Granulated Sugar

Pure sucrose extracted from beet or cane, it is the basic structural element of pastry. Beyond its sweetening power, it plays a major physicochemical role: whipped with butter (creaming), its sharp crystals trap micro-bubbles of air essential for cakes to rise. Heated to 160°C, it melts; at 170°C, it fragments into hundreds of new aromatic compounds (caramelization), going from bland to an amber, roasted complexity.