Cups, Sticks, Help Confused Englishman!!!!!
Decorating By tony66 Updated 19 Nov 2009 , 6:56pm by Jenn2179
Help 
I'm sat here in UK confused with the US measurements used in the recipes here 
What size is a cup
How much is a 'stick' of butter
Is there a US/UK conversion chart anywhere
Anybody know what the UK equivelant to Crisco is, or what to use for 'shortening'
I've read about how gorgeous Red Velvet Cake is and want to try it, but all the recipes I look at are in US measurements
http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/us_cups_to_weight.htm
^^^ Maybe that will help. ^^^
Hehe, a whole webpage dedicated to the conversion of butter:
http://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_measures/butter_converter.html
a cup is 8 oz.
a stick of butter is 1/4 lb or 4oz.
Crisco is solid vegetable shortening. There must be an equivalent next to the oils in the grocery store.
You Brits still use pounds and ounces? Cake on!
Wikipedia says "Cookeen" for shortening:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortening
Crisco, a popular brand in the USA, was first produced in 1911. In Ireland and the UK Cookeen is a popular brand.
I was going to suggest the recipies for us conversion too as that is what I use 
I use grams and kilograms so have it is really useful as it converts to both.
The worst is when the size of a container changes.
"1 small package cream cheese". I don't ever see the 4oz. It can really change a recipe if you use 8oz when it's supposed to be 4oz.
They better not change the size of a package/stick of butter!
This kind of stuff drives me up a freakin' TREE!! 
In my world, a "small package of cream cheese" is a 3 pounder! I buy in volume, people, so I've no idea how small YOUR small is!
In a few of my jobs, we've put together an employee cookbook and being a quasi-writer, I was always on the editing committee. OMG, the TIME I had to take to track down people to decipher their freakin recipes.
"1 small cup" (as opposed to one of those BIG cups, I guess!)
"1 capful" .... (Uh, just how big is YOUR cap?)
"1 cup of Maytest" (is this a brand name of something? What the hell is it?)
"Pour in a pan and bake" (what size pan, what temp, and for how long?)
"Add the salt and ginger" (Yo, chic! What salt and ginger? You didn't LIST any salt and ginger in your freakin' recipe!)
I learned a long time ago that most people do not know how to write out a recipe. No wonder half of the ones in magazines dont' work.
I'm sorry to say that I've seen the same type of things in recipes right here on CC, too.
I recently typed out all my mother's and sisters' recipes, plus a bunch more and set it up like a "cookbook". some of them say things like 'a bottle of topping or coffee whitener' (they're different sizes, so how much?), or capful, handful, some, etc. Wherever possible, i got measurements and corrected them, but some of them I couldn't.
Does anyone know what "1 vanilla" means? some old recipes say this. is it vanilla extract or sugar or bean, and how much???
The worst is when the size of a container changes.
"1 small package cream cheese". I don't ever see the 4oz. It can really change a recipe if you use 8oz when it's supposed to be 4oz.
They better not change the size of a package/stick of butter!
They already have, now you can get butter in a stick that is half the size it usually is, 1/4 cup
I recently typed out all my mother's and sisters' recipes, plus a bunch more and set it up like a "cookbook".
My kids made me do this with my recipes. But I actually poured out what I'd normally add (remember, I'm not a measuring cook) and then I'd pour that into a measuring cup to see how much it was.
It was a lot more work than I thought it would be! 
The worst is when the size of a container changes.
"1 small package cream cheese". I don't ever see the 4oz. It can really change a recipe if you use 8oz when it's supposed to be 4oz.
They better not change the size of a package/stick of butter!
That drives me crazy too.
I love old cookbooks and I have some that will say "a number 12 can of..." or some other number. And I don't know what size a number 12 can is.
Does anyone know what "1 vanilla" means? some old recipes say this. is it vanilla extract or sugar or bean, and how much???
I bet it means one teaspoon...but..who knows for sure
My mother says its a teaspoon, my MIL, who also has a few such recipes says its a tablespoon. Lately i do somewhere between the two.
