A Sugar Lesson for Sweet Cooking

Ok, so you are about to make Valentine’s Day cookies, frosting, or pudding. You pull out the all-purpose white sugar you have in the pantry and you’re ready.

Well, not quite. There are different types of white, granulated sugar, although they all taste the same. But some types of granulated, white sugar work better for desserts than others.

Granulated sugars differ in crystal size. The most common is regular white sugar, which most of us spoon into coffee and use for baking. An all-purpose sugar, it dissolves readily in warm and hot liquids and works in most types of cooking.

• Fruit sugar is slightly finer than “regular” sugar and is used in dry mixes such as gelatin and pudding desserts, and powdered drinks.

• Confectioners' sugar (a.k.a. icing or powdered sugar) is pulverized granulated sugar that's been milled with a bit of cornstarch. Its powdered texture also works beautifully to dust on desserts because the cornstarch absorbs moisture from the air and helps prevent clumping.

• Coarse sugar, as its name implies, is larger than that of “regular” sugar. Coarse sugar is recovered when molasses-rich, sugar syrups high in sucrose are allowed to crystallize. These characteristics are important in making fondants, confections and liquors.

• Sanding sugar, another large crystal sugar is used mainly in the baking and confectionery industries as a sprinkle on top of baked goods.

Of all the granulated sugars, superfine has the tiniest and most uniform crystals. The tiny granulation improves the texture of cakes and other butter-and-sugar batters because the crystals' many sharp edges cut into the butter during creaming, forming many air pockets.

If you can't find superfine sugar, you can make your own by grinding granulated sugar in a food processor for 30 to 40 seconds.

While shopping for sugar, keep in mind that the sugar industry has not standardized its labels, so stay alert to inconsistencies between brands.

Compiled by Farmers’ Almanac TV staff