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Don’t worry too much if you don’t have the exact sugar stated in the recipe. You can interchange the fine white sugar, light brown sugar, and dark brown sugar, but if you use the brown sugars you’ll find that your cupcakes will have a more molasses-like flavor as well as producing darker cakes.

The difference between superfine (aka extra fine or ultrafine) sugar and granulated (aka table) sugar, in baking, lies chiefly in the mixing of the sugar and the butter. Superfine sugar consists of smaller grains and therefore dissolves faster. That means it’s easier and takes less time to beat the butter and sugar to a light and fluffy consistency. Especially if you’re baking with only a hand whisk or fork, using superfine sugar will save you a lot of work. In addition, superfine sugar gives you silkier, smoother cupcakes.

However, superfine sugar—known as “caster sugar” in the United Kingdom and elsewhere—can be more difficult to find at stores than table sugar. Moreover, it’s often sold in containers intended for use with beverages, and these are not very big.

In a pinch, a simple workaround is to make your own batch of superfine sugar by pulsing table sugar in a blender or food processor for up to a minute or longer. To avoid confusing it with your regular sugar, make sure you label and store it separately.

Confectioners’ sugar (or powdered sugar) is used to give toppings a smooth, velvety finish.