Isomalt substitute

Substitutes for Isomalt with ratios

1. 2Crushed clear hard candy

   Different taste

   Use about ¼ cup crushed candy for every cookie window

   The easiest path to stained-glass cookies and edible glass by a wide margin, because someone else already cooked the sugar to hard crack.

   What changes

   Crush clear boiled sweets, sift out the dust, spoon them into the cut-out window and bake for 6 to 8 minutes until melted and smooth. It sets hard and translucent with vivid color. It brings its own fruit or mint flavor and it goes sticky faster than isomalt, especially in humidity.

   Best for

   stained-glass cookies, candy windows on gingerbread houses, colored shards, beginners and baking with children

   Fill the window only just level, since the candy spreads as it melts and will flood over the edge. Let the cookies cool completely on the sheet before moving them, because warm candy tears straight out of the hole.

2. 3Melted sugar with glucose syrup

   Different taste

   2 cups sugar, ½ cup water, 2 tablespoons glucose syrup, cooked to 310F

   Essentially the same technique as the corn syrup version, but glucose syrup gives a slightly clearer, harder result with less tendency to crystallize, which is why pastry kitchens keep it.

   What changes

   It stays workable a little longer as it cools, so you get a bit more time to pull and shape it. Same caramel tint, same stickiness over time.

   Best for

   pulled and blown sugar, sugar cages and domes, showpiece work, clearest possible poured glass

   Glucose syrup is stiff and easiest to measure with an oiled spoon. Add it with the water at the start, never to hot syrup, which can spit violently.

3. 4Melted white chocolate or candy melts

   Different texture

   Use the same amount by volume, melted

   A genuine substitute only if what you wanted was a hard decorative shard rather than transparency.

   What changes

   It sets firm, snaps cleanly, takes color easily and tastes far better than any sugar glass. It is completely opaque, which rules out stained glass and bubbles, and it softens and fingerprints in a warm room.

   Best for

   shards and sails on cakes, abstract decorations, anything that will be eaten rather than admired, hot kitchens where sugar work is impractical

   Spread thin on parchment, chill for ten minutes, then break into shards. Use oil-based color only, since a drop of water-based gel seizes chocolate instantly.

4. 5Gelatin sheets or agar, for a flexible clear film

   Different texture

   Use 1 sheet gelatin for every 2 tablespoons water for a thin film

   Useful for the specific look of clear edible windows and bubbles without any cooked sugar.

   What changes

   A strong gelatin solution poured thin and dried gives a flexible transparent sheet, and agar sets firmer and works for vegetarians. Neither is remotely hard or glassy, so it flexes rather than shatters, and both wilt in humidity and cannot bear weight.

   Best for

   clear windows and wings, gelatin bubbles, flexible transparent decorations, avoiding hot sugar entirely

   Dry the films for 24 to 48 hours in a dry room, on an oiled balloon or bowl if you want a curve. Agar sets at room temperature and much faster, so work quickly with it.

5. 6There is no substitute for it: showpieces meant to last

   Taste and texture differ

   not recommended

   If the piece has to stay water-clear and crisp for days, sit under lights at an event, or hold structural weight in a blown or pulled showpiece, no substitute will do it.

   What changes

   Isomalt is uniquely resistant to picking up moisture and does not caramelize at the temperatures it is worked at, and every sugar-based alternative will yellow, go tacky and eventually slump.

   Best for

   nothing, this is the case where you should buy isomalt

   If you must use cooked sugar for a long-lasting piece, run a dehumidifier, store the finished work in an airtight box with silica gel packets, and accept that you are buying hours rather than days.