Converting Recipes from Metric Measures to US Equivalents
When I first moved to Italy, I found baking to be a nightmare. First, I could not find a number of routine ingredients that baking requires like baking powder and baking soda. But secondly, I did not bring any of my American measuring cups, spoons, etc along with me, and everything available here is in metric measures. With the help of friends, I found the right ingredients to substitute for the American ingredients, but converting my recipes to use metric measures remained a challenge. Thankfully, my sister in law came to my rescue on one trip to the US when she bought me regular American measuring cups and spoons to take back to Italy with me.
Living in America, you may have the opposite problem in converting a recipe you found on line or a recipe from Nonna to American equivalents. Below are conversions of routine ingredients used in baking from metric measures to the US kitchen equivalents. A number of measures including quarts, pints, cups mean different things in different countries. And these will not work well outside of the US. A real time saver is also using a good kitchen scale which measures both metric and American measures. I have found that friends in Italy routinely use a scale when they are baking. A scale by Cuisinart which measures metric and US equivalents is included below.
Living in America, you may have the opposite problem in converting a recipe you found on line or a recipe from Nonna to American equivalents. Below are conversions of routine ingredients used in baking from metric measures to the US kitchen equivalents. A number of measures including quarts, pints, cups mean different things in different countries. And these will not work well outside of the US. A real time saver is also using a good kitchen scale which measures both metric and American measures. I have found that friends in Italy routinely use a scale when they are baking. A scale by Cuisinart which measures metric and US equivalents is included below.
Flour
30 grams = 1/4 cup
60 grams = 1/2 cup 80 grams = 2/3 cup 90 grams = 3/4 cup 120 grams = 1 cup |
Sugar
50 grams = 1/4 cup
65 grams = 1/3 cup 100 grams = 1/2 cup 130 grams = 2/3 cup 150 grams = 3/4 cup 200 grams = 1 cup |
Brown Sugar
45 grams = 1/4 cup
60 grams = 1/3 cup 90 grams = 1/2 cup 120 grams = 2/3 cup 135 grams = 3/4 cup 180 grams = 1 cup |
Confectioners Sugar
25 grams = 1/4 cup
35 grams = 1/3 cup 50 grams = 1/2 cup 70 grams = 2/3 cup 75 grams = 3/4 cup 100 grams = 1 cup |
Corn Meal
40 grams = 1/4 cup
50 grams = 1/3 cup 80 grams = 1/2 cup 100 grams = 2/3 cup 120 grams = 3/4 cup 160 grams = 1 cup |
Butter
60 grams = 1/4 cup
80 grams = 1/3 cup 120 grams = 1/2 cup 160 grams = 2/3 cup 180 grams = 3.4 cup 240 grams = 1 cup |
Milk or Other Liquid
15 ml = 1 tablespoon
30 ml = 1 ounce or 1/8 cup 60 ml = 1/4 cup 80 ml = 1/3 cup 120 ml = 1/2 cup 160 ml = 2/3 cup 180 ml = 3/4 cup 240 ml = 1 cup 475 ml = 2 cups or 1 pint 950 ml = 4 cups or 1 quart 3.8 L = 4 quarts or 1 gallon |
Chopped Nuts
40 grams = 1/4 cup
50 grams = 1/3 cup 75 grams = 1/2 cup 100 grams = 2/3 cup 110 grams = 3/4 cup 150 grams = 1 cup |
Ground Nuts
30 grams = 1/4 cup
40 grams = 1/3 cup 60 grams = 1/2 cup 80 grams = 2/3 cup 90 grams = 3/4 cup 120 grams = 1 cup |
Converting Oven Temperature from Centigrade to Fahrenheit
120 C = 250 F
150 C = 300 F 165 C = 325 F 180 C = 350 F 190 C = 375 F 205 C = 400 F 232 C = 450 F |