to pick a healthy substitute instead.
With sucrose, you won’t have to worry about your health when eating anything sweet. You can make desserts for your diabetic friends and family members if you use sucrose instead of invertase.
4. Simple Sugar Syrup – An Easy Alternative
The most readily available alternative for invertase is simple sugar syrup which is made by mixing water and sugars in equal parts.
Especially when you are making some homemade sweet recipe, simple sugar syrup is a good and quick substitute for invertase.
Inverted sugar syrups used in bakeries contains different enzymes, which is why the one made at home will be a bit different. If you use simple sugar syrup instead, you won’t have to worry about the taste.
Simply sugar syrup is also quite easy to make. Once it is ready, you can use it to make all types of candies and other sweet items.
Conclusion
When it comes to making special dishes at home, people complain that they can never get the taste right. But that’s because restaurants always use secret ingredients. More often than not, these secret ingredients are harmful.
Bakeries also have such special ingredients that they use in their recipes, which is why your homemade candies and cakes never taste the same. One of these ingredients is invertase which is not easily available in supermarkets.
Invertase is one of the many enzymes that are used by the cooking and baking industries. Such ingredients are mostly not sold to the common public.
However, this doesn’t mean there aren’t any substitutes for you to use. We have mentioned all the best substitutes of invertase in this article.
Not only are they useful and do the same job as invertase but they are also good for your health. Instead of adding enzymes, you can go with these natural ingredients while making sweets at home.
You won’t be disappointed with the results if you try the substitutes of invertase we have recommended.