Instructions: Q. Do you use the same amount of superfine sugar as you do regular sugar?

This may sound kind of stupid, but Ive never used superfine sugar before.

A. Perfectly reasonable question, especially since we dont know the answer.

Superfine sugar is simply sugar that has been ground more finely than regular granulated sugar. One of its great benefits is that it dissolves much more quickly in liquids and meringues. It is also called bakers sugar, bar sugar, berry sugar, and in Britain, castor sugar. If you dont have any on hand, you can make your own by grinding granulated sugar for a couple of minutes in a food processor or blender.

Reason would have us believe that, with fewer and smaller gaps around each granule, superfine sugar compacts more than granulated sugar, and therefore weighs more than the same volume of granulated sugar (a cup of superfine would weigh more than a cup of granulated). But, we havent found a peep in any reference book backing up that theory. Also, and this is probably the most meaningful point, recipes just arent so precise about amounts that you have to worry about it. A pinch more sugar or a pinch less sugar just isnt going to make a measurable difference in whatever youre going to cook, unless, perhaps, youre catering for thousands.

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