Conversions & Substitutions

Because life is not always tailor-made for us, we can use a little bit of extra help to get along more easily. Below you will find several tables to help you understand some of the differences and alternatives in the baking world.

Weight vs Volume Conversion Chart

One of the keys to success in baking, other than passion, is accuracy when measuring ingredients. I like to pay extra attention to both method and system. This is the reason why I think this chart may be of great help when dealing with systems of measurements from other baking cultures.

MAIN DRY INGREDIENTS
(METRIC SYSTEM / CUPS)

1 ounce (oz) = 28,35 g
1 fluid ounce (fl oz) = 29,57 ml
1 cup = 16 tablespoons (Tbsp) / 240 ml (standard US)
1 tablespoon (15 ml) = 3 teaspoons (tsp)
1 pint = 2 cups
1 quart = 2 pints
1 gallon = 4 quarts
1 pound (lb) = 453 g
1 inch (1″) = 2,54 cm

1 tablespoon (Tbsp)

1 cup

Other

Blueberries

8,75 g

140 g

½ pint

Sugar

12 g

200 g

Blueberries

8,75 g

140 g

½ pint

Cereals (rolled oats, puffed rice)

5 g

85 g

Brown sugar

14 g

220 g

Caster or superfine sugar

14 g

225 g

Cocoa

6 g

95 g

Chocolate Chips

10,5 g

170 g

Raspberries

8 g

125 g

Dried fruits, chopped (walnuts, hazelnuts…)

7,5 g

120 g

Cake flour

6 g

100 g

All-purpose flour / Bread flour / Self-raising flour

8 g

130 g

Whole wheat flour

8,75 g

140 g

Butter / Margarine

14 g

225 g

1 stick (butter) = ½ cup

Raisins, sultanas, currants…

9,5 g

150 g

Pumpkin purée

15 g

245 g

Shortening

13 g

205 g

Oven Temperature Conversion Chart

Every oven is unique. Oven temperatures given in recipes are always a reference (the ones I indicate in my recipes are the ones that work for me). In case you are not sure about your oven working properly, you can use an additional oven thermometer to verify.

From Celsius to Fahrenheit: ºF = (9÷5  x ºC) +32
From Fahrenheit to Celsius: ºC = 5÷9 x (ºF – 32)

OVEN TEMP EQUIVALENTS CHART

Electric Oven

ºFahrenheit

Fan Oven

Gas Oven

50ºC

122ºF

40ºC

½ – 1

100ºC

212ºF

80ºC

1

100ºC

212ºF

80ºC

1 – 2

125ºC

257ºF

100ºC

2

160ºC

320ºF

135ºC

2 – 3

180ºC

356ºF

155ºC

3 – 4

200ºC

392ºF

170ºC

4

225ºC

437ºF

195ºC

5

240ºC

464ºF

210ºC

6 – 7

250ºC

482ºF

240ºC

7

275ºC

527ºF

240ºC

7 – 8

275ºC

527ºF

260ºC

8

300ºC

572ºF

275ºC

9 – 10

Ingredient Substitution Table*

Sometimes we find recipes which call for certain ingredients that cannot be easily found where we live (or we just ran out of them). The next table is a very useful tool as long as we take a very important fact into account: alternative ingredients, though equally efficient, may not behave exactly the same as the ones indicated in the original recipe. So we must try and value whether the final outcome satisfies our expectations.

INGREDIENT

SUBSTITUTION

allspice 1 teaspoon:
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon plus
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg plus
¼ teaspoon ground clove
brown sugar ½ cup (110 g):
*light brown sugar:
– ½ cup (100 g) sugar plus 2 teaspoons (10 ml) molasses
– ¼ cup (52 g) dark brown sugar plus ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
*dark brown sugar:
½ cup (105 g) sugar plus 1 ½ tablespoons (22,5 ml) molasses
buttermilk 1 cup (240 ml):
– 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice or white vinegar plus 1 cup (240 ml) milk
– ? cup (160 ml) natural yoghurt (low fat) plus ? cup (80 ml) milk
(mix and let sit for 10 minutes)
clotted cream – 1 cup (240 ml) cold whipped cream plus 115 g (4 oz) cold Mascarpone cheese plus 1-2 tablespoons (12,5-25 g) sugar (whip high speed until spreadable consistency)
crème fraîche
– Mascarpone cheese
– whipped cream
cake flour 1 cup (130 g aprox.):
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons (114 g) all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (14 g) cornstarch (sift together 3 times)
egg 1 egg:
– 1 medium smashed banana
– ¼ cup (125 g) applesauce
– 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds dissolved in 3 tablespoons (45 ml) water (let rest for 1 hour)
– 125 ml (½ cup) soy yoghurt
dry yeast (active dry) 1 package (7 gr):
– 17 g fresh yeast (compressed or cake yeast)
– 7 g (2¼ teaspoons) dry instant yeast
light corn syrup ½ cup (125 ml):
– ½ cup (100 g) sugar plus 2 tablespoons (30 ml) hot water (let cool)
– light molasses or golden syrup
– liquid glucose
– light honey
sour cream Greek yoghurt

*Source: Baking from my home to yours, Dorie Greenspan, Joy of Baking et al.