I need to make a pineapple neoclassic buttercream tomorrow, but the only light corn syrup I can find is Karo (with added vanilla). Has anyone used Karo for the neoclassic buttercreams? How strong is the vanilla flavor? I don’t want my buttercream to taste like vanilla. What a terrible idea for them to add flavorings to corn syrup!!

michaelnrdx - 06 February 2011 12:47 AM

I need to make a pineapple neoclassic buttercream tomorrow, but the only light corn syrup I can find is Karo (with added vanilla). Has anyone used Karo for the neoclassic buttercreams? How strong is the vanilla flavor? I don’t want my buttercream to taste like vanilla. What a terrible idea for them to add flavorings to corn syrup!!

Taste it and see.  I can’t imagine that a bit of vanilla is going to negatively affect the flavor of just about any product.

I use store brand of corn syrup and it merely says “natural flavorings”; perhaps this includes some vanilla.  I’d expect they’d model the flavor profile after the market-leading products, which probably means Karo.

I do remember seeing that Karo came out with a vanilla-flavored syrup in addition to their regular, but I’ve never tasted it or used it in recipes.  As Charles mentions, taste it and see what you think, maybe pour a little on a slice of pineapple.

Julie - 06 February 2011 04:01 PM

I do remember seeing that Karo came out with a vanilla-flavored syrup in addition to thier regular, but I’ve never tasted it or used it in recipes.  As Charles mentions, taste it and see what you think, maybe pour a little on a slice of pineapple.

Karo’s website says that its corn syrup has always had vanilla:

They say:

Vanilla has always been an ingredient in Karo light corn syrup. It gives extra smoothness and richness to the flavor.

OK, I stand corrected, it looks like they haven’t changed anything.  Perhaps I just noticed a change in labeling or something like that- I remember thinking, when I saw it, that I really didn’t want extra flavorings in it.

I used the regular Karo corn syrup for the pineapple neoclassic, and it was very good, didn’t have a strong vanilla flavor.

Just bought a bottle of Karo this morning. I read on their website that there was always vanilla too. Thankfully, it wasn’t too strong.