Processed
Caster Sugar
S tier
Caster (castor) sugar is white sucrose milled finer than granulated so it dissolves in a sponge, a meringue, or a cold drink without a sandy pause. British baking recipes that say "sugar" often mean this, not the coarser American granulated. It still creams with butter, and it still caramelises like any sucrose once it melts. It is not icing sugar: there is no added starch, and it will not make a smooth water icing. Superfine in US shops is the nearest cousin. If you only have granulated, a few pulses in a dry mill will approximate caster; do not go all the way to powder.
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History
Victorian kitchens named caster sugar for the pierced caster that dusted it at table.
British sponge and meringue recipes standardised on caster rather than coarse granulated.
Fine white baking sugar spread under caster or superfine names in export markets.
Home bakers were routinely told to blitz granulated to fake caster in a pinch.