h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

'Cups' are an American form of measurement (and also used elsewhere I believe), which seems to digress from the 'British English' form of edited entries. Personally, I have no idea what a 'cup' amounts to, therefore, whilst I would love to try out this recipe, I can't!

Also, there was a mention of something-or-other (powdered) sugar. I assume this equates to British 'caster sugar', which is basically fine ground white sugar.

Hope these comments help.

~A~

On consulting various cookbooks, the equivalent imperial (ounces) weight of a cup seems to vary according to what you are weighing, so I'm still left in the dark. However, liquid measurements are fixed thus:

1 Imperial pint = 20 fluid ounces
1 American pint = 16 fluid ounces
1 American cup = 8 fluid ounces

1 tablespoon = 15 ml
1 teaspoon = 5 ml

Perhaps the author of the article could give us the measurement(s) of the cup(s) they used for this recipe?

I'm off to bake some of my double chocolate muffins now.

~A~

In the colonies we use cup as a wet or dry measurement of volume.
1 cup = 8 ounces / 1 ounce = 3 tbs(tablespoons)

Indeed, Castor Sugar is the American Powdered Sugar... It is used for making frostings and icings, and to sprinkle on confections. In America it is also refered to as "Confectioner's sugar".

While granulated sugar weighs almost the same as water, thus 1 cup = 8 ounces (US), powdered sugar weighs less due to it's being finely ground. Generally speaking, 1 cup of powdered sugar weighs about 4 ounces. (But then that depends on whether it's sifted or packed!) The weight is based on the specific gravity of the item being measured.

International recipe conversion is no easy task, not only when talking units of measure but also regarding ingredients. Last year, I wanted to bake a cake in Italy, and had a DEVIL of a time finding the ingredients which I needed just to make a good old fashioned American White Butter Cake with Buttercream frosting for my Italian friends! Hydrogenated shortening (such as Crisco) was no where to be found in the Italian supermarkets!! I finally found a version of baking powder, and purchased it, only to find packets of it inserted with the confectioner's sugar I had purchased for the frosting. And the confectioner's sugar had vanilla flavoring already mixed in with it so I had no control over the amount of vanilla flavor in my cake. But it did finally come out rather edible and gave my Italian friends a taste of what an American white cake tastes like.

Surely powdered sugar that is normally used in icing cakes is in fact Icing Sugar. Caster sugar is fine, but not fine enough to make icing with by itself. I apologise if indeed it is caster sugar referred to, it's just that i've never heard of any recipes that use caster sugar in the icing.

Just a small point but the hyperlink "sugar" on the cream cheese icing ingredients list points to article 190054 and not A190054 so an error message is received. I don't know if this is the correct place to point out incorrect links, but no harm in doing so I suppose.

On Monday morning, Ash will come along and check and make any necessary adjustments to the article, based on researchers' comments here in the forums.

Caster sugar is used in icing cakes, particularly when making buttercream or similar fillings. It seems more likely to be the type of sugar referred to in this case, but again some clarification seems needed.

I look forward to baking (and eating it) personally.

~A~

Thankyou, jr. I did indeed use American units of measure.

As for the sugar issue, the terms powdered sugar and confectioner's sugar are used interchangeably in the US. The product I use is graded "6X confectioner's". Someone familiar with both US and British products will have to identify the British equivilent.

You are welcome, wm. Hadn't figured out quite how to ask for your receipe after you gave me a cake, but figured anyone willing to offer their efforts at a party , probably had a great one. Will be tendering yours at the annual family turkeyday gathering. Will let you know how it goes.
Don't forget (yeah, sure) to vote.
cul

I am English. Nowhere (as I expected) on my box of caster sugar is there any mention whatsoever of icing (merely baking). The icing references are the exclusive domain of 'Icing' Sugar. This is V.finely powdered sugar that is used in all types of icing and not much else. Caster sugar on the other hand is fine granulated sugar. Am I the only person on this forum who has heard of icing sugar, or indeed am I the only english person in on this forum?

I posted a request for the proper term in the British English thread on Ask the h2g2 community page. We'll see if anyone can help us out here.

http://www.h2g2.com/FFM19585?thread=46483&skip=1760&show=20#p701598

I think it's easier to describe the two by saying that

ICING SUGAR has the look of flour, or better still, cornflour, because it is very white, and flour looks greyish against it. Now cornflour in America has another name - I think it is cornstarch.

CASTER or CASTOR (Both are acceptable) SUGAR has crystals about the size of table salt.

The "normal" sugar you get in Britain is slightly larger still, somewhere between coarse salt and table salt. This is not available in Germany - here use use castor sugar for everything, it is called "Raffinade".

Carrot cake is a traditional dish in Switzerland and the South of Germany - particulary Switzerland, though. You may add nuts there, I think, but I haven't heard of raisins. You can buy little packets of marzipan carrots to decorate them with.

And according to an English cookery book I once read, a cup is 5 fl. oz. Cups are occasionally used in British recipes, e.g. for milk in a cake or stock in a soup. But this is very rare. In fact I may even have seen it on a measuring jug. But definitely 5 oz - easy to remember - four to a pint. So this explains why my American recipe experiments have always been a bit disappointing.

The consensus on the British English thread is:

Use Caster sugar in the carrot cake recipe and Icing sugar in the cream cheese icing recipe.

ah, I see you have resolved the problem. That is what I would have said anyway. How is your clotted cream?

I've decided that if I want clotted cream, I'll travel to the UK to get it!

I'd travel to the end of the world to get it

okay then, let me know when you're coming

Is it nice and cold?

Thank you dear Witty Monkiker for your wonderful carrot cake
It has done more to generate interest in the cake competition than the best publicity could possibly have done.!!
It looks quite sublime - and smells the same - the the icing, made as you have correctly deduced from all the correspondence is so appetising that I am going to have to put it in a safe place so that no-one is tempted to have a little taste of it with their fingers!!
It is one of my favourite cakes and I am longing to have taste of it. I made it every week when I lived in South Africa and it was always a favourite whe I had to bake for events such as these - and for fund raising.
As one of the many correspondents has pointed out it is possible also to put nuts into it. I always put those into the flour mixture, so that the nuts would be coated with flour they would not drop to the bottom of the cake whilst it was baking.
Thank you again for your super cake. Very sincerely AR1

Very dear Trillian's Child
Once again you have come to my rescue!! I have been busy all day and did not work on my computer. I did not know that it was a favourite cake in Switzerland and southern Germany nor did I know that you could buy marzipan carrots to decorate it with. Perhaps you should also enter yours for the cake competition!
I do not have a scale and I must admit guess quite a lot. A heaped tablespoon I count as one ounce - of whatever it is - and so four ounces is four tablespoons.! For a cup I always use a teacup. Anyway, I found the discussion fascianting and thank you for clarifying the problem. Affectionate AR1