American weights and measures

Conversions to American weights, measures and terminology

There are significant differences between the measures used for ingredients in British and American recipes. For example a British standard tablespoon holds 17.7ml while the American tablespoon has a 14.2 ml capacity. Similarly a British pint measures 20 fluid ounces while an American pint is just 16 fluid ounces. Many American recipes use an 8 ounce cup as a basis for measuring recipe ingredients. The tables below should enable the Cadbury recipe collection to be successfully made by American 'cooks'.

Spoons

Solid measures 

Liquid measures

Baking tins

There may be occasions when the exact size of baking tin may not be available or when you wish to make a particular cake recipe in another shape. The following conversions might prove useful.
For the purposes of baking the capacity of a round cake tin is equal to that of a square cake tin that is 2.5cm/inch smaller in size, for example a 20cm/8inch round tin holds the same quantity as an 18cm/7inch square tin.

800ml/11/2pint pudding basin = 14cm/ 51/2 inch round deep cake tin

1.2 litre/2 pint pudding basin = 15cm/6inch round deep cake tin or 12.5 cm/5inch square deep tin

1kg/2lb loaf tin = 18cm/7inch square shallow cake tin or a 33 x 23 cm/13 x 9 inch Swiss roll tin.

Ingredients

There is also a variation in both the range and names of ingredients available in the two countries. Following are a few ingredients used in the Cadbury Recipe Collection with either the American equivalent or a product that can be used as an alternative.