General Chat

No!

AuntyS and I posted on there a couple of times



maybe we are the thread killers!

I am going to have to sigh huuuuugely.

I can cope with the cups in their various sizes! (now that I know they're different - should have expected they were, since we have the silly split-personality 8-oz cups and 40-oz quarts)

It's the measurements in WEIGHT that I can't do!!!!!!! Aaaargh!

I mean, I could go googling for conversion tables, but like I say, there doesn't seem to be agreement on what the equivalencies are.

And I still say that weighing stuff you're cooking with is just ... silly. ;)


Yes, I'm back, still snotty and phlegmy, but I suspect I'll have to take a back seat to the No.1 on that this week.

But I went looking for the politics/politicians thread some of us had such an interesting time in -- to find it gone. I have requested an explanation. Hahaha. Oh well, I see the "Connie" (Ruth Kim Hope etc) account has now been exterminated. Good show.

Janey


it's very simple


when using Canadian or American cook books then use 8 oz


when using British or Australian recipes mesure ou 10 oz


and that goes for flour or liquid



now you know why I'm half crazy.

I 've been doing that split for over 40 years :)))))






Oh I saw someone asking if Nanaimo bar was similar to Vanilla slice


No No No



at least not the Vanilla slice that I know that had a custardy filling between 2 layers of flaky or puff pastry






ps ......... good to see you back!

It's absolutely tippling down with rain here, so keep your OH in and warm is he's developing the dread lurgy. This should arrive over there in the enxt couple of days.



sylvia

"Bench"? I think I should assume you are talking about the counter(top) ... which actually in my family, at least, was also referred to generically as the "cupboard": "put the plate on the cupboard" / "put the plate on the counter".

But hmm, bench? Do you sit on the surface where you assemble all your strange ingredients in their strange quantities? ;)

And the scales you buy will be the ones which hang on the wall. That way they are always handy, are never lost in the messy cupboard under the bench, and don't clutter up the bench top when you are baking.

AuntyS ... I am going to have to siiiigh.

I have gazillions of measuring cups. Big Pyrex, medium Pyrez, 1-2-4 plastic, several antique Depression glass ... but they are all *Cdn cups*, which are the same as US cups, i.e. 8 fluid ounces.

The UK cup has 10 fluid ounces. The UK cup is bigger than the North American cup. I only learned this in the course of this thread!

In Canada, we measure

(a) Old-style in cups, tsps, tablespoons. Never by weight in ounces (dry), or by volume in ounces (liquid), unless something calls for, say, a 14-oz tin of tomato sauce.
(b) New-style in millilitres by volume, where 250 mls is roughly a cup. But again, never in grams by weight.

The tables I use for calculating carb content so No.1 can calculate his mealtime insulin are also by volume: 1/2 cup mashed potatoes, 1 cup rice, 1 cup cucumber, etc. (To be honest, weight measurement would be a better idea for this purpose in some cases, but I'd have to go get a whole new set of tables, and do two different measurements of everything I cooked ...)

Measurement by weight is just totally foreign. No North American recipe ever, ever specifies an amount of an ingredient by weight. I have not the slightest idea how many potatoes are in a pound, or a kilo, or how much two ounces of sugar is.

And the equivalencies I'm seeing when I go looking seem to be wildly different! You have a large egg = 50 g. Ann o' GG says in this thread that 2 large eggs = 5 oz. One oz = 28 grams. Five oz = 141 grams. So one large egg, per Ann o' GG, = 70 grams. Per you, 50 grams. Aargh.

Life is very simple here:

1 cup = 8 fl oz
1 cup = 16 tbsp
1 tbsp = 3 tsp

Metrically, for converting, but it's still always by volume, not weight:

1 tbsp = 15 ml
1 tsp = 5 ml
so 1 cup = 240 ml, which is nearly exactly right

And 1 large egg = 1 large egg, obviously!


You could convert that recipe for me, but you'd also have to tell me what muscovado sugar is and where I'd find it, figure out how much baking powder to add to the flour to get the self-raising flour, tell me what % butterfat "double cream" is so I know which of half a dozen types of cream to buy ... oh, and send me some new baking soda (bicarbonate of soda), since I filled my baking soda canister wtih flour ... ;)


Seriously -- I hadn't had any idea that we were all divided by so many fractious fractions of so many different things when it comes to cooking, especially baking!

JANEY. THIS IS IN CAPITALS. GO BUY YOURSELF A SET OF PLASTIC MEASURING CUPS. PICK THE CUP WHICH HAS A BIG ONE WRITTEN ON IT.
USE THAT CUP FOR ALL THE INGREDIENTS.

Or fill the measuring cup up with water, line all your cups of various sizes on the bench and pour a measuring cup full of water into each of your cups until you find the one which fills up the best from the measuring cup and use that one. But first put a big X on it so you will remember which one it is.

And PS Would you like that chocolate cake recipe in cups and spoonsful, it is not difficult to convert.

I could tell you to go buy a set of scales but I am picturing you standing on bathroom scales with a bag of sugar in one hand and a cup in the other. However, think about it.

DET, perfect -- Cdn cups = US cups (even though Cdn pints/quarts/gallons=UK same)

AuntyS, sigh. There's no point giving me equivalents in cups unless I know *whose* cups!

Remember, in the course of this thread, I found out that a UK cup has 10 fl oz, while a Cdn/US cup has 8 fl oz ... which have nothing to do with oz of flour ...

I was just having a read of Muffy's chocolate baking thread and went to look at the "ultimate chocolate cake" recipe mentioned:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3092/ultimate-chocolate-cake

200g good quality dark chocolate , about 60% cocoa solids
200g butter , cut in pieces
1 tbsp instant coffee granules
85g self-raising flour
85g plain flour
1⁄4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
200g light muscovado sugar
200g golden caster sugar
25g cocoa powder
3 medium eggs
75ml buttermilk (5 tbsp)
grated chocolate or curls, to decorate

Ganache
200g good-quality dark chocolate , as above
284ml carton double cream (pouring type)
2 tbsp golden caster sugar


I would need several technical dictionaries and a complete laboratory to begin to figure out what all that means ...

Oh here you are, both of you. Let grandma solve the problem.

Equivalent Weights and Measures

Remember a “cup” is not a tissy little afternoon tea cup or a huge coffee cup. Buy yourself a measuring cup.

Dry or Solids

1 level tablespoon = 30 g/1 oz butter, lard, margarine, milk, salt, sugar or water
soft butter, size of an egg = 30 g/1 oz
soft butter, size of a walnut = 15 g/½ oz
1 cup butter = 250 g/½ lb
2 cups chopped mean = 500 g/1 lb
1 cup sugar = 250 g/½ lb
2 tablespoons flour = 30 g/1 oz
1 cup flour = 100 g/4 oz
4 level cups flour = 500 g/1 lb
2 tablespoons rice = 30 g/1 oz
4 tablesoons breadcrumbs = 30 g/1 oz
1 cup breadcrumbs = 60 g/2 oz
1 cup raisins or currants = 180 g/6 oz
4 average tomatoes = 500 g/1 lb
3 big bananas (with skins) = 500 g/1 lb
1 large egg = 50 g/2 oz


Liquids

2 teaspoons = 1 dessertspoon
2 dessertspoons = 1 tablespoon/15 ml/½ fl oz
1 wineglass = 60 ml/2 fl oz
4 tablespoons = ½ cup/150 ml/¼ pint
1 cup = 250 ml/8 fl oz
1 pint = 600 ml/20 fl oz
4 cups = 1 litre/1 quart
4 quarts =- 4.5 litres/1 gallon/8 pints

Ok, ok!!!!!

Using my American cups, 4 oz flour (not packed down) comes to 3/4 of a cup.

Could you work out the recipe by ratio?

Half flour to sugar
Three quarters butter to sugar.

I don't think you need to be too exact with the weights, as long as you get the proportions about right.

DET DET ...

"the flour (4oz Plain)"

Can you translate that easily into cups? Even UK cups, then I can convert.

We just don't measure things by weight here at all. I have absolutely no clue what 4 oz of flour is.

(I know what fluid ounces are, because that's what cups are divided into, but not dry/weight ounces.)

Thank you thank you! I shall copy it right off.

I fear that chocolate is not what I crave when I'm snotty and phlegmy. I want fruit and veg. But what did the No.1 bring me for 3 days when I was too weak to object? Potato chips and chocolate bars. What a moron. Those are desert island foods, not sickbed foods. He did get it together to make me a toasted tomato sandwich, which is my what to eat when you have pneumonia and haven't eaten in three days food. And eventually when I pitched a major fit, he went to the Polish deli down the street and got me an apple (1 apple) and a mummified grapefruit. And some OJ and ginger ale, so all wasn't lost.

