Trehalose is a disaccharide sugar — two glucose units joined by an unusual 1,1 bond — that is only about 45% as sweet as table sugar. Pastry and modernist kitchens reach for it less for sweetness and more for what it protects: it shields texture, colour and moisture through freezing, drying and baking, which is why it appears in ice cream, frozen desserts and long-keeping baked goods.
PAIR's modernist science — how much to use, how it behaves with heat, and what makes it fail — is a Pro feature. The description, nutrition, history and facts stay free.