Natural form

Powdered sugar in its loose, ultra-fine powder state, bright white and cloud-like.

Shows the defining physical characteristic — the extremely fine, bright white powder texture that distinguishes it from granulated or raw sugar.

Sweeteners

Powdered Sugar

Fine, dissolvable sugar for icing, dusting, and frosting

Ground to a powder, this sugar dissolves instantly into smooth icings and frostings and dusts a finished cake like snow. Sift out lumps first. Keep it airtight and dry.

Powdered sugar (confectioners' or icing sugar) is granulated sugar ground to a fine powder and blended with a little cornstarch to prevent caking. That fineness lets it dissolve instantly and without grit, which is why it's the sugar of frostings, glazes, and royal icing, and the snowy dusting on cakes and doughnuts. The cornstarch matters: it means powdered sugar isn't a clean 1:1 swap for granulated in every recipe.

Measured in: g
Storage: Airtight

Find it in

Baking Aisle

Types & varieties

10X confectioners' sugar

The finest, most common grind; standard for icing.

Organic powdered sugar

Often uses tapioca starch instead of corn.

Powdered sugar with no starch

Specialty; cakes more easily but purer.

Confectioners' Sugar

Sugar milled to powder with a little starch, so it dissolves instantly into glazes, royal icing, and buttercream and dusts cleanly without graininess.

How to use

It's built for smoothness. Whisk it with butter for buttercream, with liquid for glaze, or with egg white for royal icing. Sift it to remove lumps and dust it over finished cakes and pastries for a clean snowy finish.

Buttercream and cream-cheese frosting
Glazes and royal icing
Dusting cakes, brownies, and doughnuts
Sweetening whipped cream

How to store

Keep it airtight and dry; it clumps with humidity. Always sift before using in icing to avoid lumps.

Common uses

Buttercream and frostingsGlazes for doughnuts and cinnamon rollsRoyal icing for cookiesDusting cakes, brownies, and pastriesSweetening whipped cream and mascarponeFudge and no-cook candiesMeringue and macarons