Granulated versus caster sugar in 1234 cake

by Rosie
(United Kingdom)

I see that the white butter cake recipe specifies granulated sugar.
Here in the UK, caster sugar is recommended for sponge cakes. (This is a finer grade of sugar granule- sorry I am sure you know this)
Could you tell me why granulated sugar is specified and whether caster sugar can be substituted. Thank you Rosie

Comments

Hi Rosie I asked my Facebook decorators to chime in. and here is what Colleen has to say.
Thanks Coleen.

In the 'Cake Bible' Rose defines different sugars:
Regular granulated is suitable for all baking but Superfine is recommended and will give you a finer texture.
Baker's special is slightly finer and Castor sugar appears in British cookbooks and is found in England. It is slightly finer than Baker's and all are interchangeable.
I've bought the Baker's sugar before (CK brand), and I really don't see a lot of difference but it does cream a little finer with the butter in butter cakes.

Some people will put regular sugar in a food processor to try to get a finer grain but it's not as good as the real thing and the grains aren't even.

Thank you VERY much for that informative post Colleen :-)

If you go by weight (and most UK recipes do), then the sugars are interchangeable.

Confectioner's Sugar or Granulated?

by Cherise

Hi Lorelie,

I made a batch of orange cakes (the recipe on your site) and it just all went wrong! I don't know what I did? The cake came out very heavy and dense (like mushy) I tried baking it longer but then it just got hard like a rock on the outside. It seemed more like a scone in process. I am thinking maybe I used the wrong sugar because I used confectioner sugar for this one, should I use granulated sugar instead?

Thanks for any advice!

Cherise

Comments

Use Granulated Sugar
by: Lorelie

Hi Cherise,

Yes using confectioners sugar is most likely the culprit here. The recipe calls for granulated. I do use confectionery sugar in icings and glazes but not in baking recipes.

Better luck next time. Please let me know how it goes ok?