My list of common ingredient weights, which I hang up in my kitchen so I don't have to be flipping back and fourth when converting a recipe.
I mentioned yesterday that I use a section in the back of The Cake Bible that lists weights of common baking ingredients to convert recipes from cups to ounces (or grams). It’s the section of the book that I go to most often these days – mostly to double-check the weight of something I use less often, like bread flour.
When I first started converting recipes, I copied out the ingredient weights I used most often and taped it up in my kitchen. This way, I wouldn’t have to flip back and fourth between The Cake Bible and my other cookbooks every time I needed to convert a recipe. To help your own recipe conversions, I compiled a chart of common ingredient weights from three of Beranbaum’s books – The Cake Bible, The Bread Bible, and Rose’s Heavenly Cakes. I also used weights from The Book of Yields: Accuracy in Food Costing and Purchasing, which a fellow baker lent me to help with recipe costing.
I also created a printable guide that you can print out and hang in your kitchen. Now you don’t have an excuse – you have a scale, you know how to convert recipes, and you know what everything weighs. Start scaling!
Download the printable Common Baking Ingredient Weights guide.
| Ingredient | Weight - (ounces) |
Weight - (grams) |
| 1 cup of All Purpose flour (dip and sweet method) | 5 oz | 145 g |
| 1 cup of AP flour (spooned into the cup) | 4.25 oz | 121 g |
| 1 cup of AP flour (sifted, then measured) | 4 oz | 114 g |
| 1 cup of bread flour (dip and sweep) | 5.5 oz | 157 g |
| 1 cup of bread flour (spooned into the cup) | 4.5 oz | 130 g |
| 1 cup of bread flour (sifted, then measured) | 4.25 oz | 121 g |
| 1 cup of cake flour (dip and sweep method) | 4.5 oz | 130 g |
| 1 cup of cake flour (spooned into the cup) | 4 oz | 114 g |
| 1 cup of cake flour (sifted, then measured) | 3.5 oz | 100 g |
| 1 cup of whole wheat flour (dip and sweep) | 5 oz | 145 g |
| 1 cup of whole wheat flour (sifted, then measured) | 4.5 oz | 125 g |
| 1 cup of cornmeal (dip and sweep) | 4.5 oz | 128 g |
| 1 cup of cornstarch (lightly spooned or sifted) | 4.2 oz | 120 g |
| Fats, liquids, and eggs | ||
| 1 large egg (in the shell) | 2 oz | 56.7 g |
| 1 large egg (without shell)* | 1.75 oz | 50 g |
| 1 large egg yolk* | .65 oz | 18.6 g |
| 1 large egg white* | 1.05 oz | 30 g |
| 1 cup of butter | 8 oz | 227 g |
| 1 cup of clarified butter | 6.8 oz | 195 g |
| 1 cup of vegetable shortening | 6.75 oz | 191 g |
| 1 cup of vegetable oil | 7.7 oz | 218 g |
| 1 cup of canola oil | 7.6 oz | 215 g |
| 1 cup of safflower oil | 7.6 oz | 215 g |
| 1 cup of heavy cream | 8.2 oz | 232 g |
| 1 cup of sour cream | 8.5 oz | 242 g |
| 1 cup of full-fat yogurt | 8.6 oz | 243 g |
| 1 cup of buttermilk | 8.5 oz | 242 g |
| 1 cup of whole milk | 8.5 oz | 242 g |
| 1 cup half and half | 8.5 oz | 242 g |
| 1 cup crème fraiche | 8.2 oz | 232 g |
| 1 cup mascarpone | 8.8 oz | 250 g |
| 1 cup water | 8.3 oz | 236 g |
| Sweeteners | ||
| 1 cup of granulated sugar | 7 oz | 200 g |
| 1 cup of dark brown sugar (packed) | 8.4 oz | 239 g |
| 1 cup of light brown sugar (packed) | 7.7 oz | 217 g |
| 1 cup of powdered sugar (dip and sweep) | 4 oz | 115 g |
| 1 cup of honey | 11.75 oz | 336 g |
| 1 cup of molasses | 11.25 oz | 322 g |
