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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
[calc id=2945] | [calc id=2949] |
[calc id=50] | [calc id=47] |
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
Great job! The only thing I would add is that “a cup” is 8 ounces when you’re talking about liquid, and a pint is two cups, so the old saying “a pint is a pound the world around” is accurate! Obviously doesn’t work when you’re talking dry ingredients – I try to always do them by weight.
I deliberately didnt put about the liquid volumes because they do actually vary between US and UK. That phrase isn’t entirely accurate as a pint is NOT the same the world around – US pint =473ml UK pint =568ml