On Food and Cooking

confections, and for that reason are specially
treated to produce a sparkling, crystal-clear
appearance. They are made from
exceptionally pure batches of sucrose, with
the least possible residue of the impurities
that give ordinary sugar solutions a yellowish
look. They’re even washed with alcohol to
remove sucrose dust on their surfaces. When a
cook wants to make the whitest possible
fondant, or the clearest possible syrup, it’s
best to use these coarse or “sanding” sugars.
At the finer end of the scale, there are a
number of sugars with smaller particles than
table sugar. Extra-fine, baker’s special, and
English caster sugars all offer more
crystalline surfaces that can introduce air into
fat during the creaming stage of making cakes
(p. 556). “Powdered” sugars have been ground
into even smaller particles, some small
enough that they offer no roughness to the
tongue, and can be made directly into very
smooth icings, frostings, and fillings.