Conversions

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If you're visiting from a country where baking measurements are done in cups, I've put together this helpful conversion guide. You can also automatically convert to cups by clicking 'US Customary' beneath the ingredient list on some of my recipes. Please be aware I have not tested my recipes using cups amounts, I have only provided a conversion for your convenience.

My number one piece of advice is to buy some digital measuring scales, they make baking more accurate and help to avoid any risk that ingredients will be measured incorrectly. So much can go wrong when it comes to cup measurements, for example if you scoop up flour with the cup, or spoon flour into the cup, they will weigh different amounts. I use digital scales by a brand called Salter which cost under £15 (under $20 US dollars) from Amazon.

I also wanted to provide bit more information about the ingredients I use in my recipes:

I always use large eggs, unless otherwise stated.
For baking spread, I always use Stork as I find I get the best results when making cakes and cupcakes. However I prefer real butter when making brownies, cookies, buttercream, blondies, millionaire's shortbread etc.
For vanilla extract, Nielsen Massey is the best quality, however many other supermarkets and brands have excellent quality extracts too. Just make sure not to use vanilla essence as it has a synthetic flavour.
For flour, I recommend Matthews Cotswold Flour. They are a family run business with a focus on sustainable and organic farming practices. I've visited and toured their mill set in the beautiful Cotswolds. You can also get 10% off any purchase from their website using my code: KATBAKINGEXPLORER
For caster sugar, light brown soft sugar etc. I use a variety of brands from Silver Spoon to supermarket own brands.
For icing sugar I only use Tate & Lyle, it is the only icing sugar I have found that doesn't make a huge cloud the moment you start mixing it! It's definitely not 100% mess free, but the difference between it and other brands is substantial.
For chocolate, I use supermarket own brands (Tesco's is my fave) or Callebaut. I never use cooking/baking chocolate, as not only does it taste horrible to me, but it can negatively affect the final result of some bakes, like blondies for example.

UK Ingredient Name	US Ingredient Name	1 cup	¾ cup	⅔ cup	½ cup	⅓ cup	¼ cup
Plain Flour	All Purpose Flour	120g	90g	80g	60g	40g	30g
Self Raising Flour	Self Rising Flour	120g	90g	80g	60g	40g	30g
Flour (sieved)	N/A	110g	80g	70g	55g	35g	27g
Granulated sugar	N/A	200g	150g	133g	100g	67g	50g
Caster sugar	Superfine sugar	200g	150g	133g	100g	67g	50g
Icing Sugar	Powdered confectioners sugar	125g	94g	83g	63g	42g	31g
Brown Sugar	N/A	200g	150g	133g	100g	67g	50g
Golden syrup	Corn syrup	350g	265g	235g	175g	115g	90g
Honey/Maple syrup	N/A	322g	240g	215g	161g	107g	80g
Black Treacle	Molasses	340g	255g	227g	170g	113	85g
Cornflour	Corn starch	120g	90g	80g	60g	40g	30g
Oats (uncooked)	N/A	90g	65g	60g	45g	30g	22g
Butter	N/A	240g	180g	160g	120g	80g	60g
Coconut oil	N/A	200g	150g	133g	100g	67g	50g
Vegetable oil	N/A	200g	150g	133g	100g	67g	50g
Whole Milk	Full fat milk	245g	184g	163g	123g	82g	61g
Double cream	Heavy cream	240g	180g	160g	120g	80g	60g
Desiccated coconut	Shredded coconut	100g	75g	67g	50g	33g	25g
Nuts (chopped)	N/A	150g	110g	100g	75g	50g	40g
Nuts (ground)	N/A	120g	90g	80g	60g	40g	30g
Breadcrumbs (dry)	N/A	150g	110g	100g	75g	50g	40g
Digestive biscuits	Graham crackers	100g	75g	67g	50g	33g	25g
Sultanas/Raisins	White Raisin	200g	150g	130g	100g	65g	50g

Butter

I'm giving butter it's own section as I've seen it weighed it sticks, cups and even tbsp!

1 cup	¾ cup	⅔ cup	½ cup	⅓ cup	¼ cup
227g	170g	151g	113g	76g	57g

1 stick of butter =	113g
1 tbsp butter =	14g
(All figures are rounded to nearest whole number)

Cake sizes

I often get asked how to convert my cake recipes to different sized cake tins. I make the vast majority of my cakes in 8" tins. The table below is to convert any of my 8" cake tin recipes to fit your cake tins. Any recipe conversion is going to involve a bit of maths unfortunately so get your calculator ready!

For example, to convert and 8" cake tin recipe to a 6" cake tin, you need 56% of the original ingredients. Therefore you'll need to multiple each ingredient amount by 0.56.

So if the recipe for an 8" cake states 500g caster sugar:

500 x 0.56 = 280

So you'll need 280g caster sugar for a 6" cake recipe!

Remember that if you are sizing down the cake you'll need to bake it for less time, and if you're sizing up, you'll need to bake it for longer! Always check a cake is done by inserting a thin skewer in the centre, if it comes out clean, the cake is done!

Cake tin size	Mutiple by
4"	0.25
5"	0.39
6"	0.56
7"	0.77
9"	1.27
10"	1.56
12"	2.25
14"	3.06

Eggs

Now of course, it's pretty hard to divide up an egg, so here's my guide for changing the amount of eggs. You can also add 1-2 tbsp milk if you think the batter needs it. Please note: this guide is based on my 8" cakes that have 3 eggs per layer. Some of my cakes have less eggs (e.g. red velvet cake, victoria sponge cake) so go by the conversion chart above for them.

Cake tin size	Eggs for a two layer cake	Eggs for a three layer cake
4"	1	2
5"	2	3
6"	3	5
7"	5	7
9"	8	11
10"	10	14
12"	14	20
14"	19	28

Other useful conversions:

UK term	US term
Bicarbonate of soda	Baking soda
Pepper	Bell/Sweet Pepper
Filo pastry	Phyllo pastry
Jam	Jelly
100s & 1000s	Sprinkles
Spring onion	Scallion
Natural yoghurt	Unflavoured yoghurt
Courgette	Zucchini
Greaseproof Paper	Wax Paper
Baking paper	Parchment paper
Cling Film	Plastic Wrap/Saran Wrap
Baking Tray	Baking Sheet or Cookie Sheet
Sieve	Strainer
Hob	Stove
Tinned Food	Canned Food
Frying Pan	Skillet
Casserole dish	Dutch oven
Grill	Broiler