Inverted Sugar from Pastry Star is sucrose that has been split into its two simpler sugars, glucose and fructose, and the result is a thick, pale syrup that behaves nothing like the sugar in your bin. It is what bakers turn to when a cake needs to taste as fresh on Wednesday as it did on Monday.

The syrup grabs onto moisture and refuses to let go, so croissant dough stays supple, soft milk breads and sponge cakes keep a moist, close crumb, and caramels, ganaches, and fillings set smooth instead of feeling coarse on the tongue. Beaten into buttercream it melts away without a trace of grit and leaves the frosting silky under the spatula. It also browns a little faster than granulated sugar, which is a quiet gift for crusts and cookie edges.