Does anyone know what "1 vanilla" means? some old recipes say this. is it vanilla extract or sugar or bean, and how much???
I bet it means one teaspoon...but..who knows for sure
My mother says its a teaspoon, my MIL, who also has a few such recipes says its a tablespoon. Lately i do somewhere between the two.
Geesh, I'm glad we cleared THAT up!
ive been here 18 yrs myself. At least when you go home to the UK and get a pint of beer your getting 20oz whereas here you only get 16oz for a pint!!!
Thanks again everyone, good to know it's not just me who struggles working out some recipes 
You can PM me if you need more info. If they still make it 'Trex' is the Englishmans equivalent. This English woman has been in the states for <18 years so i know the US/UK stuff pretty well!!
Thanks loulou, I HAVE heard of that and a quick search shows it's still made, will have a look next time I go shopping (for those in US that's go to the store 
) 
Oh, I love confused englishmen.....oh, um, sorry....couldn't help myself
Love me all you want
Sidestory: We had friends from England spend 2 weeks with us. It was so much fun, sometimes, trying to figure out what each of us meant! One time I asked her to get the green onions out of the 'frig for me. She stared in the 'frig for a minute and I pointed out where they were. She picks them up and I said, "Ok... what do you call them?" She told me they were "spring" onions, not "green" onions.
And we promised we'd teach them to say "y'all" with a true southern accent by the time they left!
Tony66,
The kitchen areas at both John Lewis and Lakeland have been known to carry US solid and liquid measuring cups.
Trex can be found near the butter. (In the US we leave shortening at room temp. It took me weeks to find it at Tesco!) Don't be temped to use White Flora, Trex is a much better Crisco sub.
If it helps: 1 cup shortening = 7 ounces (198.4 g)
a stick of butter = 113 grams or 4 ounces or 1/4 pound or 1/2 cup
Sidestory: We had friends from England spend 2 weeks with us. It was so much fun, sometimes, trying to figure out what each of us meant!
One time I asked her to get the green onions out of the 'frig for me. She stared in the 'frig for a minute and I pointed out where they were. She picks them up and I said, "Ok... what do you call them?" She told me they were "spring" onions, not "green" onions.
Another side: My kids love PB&J sandwiches. Not long ago my husband and I were out for the and the babysitter called. I was really concerned when I saw it was her. Her question: Do your kids REALLY eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches???? (insert repulsed tone of voice). My youngest was refusing to eat a sandwich without jelly and in quite a meltdown. I could only chuckle... in the UK jelly is Jello... a PB&J is peanut butter and jam.
a cup is 8 oz.
a stick of butter is 1/4 lb or 4oz.
Crisco is solid vegetable shortening. There must be an equivalent next to the oils in the grocery store.
You Brits still use pounds and ounces? Cake on!
Watch that a cup is 8 oz liquid measure not 8 oz weight.
a stick of butter is 1/4 lb or 1/2 cup
a true baker measures by weight anyway to get a better product. haw about just buying a set of measuring cups and having them shipped to you?
Tony66,
The kitchen areas at both John Lewis and Lakeland have been known to carry US solid and liquid measuring cups.
Trex can be found near the butter. (In the US we leave shortening at room temp. It took me weeks to find it at Tesco!) Don't be temped to use White Flora, Trex is a much better Crisco sub.
If it helps: 1 cup shortening = 7 ounces (198.4 g)
a stick of butter = 113 grams or 4 ounces or 1/4 pound or 1/2 cup
Thanks miss feels like I'm back at school
I'll see how I do with using the converion chart and weigh everything, if for some reason things don't work I'll then start hunting for measuring cups
Cake Flour is NOT self-rising flour. Here is a sometimes-reliable substitution for 1 cup of cake flour is 1 cup all-purpose flour (preferably bleached) minus 2 tablespoons, and then add in 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Baking soda is bicarbonate of baking soda. Baking power is something different.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%