BlightyBoy

I would like to know what self-raising flour is called in the US. I haven't seen it so I would also like to know how much baking soda to add to plain to make it self raising? Isn't there some difference with baking soda/bicarb strength here?
Also, which one is double cream?
How different is an American pint?

Any other different culinary terms would be appreciated too.

MiniBrit

yeah, its painful isn't it? I keep asking hubby how much a 'cup' is....

Duncan Roberts

As far as I know all purpose flour is essentially the same as self raising. A UK pint is 20oz and a US is 16oz, there is a small difference in the size of an ounce but not so much you would notice. Heavy cream is double cream. There is no one conversion from cups to oz/g, each ingredient is different, I have a list of the common ones (flour, butter, sugar, etc) at home if you need it.

fatbrit

http://www.uk-yankee.com/tools/foods.php

Lynne

I was always getting confused with flour being used to plain or self raising. A girl I worked with told me that what the Americans call self rising is the same as self raising and all purpose flour is what we call plain flour. I was confused as to what to use when making yorkshire puddings and pastry which in the UK call for plain flour. All purpose flour is o.k. for these.

As stated above US is 16 fl oz and UK is 20 fl oz.

There is no real substitute for caster sugar. In some recipies if you use regular granulated it is too grainy. However, powdered sugar (icing sugar to us Brits) is too fine. Powdered sugar does come in two kinds 10 x and 20 x. To come close to caster sugar I whizz granulated in a coffee grinder but be warned, if you do it too much you end up with icing sugar.

Also watch out for cake pans. Many are defined by cup size as opposed to measurement.

Where possible I tend to weigh dry ingredients rather than use the cup measure. Using a cup measure for things like flour and sugar is inaccurate and can vary a lot each time you make the item.

You may want to seive your flour since we don't have Fred and the Homepride men to ensure than graded grains make finer flour.

NC Penguin

No. That's not true. All purpose flour is the same as British plain flour.

Epicurious is helpful for conversions and go the drop down menu near the top of the page for additional conversion tables.




NC Penguin

peacelover

Oh how I miss Fred and the flour graders, sob,sob, feeling a little homesick today!

dbj1000

Don't worry, he's never far away

Lynne

Pumpkin pie spice is a good substitute for ground mixed spice (for bread pudding or Christmas cakes).

There is a brand of sugar called "Sugar in the Raw", this is almost as good as demerara sugar.

Making home made clotted cream is almost impossible since all double cream (heavy cream) is ultra pasturized. To make home made clotted cream you need unpasturized double cream but with patience you can use pasturized. Unfortunately, the Americans ultra pasturize everything. Bugger.

Thankfully, there is no substitute for Cheese Whizz.

I miss Fred too. He gave that special meaning to home cooking.

Sue

The flour I have in my pantry is called "Self Rising", I think I bought it in Harris Teeter, although I've seen it in other grocery stores. I'm assuming it's the same stuff as Self Raising. I make my dumplings with it and they come out fine.

Sue

Lynne

He is just so cute.

cindyabs

I went into a kitchen outlet place in the mall ( NOT a fancy gourmet type store) and bought dual purpose measuring utensils.

NC Penguin

Found a clotted cream recipe although it appears to imitate clotted cream rather than be a bona fide recipe for it.

http://brunch.allrecipes.com/az/ClttdCrm.asp



NC Penguin

Francisco

I am still 100% British, please explain Cheese Whizz!

Lynne

It's cheese in a can like squirty cream. Well they say it's cheese but I have my doubts. Apparently it's popular to squirt it on crackers or, according to my neighbor, if you get lazy you can just squirt it in your mouth while watching the ball game. I have never tried it, just can't get past the idea of having cheese in a can like that.