Cake baking & castor sugar

[hickybank]

You can probably guess where this is going.
When you bake a cake, sponge or otherwise, recipes always state Castor Sugar.
I never bother & just use Granulated as I assume it all dissolves during cooking anyway, but how about you.
What are your thoughts on this?

[Suelle]

I think you're probably right for cakes that are beaten well - the sugar has time to dissolve into the cake batter during mixing, as well as cooking. Enough not to notice the difference, anyway, unless you're Mary Berry or Prue Leith.

Possibly also OK for cakes that cook a long time, such as fruit cakes - some recipes use brown sugar anyway. Certainly things like gingerbread cakes, where you're dissolving the sugar anyway don't need caster sugar either.

I think caster sugar is useful for things that are mixed quickly and have little moisture - eg scones and biscuits. I go further than this and use icing sugar to sweeten pastry.

My mother always used granulated sugar and no-one complained, but we knew nothing different.

It probably boils down to how much of a perfectionist you are. The difference might be noticeable to some, but is it enough to matter? (Having said that, I do use caster sugar)

[hickybank]

It seems to be the norm in most cook books, I find it amusing that the "Hairy Dieters" set of books all state Castor Sugar even in such things as Currys, quite ridiculous

[PatsyMFagan]

If I think I need something finer than granulated, I just whizz some up in my bamix ....

[hickybank]

[StokeySue]

My suspicion is that caster sugar is a lot easier to mix into a cake with a wooden spoon and it makes much less difference when you have electric appliances

I remember trying to cream some fairly rough brown sugar into butter with a wooden spoon, and it was hard work

[scullion]

i think i can probably count the number of bags of caster sugar, that i've bought in my whole life, on one hand - and i can't remember the last, must be a couple of decades ago. i've never noticed any difference in the outcome.
i ground some granulated in a liquidiser a long time ago to make shortbread or biscuits but never bothered for subsequent iterations.

[hickybank]

I tried the liquidizer method once but got over enthusiastic & finished up with icing sugar

[hickybank]

While we are one sponge cakes I notice with modern recipes inc Delia & Mary Berry, their instructions are to chuck everything into a mixing bowl & beat the hell out of it for a couple of minutes.
Not the way I was taught or would use.
I was taught
Beat Butter & Sugar till pale & fluffy, stir in the eggs till it looks like scrambled eggs but do not overmix.
Now fold in the Flour till just combined then into tin to bake.
How about you?

[Suelle]

When I was working in the Food Technology Department of a secondary school the two teachers made sponge cakes by each method to see what the difference was. The all-in-one cakes rose more. Perhaps because all-in-one recipes often add extra baking powder, or possibly the traditional butter/sugar mix wasn't beaten for long enough.

I think the original method was developed before electric or even mechanical rotary whisks, when the butter and sugar would need a lot of beating with a spoon or hand whisk to get the mixture light and fluffy, before the other ingredients were carefully added to avoid losing the air. That just isn't necessary with electric mixers, which can incorporate air into the mixture quickly. Many older (but classified as modern for this discussion (Delia and Mary)) cooks also use baking margarines which are softer to start with, again making mixing easier.

I use the all-in-one method where it doesn't seem to detract from the original recipe.

[KC2]

[Suelle]

[Herbidacious]

That’s very interesting, Suelle. I always agonise about the mixture curdling when I add eggs to the sugar butter mixture. So all in one and this wont’t happen...? Never sure if it matters anyway. Not an experienced cake maker.

[hickybank]

[Suelle]

[Seatallan]

[hickybank]

As we are on about cakes I thought I would show off a cake I made a few years ago for my neighbour, he was my drinking buddy

[scullion]

[hickybank]