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Sugars & sweeteners

Powdered sugar

Also called icing sugar and confectioner's sugar

Powdered sugar is sugar sold as a powder. Cooks use it as a sweetener.

Cooked most in
Europe, Africa
Top country
Spain
Powdered sugar, whole

Photo: Ɱ · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use powdered sugar

Cooking with it

Finer grades absorb more moisture and can cake.

Shopping

Choosing and storing powdered sugar

Sold as
Powder

Nutrition

What 100 g of powdered sugar holds

Per 100 g. Averages from USDA; real values vary by variety, season and growing conditions.

Protein 0%Fat 0%Carbohydrate 100%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of powdered sugar
Energy389 kcal · 1,627 kJ
Protein0 g
Fat0 g
of which saturated0 g
Carbohydrate100 g
of which sugars98 g
Fibre0 g
Sodium2 mg
Cholesterol0 mg
Nutrition per 100 g of powdered sugar: minerals and vitamins
Potassium2 mg
Calcium1 mg
Iron0.06 mg
Zinc0.01 mg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (food 169656), public domain. Minerals and vitamins are listed only where USDA measured a non-zero amount.

Around the world

Where powdered sugar is cooked

6 dishes in the catalogue use powdered sugar. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Countries whose dishes use it most

Counts are catalogued dishes from each country that list powdered sugar among their ingredients.

Origins

  1. The 1800s

    Factory-made powdered sugar became available in the nineteenth century.

On the table

Dishes made with powdered sugar

4 of the 6 catalogued dishes that use it, spread across the countries they come from.
  • Tarta de Santiago

    Spain

  • Mille-feuille

    France

  • Sugared cranberries

    Belarus

  • Nesselrode pudding

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include powdered sugar.

Family

Related forms

A kind of
sugar

Around the world

What powdered sugar is called

Names in 52 languages, from Wikidata.
  • Spanish

    azúcar glas · Azúcar glase · Nevazúcar · Azucar impalpable

  • French

    sucre glace · Sucre en poudre · Sucre à glacer · Sucre impalpable

  • Italian

    zucchero a velo

  • Portuguese

    açúcar de confeiteiro · Açúcar glacê

  • German

    Puderzucker · Staubzucker · Dekorierzucker · Farinzucker

  • Dutch

    poedersuiker · Bloemsuiker · Meelsuiker

  • Greek

    Ζάχαρη άχνη

  • Turkish

    Pudra şekeri

  • Russian

    сахарная пудра

  • Polish

    Cukier puder

  • Arabic

    مدقوق السكر · مدقوق الثلج · سكر الثلج · مسحوق السكر

  • Persian

    شکر قنادی

Show all 52 languages
  • Albanian

    Sheqeri pluhur

  • Austrian German

    Staubzucker

  • Azerbaijani

    Şəkər podrası

  • Basque

    azukre-hauts · azukre glass · glas azukre · azukre hauts

  • Belarusian

    цукровая пудра

  • Cantonese

    糖霜

  • Catalan

    sucre de llustre · Sucre glacé · Sucre glas

  • Chinese

    糖粉

  • Colognian

    Puderzucker · Poderzocker

  • Czech

    cukr moučka · moučkový cukr

  • Danish

    Flormelis · Flourmelis

  • Esperanto

    glazursukero

  • Estonian

    Tuhksuhkur

  • Finnish

    Tomusokeri

  • Galician

    azucre glas

  • Hebrew

    אבקת סוכר

  • Hungarian

    porcukor

  • Icelandic

    Flórsykur

  • Indonesian

    Tepung gula

  • Japanese

    粉砂糖 · 粉糖 · アイシングシュガー

  • Javanese

    Gula alus

  • Kannada

    ಬೂರಾ ಸಕ್ಕರೆ

  • Korean

    가루 설탕 · 분당

  • Latvian

    pūdercukurs

  • Lithuanian

    Cukraus pudra · Miltelinis cukrus

  • Luxembourgish

    Pudderzocker · Mielzocker

  • Malay

    Gula serbuk

  • Maltese

    zokkor tal-ġelu

  • Māori

    puehu huka

  • Minangkabau

    Tapuang gulo

  • Norwegian Bokmål

    melis

  • Norwegian Nynorsk

    melis

  • Romanian

    zahăr pudră

  • Serbian

    Šećer u prahu

  • Simplified Chinese

    糖粉

  • Simplified Chinese (China)

    糖粉

  • Simplified Chinese (Singapore)

    糖粉

  • Slovenian

    sladkor v prahu · cuker v prahu

  • Swedish

    florsocker · pudersocker

  • Tamil

    சர்க்கரைப் பொடி

  • Thai

    น้ำตาลไอซิ่ง

  • Traditional Chinese

    糖粉

  • Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong SAR China)

    糖粉

  • Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)

    糖粉

  • Ukrainian

    Цукрова пудра

  • Vietnamese

    Đường bột

  • Welsh

    siwgwr eisin

Sources and credits

Data

Wikidata item: Q151070

Photos

Photo: Ɱ · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons