How Does It Measure Up?

Kitchen abbreviations! They’re everywhere, but does anyone really know what they all mean? Tsp? Tbsp? Oz? There’s just so many… who’s to get them all straight!

Well, I used to feel just the same way; that is until I realized that the confusion of kitchen abbreviations didn’t have to baffle me any longer. How’d I solve my problem? I made a cheat sheet, of course. It helps he so much and now I’ve found that I can help out other people with my fancy list.

It’s not so much that abbreviations are hard to decipher, as much as it’s that if it’s unfamiliar, you want to be 100% sure. In baking, a teaspoon and a tablespoon are very different!

In addition, measurements and equivalencies can be confusing! On a scale, how much is ½ a pound exactly? It’s hard to know. That’s why there a chart for equivalencies as well!

Here, have a look at my charts. Hopefully, it can help you out as much as it helped me!

Abbreviations

Approx- approximate

Bu- bushel

C- cup

Doz- dozen

Fl- fluid

Gr- granulated

Hr- hour

Lb- pound

Liq- liquid

Min- minute

Mod- moderate

Oz- ounce or ounces

Pd- powder

Pk- peck

Pt- pint

Qt- quart

Sq- square

Sub- substitute

Tbs or T- tablespoon

Tsp- teaspoon

Equivalents:

1 oz- 1/8 cup

8 oz- 1 cup

dash or pinch (as much as can be held between fingertips)- less than 1/8 teaspoon

4 Tbs- 1/4 cup

5 Tbs+1 tsp- 1/3 cup

8 Tbs- 1/2 cup

4 cups- 1 quart (32 fl oz)

4 quarts- 1 gallon (128 fl oz)

4 pecks- 1 bushel

16 ounces (liquid or dry)- 1 pound

2 cups (liquid)- 1 pound

Metric Equivalents:

5 grams- 1 teaspoon

30 grams- 2 Tbs.

227 grams- 1/2 pound

1 kilogram- 2 1/5 pounds

Well, that’s all folks! Enjoy these abbreviations and conversions! ( I know I sure do…)

Silpat Baking Mat

The Silpat baking mat has been around for a couple years now. Have you heard of it? Well let me tell you a little bit about it!

Basically, the Silpat baking mat is a new way to bake without the hassle of foods sticking. You know what I mean.

It’s your favorite cookie recipe. You can already smell them in the oven and then the timer goes off. You take the cookies from the oven and get ready to try one, still steaming from the heat.

Suddenly, your worst nightmare is true! Your cookies have stuck to the pan because you forgot to put on your non-stick cooking spray, aluminum foil or parchment paper. Common mistakes, but either way your cookies are ruined.

With the Silpat baking mat, you will never have to spray another pan as long as you bake! The mat is 11 ¾ x 8 ¼ inches so it fits most standard baking sheets. In addition, this mat has a naturally non-stick texture which can withstand temperatures from -40 up to over 480 degrees! That means that not only can bake with this mat, but you can also chill foods like chocolate molds or ice cream sandwiches.

These convenient little sheets were developed from a cooking company in France called Demarle. They were invented in 1982 and it’s very possible that the first of all the Silpats to be used are still in kitchens today. These heavy-duty mats can be used over 2,000 times! You better get to baking… your Silpat is waiting!

Classic Cinnamon Coffee Cake Recipe

Good morning, sunshine! Oh, fine. So we all know that coffee cake is no longer just a morning picker-upper. Would you believe that coffee cake has been around for centuries?! It’s true.

The coffee cake that we all love today evolved from ancient honey cakes. As time went on, the cake shifted towards a simple French galettes, to medieval fruitcakes, to sweet yeast rolls, to Danish cakes made with coffee, and finally ending its journey in an air tight plastic wrapped package on the shelves of grocery stores nation-wide.

This classic cinnamon coffee cake is an easy coffee cake recipe which tastes delicious! I love this recipe and my friends to too. One day I brought these cakes to an early morning meeting at school. People were half-asleep, but as soon as they smelled my hot cakes they were wide awake and piling it onto their plates!

