Caster sugar vs regular sugar vs icing sugar: what’s the difference between the three?

REGULAR SUGAR

Regular sugar is the white and brown form of granulated sugar, derived from the sugar cane plant. Both white and brown are refined, and is the most common type of sugar. The size of these granules are larger than caster or icing sugar and is the most common used sugar product in baking and cooking.

CASTER SUGAR

Caster sugar is refined sugar that has been ground for longer, resulting in a finer sugar powder.

Why use caster sugar?
It dissolves easily. The finer structure of the granules makes caster sugar easier to combine with other ingredients.

Use it for:
Best for light cakes, custard, mousse and makes for the fluffiest meringues.

ICING SUGAR

Icing sugar is also refined white sugar, but this time it’s been ground for even longer than caster sugar until a fine powder is produced.

Why use icing sugar?
It dissolves in liquid almost instantly, and makes for an extremely smooth texture.

Use it for:
Cake icing, buttercream icing and glacé icing.

Now that you understand the basics, are you ready to apply it? Try out one of these easy dessert recipes here.