Use:
– Powdered sugar is used in industrial food production for quick-dissolving sugar needs.
– Home cooks use it for icing, frosting, and cake decorations.
– It is dusted on baked goods for sweetness and decoration.
– Available in varying fineness levels: XXX, XXXX, and 10X.
– Canadian regulations limit starch or anti-caking agent to 5%.
Other Varieties:
– Caster sugar has larger particles than powdered sugar.
– It dissolves faster than granulated sugar in baking and drinks.
– Can be made at home by grinding white sugar.
– Commonly used in meringue.
– Snow powder is a non-melting icing sugar for refrigerated pastries.
See Also:
– Media related to Powdered sugar at Wikimedia Commons.
Citations:
– Asadi 2006, pp.451–452.
– Chen & Chou 1993, p.530.
– O Chef on granulated & confectioners sugar.
– Food and Drug Regulations of Canada.
– C&H Bakers Sugar information.
General Sources:
– Asadi, Mosen (2006). Beet-Sugar Handbook.
– Chen, James C. P.; Chou, Chung Chi (1993). Cane Sugar Handbook: A Manual for Cane Sugar Manufacturers and Their Chemists.
Powdered sugar, also called confectioners' sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state. It usually contains between 2% and 5% of an anti-caking agent – such as corn starch, potato starch or tricalcium phosphate – to absorb moisture, prevent clumping, and improve flow. Although most often produced in a factory, a proxy for powdered sugar can be made by processing ordinary granulated sugar in a coffee grinder, or by crushing it by hand in a mortar and pestle.