Caster sugar has very fine crystals, without being so fine to the extent where it absorbs a lot of water (e.g like icing sugar; icing sugar absorbs a lot of liquid and tends to clump together, which would result in brick-like cakes if it were used for that purpose) . The fineness of crystal means that it does not result in a "granular" texture when eaten (unlike granulated sugar) and gives a "lightness" which helps baked goods to rise. The fineness also helps the sugar to not sink in runny batters; it will remain evenly distributed.
Having said that, granulated sugar does still work in baking if you have run out of caster sugar. It's just that caster is really the better option if it is available. But granulated is good for jams, a) it's cheaper, which is useful when using it in quantity, and b) supposedly it gives a "clearer" result than caster sugar.
I have tried it and dosent make much of a diffrence!
caster sugar
There are many places one might go to learn more about caster sugar. The Cake Central website is one such resource that one might go to reference caster sugar.
Generally, the sugar used is caster sugar, but any pale fine sugar ought to do.
yes, they are the same thing
The higher the proportion of sugar in a cake, the lighter it will be (up to a point). However, the downside is that as the proportion of sugar increases, so does the stickiness of the crumb, and as the crumb gets stickier, the cake will be inclined to rise less. Using caster sugar instead of granulated sugar will result in a comparatively fluffier cake.
yes, I have done that several times and it is very nice!
Caster sugar is heavier.
In America, caster sugar is called superfine sugar.
Self-raising flour, caster sugar, hard margarine, eggs and cocoa powder
2 to 4 eggs caster sugar self rasing flour
Caster sugar is called "superfine" sugar in the United States. Do not confuse with confectioner's (powdered) sugar to which cornstarch has been added.