So now he's got it. The snotty phlegmy disease. So on this fine sunny almost-spring morning, he has the heat ratcheted up to 23C. Nope, son, you aren't cold, you've got chills. For that, you pile on the blankies, you don't double the heating bill. I'm sure he turned it back up as soon as I left the house.

I'm sure *he* thinks chocolate cake is just the thing for a virus, so I shall try and give it a go tonight.

Ooh. This chocolatey thread has popped up again! It was great fun trying the mug cake with the grandchildren and watching it rise in the microwave. A little dry as you said DET but next time I think I will try a 'rounder' mug....the one I used had a narrow base and a wide top....we call it my daughter's 'flower vase' mug. I think the result will be better with a broader base.

Somewhere, I have the recipe for a chocolate peppermint cream slice if any one likes choclatey minty things. Now, where did I put it???

Glad you are feeling better JC - chocolate is a great restorative at times......lol


Cx.

Barry’s
5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

1 Coffee Mug (large)
4 tablespoons flour (that’s plain flour, not self rising)
4 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla essence

Spray PAM (oil) in mug. Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.

Add the egg and mix thoroughly

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.

Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla essence, and mix well.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug but don’t be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired

EAT! (This can serve 2)


Not having a Spray oil, I just wiped the mug round with a paper kitchen towel and a little oil.

It is not necessary to cover the mug with cling film before microwaving. The mixture rises straight up. Lets say it looks a little X rated - lol

If memory recalls, the cake was a little ‘dry’ but as we ate it between 3 as a dessert with ice cream/dairy cream, it was fine. Chocolate drops may have made it a bit moister.

I've added the flour (4oz Plain) on my original post. Sorry about that.

The cake in a mug is around somewhere. Just need to find it.

DET! DET!

I have discovered that Barry has helpfully deleted his cake-in-a-mug recipe. I had not had a chance to copy it.

But I see that you tried it. Did you keep a copy? Can you put it back here for me?

DET!!

I've been too foully sick for most of the time since this thread that I haven't been able to try any of the recipes. So tonight I decided to copy them all into a word file, nice big print, reorganized a bit for them to be easy to follow, and take it home and give some a go sometime soon.

So I'm copying yours, DET, and I get to
"Sift flour, salt, baking powder into mixture and stir in"
and I look at what I have on the monitor, and I say ... what flour?

Not "what kind of flour?" - just "what flour?"

I think you left out something crucial. ;) And I'd been so busy reading about licking bowls I didn't notice before.

Wanna just give me the flour part? anything else that might be missing too, of course!

I'm afraid that all this chocolate talk is a little too early in the morning even for me. ;) Remember, it's just after 10 a.m. here, and it was 9 a.m. when I first had a read. Time for my banana.

This would be why I could never decide which one food I would take if I were stranded on a desert island. Chips or chocolate ... chips or chocolate ... you can eat chips for breakfast, but Nanaimo bars, I dunno.

Okay, you call 'em "crisps", but you have to admit "crisps or chocolate" doesn't have the same ring to it. ;)

Loved your descriptions AuntyS. They made me laugh. I'm just glad you didn't call the condensed milk 'Connie onnie' which is, I believe a Lancashire expression for that product. That would really have thrown our Canadian friend.


I vaguely remember sterilised milk but you don't see it around much these days do you? It used to come in tall glass bottles with a metal lid - rather like a beer bottle.

Cx.

What do you mean? You don’t have scales! A prerequisite for any British home. We’ve weighed things since the Roman times, not having to develop other methods for your Frontier era.

Another moreish old favourite – you can tell because the weights are in imperial.

KRUNZLE

2 oz margarine/butter
2 good tablespoons of Golden syrup

Melt together in a pan

Add – 8 oz crushed biscuits – digestives/sweet but plain/ginger, what ever is to hand
1 oz cocoa/drinking chocolate powder

Mix well
Press into a 7 in square tin ( or anything else of a similar sq in)

Melt 2 oz chocolate and spread on the top

(this can be omitted if wished – but who’d want to??)

Place to set in a cool place – fridge etc
Cut into squares.

Store in an air tight tin and try not to eat all at once.