No plate of French toast or batch of beignets is complete without a dusting of powdered sugar, in my opinion. This staple of the baking pantry provides that perfect sweet finish to so many of our favorite treats, from breakfast foods like these to cookies, cakes, marshmallows, and more. How to do you use it?
Powdered sugar is nothing fancier than regular white granulated sugar ground into a fine powder. A little cornstarch mixed in prevents it from clumping. It's such a straightforward process that you can even make your own if you're so inclined!
Confectioner's sugar and icing sugar are identical to powdered sugar, while caster sugar and superfine sugar have a slightly coarser grind. The number of X's on the package also indicate how finely the sugar has been ground, from coarser XX to the finest 10x. Most regular powdered sugars that we buy at the grocery store are ground to 10x.
The biggest gain we get from using powdered sugar is that it dissolves easily without needing to be heated. This is how we can make a simple icing from just powdered sugar and milk. It's also why we use it to dust baked goods — it literally melts on our tongues.
Plus, of course, powdered sugar looks pretty dusted over any dessert. Here are a few recipes that put this sugar to particularly good use:
• Mexican Spiced Wedding Cookies • Fluffy Vanilla Marshmallows • Coconut-Gooseberry Clafouti • Peppermint Cream-Filled Butter Cookies • How to Make Crème Brêlée at Home
Related: Baking Tip: Roll Out Cookie Dough with Powdered Sugar
(Image: barbaradudzinska/Shutterstock)
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For the most part, I used to use powdered sugar to dust over a flourless chocolate cake or something like that to make things look better. But these days, I find I use it for simple buttercream frosting and I go through most of it making French macarons.
I use it in cookies and cakes when I want them to be sweet and dense. My son likes to eat it right out of the bag, so when he invented these coconut chocolate chip cookies he was sure to include some icing sugar!
I also use it for a simple buttercream frosting, like the one I used on this coconut cake with blackberry mousse.
I use it to roll out springerle dough and dust the molds, for making the springerle cookies, it results in a better finished cookie than using flour for the same purposes.
If you need powdered sugar that doesn't melt into the dessert, King Arthur sells one, I use that if I need to dust a dessert in advance and won't be able to dust it again just before serving. I use that one every year on my Buche de Noel.
A pound of powdered sugar, flour, and 6 eggs makes the best poundcake ever.
oops, forgot the butter.
Pound cake, pecan sandies, waffles, strawberries and crepes!