| 1 cup of corn syrup | 11.5 oz | 328 g |
| Leaveners and other ingredients | ||
| 1 tsp baking powder | 4.9 g | |
| 1 tsp baking soda | 5 g | |
| 1 tsp yeast, instant | 3.2 g | |
| 1 tsp yeast, active dry | 3.1 g | |
| 1 tsp salt | 6.7 g | |
| 1 tsp gelatin, powdered | 3.1 g | |
| 1 tsp vanilla extract | 4 g | |
| 1 tsp cream of tartar | 3.1 g | |
| 1 cup raisins | 5 oz | 144 g |
| Chocolate | ||
| Cocoa – dutch processed (dip and sweep) | 3.33 oz | 95 g |
| Cocoa – dutch processed (spooned into the cup) | 3.25 oz | 92 g |
| Cocoa – dutch processed (sifted then measured) | 2.6 oz | 75 g |
| Cocoa – nonalkalized or natural (dip and sweep) | 3.33 oz | 95 g |
| Cocoa – nonalkalized or natural (spooned into the cup) | 2.9 oz | 82 g |
| Cocoa – nonalkalized or natural (sifted, then measured) | 2.6 oz | 75 g |
| Nuts | ||
| 1 cup almonds – whole | 6.7 oz | 191 g |
| 1 cup almonds – slivered | 4.2 oz | 120 g |
| 1 cup almonds – sliced/coarsely chopped | 2.6 oz | 75 g |
| 1 cup almonds – finely ground | 3.7 oz | 107 g |
| 1 cup almonds – powder fine | 3 oz | 89 g |
| 1 cup pecan halves | 3.5 oz | 100 g |
| 1 cup pecans – coarsely chopped | 4 oz | 114 g |
| 1 cup walnut – halves | 3.5 oz | 100 g |
| 1 cup walnuts – coarsely chopped | 4 oz | 114 g |
| 1 cup hazelnuts – whole | 5 oz | 142 g |
| 1 cup pistachios – whole | 5.32 oz | 152 g |
| 1 cup almond paste | 10 oz | 284 g |
*Weights for the whole egg includes the chalazae – a membrane that attaches the yolk to the shell. Weights for the egg yolk and egg whites do not include the chalazae, which is why adding the weight of the yolk (18.6g) to that of the white (30g) does not equal the weight of an unshelled egg (50g).
Sources:
“The Cake Bible,” By Rose Levy Beranbaum, 1988
“The Bread Bible,” By Rose Levy Beranbaum, 2003
“Rose’s Heavenly Cakes,” By Rose Levy Beranbaum, 2009
“The Book of Yields: Accuracy in Costing and Purchasing, 7th Edition” by Francis T. Lynch, 2008
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This is a very helpful chart! I’d recommend linking to it from the earlier post; I wanted such a chart when I read it earlier.
Good idea – I just did!
This is just what I needed! Love the fact that you (and Rose) have the grams as well as ounces.
What’s funny is that you totally have most of this info in the back of The Cake Bible. It was there all along – ever since we got it for you back in the ’90s.
Rose intimidates me. I haven’t poured through it like you have been doing for the last five years. I only use her Genoise recipe a couple times a year. I’ve been reading “Around My French Table” like a novel. Each recipe has a story set somewhere in Paris so I’ve already gotten to the back of that one.
Lifesaver! This is awesome, thank you!
THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU ARE A BIG HELP TO ME. I’M A CULINARY STUDENT STRUGGLING WITH CULINARY MATH, BUT YOU HELP ME THROUGH IT THANK YOU
am I right to believe your measures for cocoa are for 1 cup?
Bless you for doing this… I’ve meant to make a copy using the cake bible, but I’ve never gotten around to typing it up.
This is great — thank you! I love using my scale for baking, but most of my cookbooks don’t use weights. It is SO much faster to weigh flour than to scoop and level, especially when you are using 3 or 4 cups.
OMG!!! Thank you soooo much for this. I have been looking all over for this.