Can I Use Maple Syrup Instead of Corn Syrup?
The corn syrup that you find on grocery store shelves is the result of adding an enzyme to cornstarch to break it down into a sugar. It is not the high-fructose corn syrup used by food manufacturers, which isn't available in grocery stores. Maple syrup is the natural product of boiling down sap from maple trees. You may be able to use maple syrup instead of corn syrup, depending on what you are making. Does this Spark an idea?
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Candy
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Corn syrup is used in candy recipes to keep the final product from becoming grainy instead of smooth. The syrup reacts chemically with the granulated sugar in the recipe. Sugar crystals want to come back together again in crystal form after they've been melted by high heat. The corn syrup prevents that from happening. In this case, substituting maple syrup for corn syrup won't work. The final product will be entirely different.
Flavor
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Light corn syrup is sweet but doesn't have much flavor. Maple syrup tastes strongly of maple. Using it will give the final product a maple flavor, which is fine if that works in the recipe. For example, if you're making a frosting recipe, maple syrup may improve the flavor of the final product. Dark corn syrup has a molasses flavor that some people like and some object to. Substituting maple syrup changes the flavor.
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Sweetness
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While there is a slight difference in the sweetness of maple syrup and corn syrup, they can be interchanged on a one-to-one basis and the final product's sweetness won't change that much. Use 1 tbsp. of corn syrup to replace 1 tbsp. of honey, molasses or maple syrup.
Warning
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Maple syrup can go bad, and should be refrigerated. If you see floating colonies of fungus in maple syrup, throw it away. Corn syrup does not need to be refrigerated. According to Karo, corn syrup has an indefinite shelf life, whether it's open or unopened.
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References
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