FAQs

So these are not necessarily questions I get asked (ok … sometimes) but these are questions I often ask, so I figured there would be other bakers/cooks that do too.

Gas Mark to Centigrade/Fahrenheit conversion

Gas Mark	Centigrade (°C)	Fahrenheit (°F)
1	140	275
2	150	300
3	160	325
4	180	350
5	190	375
6	200	400
7	220	425
8	230	450

How much fondant do I need to cover my cake?

Wilton.com has a good table for approximate weight in ounces HERE.

How much cake mixture do I need for my tin?

The Cake Decorating Company has an excellent and very helpful chart HERE.

How much does 1 US Cup weigh?

American recipes generally use a volume measure known as a ‘Cup’ rather than a (more accurate) weight measurement. Unfortunately, because one is weight, and one is volume there is not a standard conversion. A cup of marshmallows is going to weigh less than a cup of sugar for example.

However, HERE is a handy converter for various different ingredients, but your best solution is to buy some measuring cups.

Grams/Ounces or Kilograms/Pounds

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US/UK Liquid volumes

	US	UK
1 fl oz	29.57 ml	28.41 ml
1 cup	16 fl oz	20 fl oz
1 cup	236.5 ml	284 ml
1 pint	473 ml	569 ml

What is the UK equivalent of this ingredient?

I have been following US recipes for some time now, and there are a few ingredients that may sound unfamiliar to UK bakers. Here is a collection of handy equivalents. Sometimes they are the same thing under a different name, sometimes they are a similar product.

US		UK
Cornstarch	same as	Corn Flour
Light Corn Syrup	sub with	Golden Syrup
Molasses	same as	Dark Treacle
Sweet Chocolate	sub with	Milk Chocolate
Bittersweet/Semisweet Chocolate	sub with	Dark Chocolate
Sweet Butter	same as	Unsalted Butter
Peanut Oil	same as	Ground Nut oil
Canola Oil	sub with	Rapeseed Oil
Shortening	sub with	Vegetable lard (Trex)
Half and Half	sub with	Single Cream (or 50/50 cream & milk)
Heavy Cream	sub with	Whipping or Double cream
All purpose flour	same as	Plain flour
Cake flour	sub with	Plain flour (with 12% substituted for corn flour)
Baking Soda	same as	Bicarbonate of Soda
Kosher Salt	same as	Cooking salt
Confectioners Sugar	same as	Icing Sugar
Superfine Sugar	same as	Caster Sugar
Tomato Paste	same as	Tomato Puree
Arugula	same as	Rocket
Cilantro	same as	Coriander Leaf
Eggplant	same as	Aubergine
Zuchinni	same as	Courgette
Green onions/Scallions	same as	Spring Onion
Chicory	same as	Curly Endive
Dill Pickle	same as	Pickled Baby Cucumber
Navy Beans	same as	Haricot Beans
Fava Beans	same as	Broad Beans
Canadian Bacon	sub with	Lean Bacon
Blood Sausage	same as	Black Pudding
Breakfast Links	same as	Sausage – the British Banger
Sausage	same as	Minced Pork or pork patty
Filberts	same as	Hazlenuts
Cool Whip	sub with	Birds Dream Topping
Ground Beef	same as	Minced Beef
Apple Cider	same as	Cloudy Apple Juice
Hard Cider	same as	Alcoholic Cider
Marjoram	sub with	Oregano
Noodle	same as	Can sometimes be used to mean pasta
Fruit Crisps	same as	Fruit Crumble
Rutabaga	same as	Swede/Turnip

Another great place for ingredient explanations is The Cooks Thesaurus