Baking American Recipes in the UK
British baking is almost entirely weight-based — grams and Celsius or Gas Mark. American recipes use cups and Fahrenheit. If you follow US food blogs or cookbooks, every ingredient needs converting before you can bake reliably.
What UK Bakers Need Most
- Cups to grams — get this wrong and it shows: a scooped cup of flour can weigh 25–30% more than a spooned-and-levelled one.
- Fahrenheit to Celsius/Gas Mark — American recipes always give Fahrenheit.
- “Sticks” of butter — one US stick is about 113.5g.
- Ingredient names — all-purpose flour = plain flour; powdered sugar = icing sugar; baking soda = bicarbonate of soda; cornstarch = cornflour.