Vanilla Sugar - Help!

[OakLeaf]

Just make sure you're not confounding fluid ounces with ounces avoirdupois...

[Mr. Bloom]

Just make sure you're not confounding fluid ounces with ounces avoirdupois...

what is that? how would i know?

[OakLeaf]

Ah.

If someone else has converted metric weights for you, then the result is still going to be weight. 16 oz avdp = 1 lb.

If someone has converted metric volumes for you, then the result is still going to be volume. 8 fl oz = 1 c

It works out same-same for water (just as 1 ml water = 1 g), but for most ingredients it's a very important difference!!!

Dry ingredients are never measured in fluid ounces - if you have a recipe that actually calls for ounces of flour or sugar, then they mean ounces avoirdupois. If someone's converted a European recipe, flour and sugar are probably measured by weight, so they've converted from grams to ounces avoirdupois.

But I'd do the conversion from scratch, using convert-me, because it seems like you're playing "telephone" with your recipe... Did you see the pull-down menu to pick your particular substance, and the fact that there are two different spaces to enter fluid ounces vs. ounces avoirdupois?

Five ounces (avoirdupois) of granulated sugar (probably weighing as close as nevermind to vanilla sugar) is 3/4 cup. Et cetera.



ETA: I love that site. It's fun just to browse. And handy even when you're not switching from metric to Imperial - like, a recipe calls for 1 c chopped onions, well, what I have is whole onions that I can weigh - if I pick the one that's 1/3 lb I'm spot-on. (Or maybe I should pick the onion that weighs a little over 1/3 lb, since I'll be tossing the stem and root ends into the stock pot. )

[Mr. Bloom]

Well, i just found an imperial recipe on the 'net using virtually similar ingredients!

The Stress! The Stress! I can't take it anymore!

I feel like Papa from Breaking Away:
Papa: What is this?
Mama: It's sauteed zucchini.
Papa: It's I-tey food. I don't want no I-tey food.
Mama: It's not. I got it at the A&P. It's like... squash.
Papa: I know I-tey food when I hear it! It's all them "eenie" foods... zucchini... and linguini... and fettuccine. I want some American food, darnit! I want French fries!

[bmccasland]

You sure Papa said "darnit"?

So how did the muffins come out?

I have to admit, I broke down and bought a scale in my local office supply store - and my french frend gave me a measuring cup for liquid measures. Those two things makes life much easier, no more conversions.

[Mr. Bloom]

OK, the muffins were "OK", but dry...but every great recipe requires practice.

I don't have the original recipe, it was sent to me post conversion...

I made my own vanilla sugar using beans and the food processor.

LPH: I'll PM the address and reimburse your expenses.

[uk elephant]

Mr. Silver, I quite often have the "problem" of lacking vanilla sugar. Not a big deal. In an average sized cake or muffin recipie, just add a tsp of vanilla extract and skip the vanilla sugar. Turns out just fine usuall. And if I don't have vanilla extract (which here in britain is hugely expensive and only comes in tiny bottles) I'll use any random booze: a tsp or two of kalhua if it's a chocolatey recepie, a tsp or two of cognac otherwise, or a fruity liqueur if it's a fruity recipie.