Ingredients:

Crumb Topping:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided use
• 1 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed, divided use
• 1 1/2 cup butter, softened, divided use
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Cake:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup milk

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour 9×13 inch pan.

Crumb Topping:

2) Combine 1 cup flour with 1 cup brown sugar, a 1/2 softened butter and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a medium bowl.
3) Mixture should have the consistency of moist sand. Add 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Set aside.

Cake:

4) In a large bowl, cream together the remaining 1 cup butter, remaining 3/4 cup light brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

5) In a separate bowl combine the remaining 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt. Add this dry mixture to the moist ingredients a little bit at a time. Add milk and mix well. Spoon the batter into prepared 13×9-inch baking pan.

6) Sprinkle the crumb topping over the batter. Be sure the topping completely covers the batter.

7) Bake cake for 50 minutes, or until the edges just begin to turn light brown.

Although, the bake time on these tasty hot cakes is kind of long… they’re definitely worth the wait! I love is classic coffee cake recipe. Cutting them warm (and eating one or two) is such a great benefit of baking this tasty coffee cake; not to mention it makes my whole kitchen smell amazing!

Stand Mixers

This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of one of the world’s greatest kitchen innovation of all times—the stand mixer. Back in the year, 1908, a man by the name of Herbert Johnson was watching a local baker knead bread dough with a large metal spoon.

It was then that he thought up a mechanical arm which would make this job much easier. It came in the form of an 80-quart mixer and by 1915 it was customary in large bakeries nationwide. In 1919, Johnson sensitive to home bakers as well, reformatted his original idea until it was just right for the every day kitchen of a consumer.

With the birth of this second generation stand mixer, people everywhere flocked to buy a stand mixer of their own. These were called Hobart stand mixers, now-a-days known as KitchenAid mixers.

Today, with a new name, KitchenAid offers many different varieties to Johnson’s classic design. Sizes for the average home, vary from 9-cups to 14-cups capacity. Stand mixers are also capable of doing many other functions besides solely mixing, like Johnson had originally planned.

KitchenAid sells attachments that even Johnson probably never imagined. A stand mixer mixes, kneads, whips, folds, (with the right attachments) makes pasta, makes ice cream, grinds meat, slices/strains fruits, grinds cheeses, grates potatoes, etc.

The possibilities are nearly as endless as the attachments you can buy for a stand mixer of your own! I’ve worked in the kitchen with my stand mixer for as long as I’ve remembered.

While, yes, every now and then it is kind of fun to knead my own breads or hand mix cookie dough, in most cases the added strain on my wrists and hands just isn’t worth the effort. After all, Johnson’s intention with the stand mixer was so that bakers would no longer have to hand mix dough. May the stand mixer dream not live in vain!

Cover Up, Ladies!

I just ran across the cutest thing ever; adorable aprons! These aprons are so unique! I’m actually looking for a new apron because my old one is beginning to show its age. I thought my choices of aprons would be slim and none of them really all that appealing. Oh how wrong could I have been!

The three sites I found all offer something completely different in an apron. The first site is called Jillie Willie. Their aprons were super cute because they were so bright and fun! Many of them had convenient pockets while others focused on the looks- sporting meshy overlays or frilly bottoms.

The second site I found was called Flirty Aprons. This site was equally as appealing because it’s aprons were a little more modern and meant to cover a larger area (in the case of a real kitchen mess)! I thought the bows on these aprons were large but gave the aprons a special little “umph”. I really liked the coordinating colors and simplicity of these aprons as well.

The third site I stumbled too was called Florence Adams. This site offered an extremely feminine apron with a little bit of a vintage style. Although, it was kind of different, I really liked the colors and old fashioned patterns.

Even if you’re not looking for an apron now, these lovely cover-ups can be bought now and put away until you’re ready. These aprons are so stylish and are not just meant to prevent the mess. In fact, you’re not going to want to wipe anything on these! I mean really, whoever invented the concept of an apron should get a great hug and a look at some of these new, fabulous options into the wonderful world of Baking. Happy Hunting!