Sorbitol

Sorbitol

What it is

Boussingault isolated it in 1872 from rowan berries - Sorbus aucuparia, which gave it its name - and it is still what makes a ripe pear taste faintly cool as well as sweet. The body absorbs it slowly and incompletely, which is the reason for the warning printed on sugar-free sweets.

In the kitchen

Replace up to 10 percent of the sugar in a ganache or pate de fruits: it binds water, so the ganache stays supple for days and the paste never grains. It is about half as sweet as sucrose and cools the tongue slightly, so taste before you scale it up.

Goes with

Dark chocolate Cream Butter Glucose syrup White sugar Raspberry Apricot Yellow pectin

Also used with

Atomised glucose

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