• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Waiting for Blancmange
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • About
  • Contact
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • About
    • Contact
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×
    • Overhead shot of white chocolate hazelnut blondies with Happy Hippos candy bars on top.
      White Chocolate Hazelnut Blondies
    • Close up shot of a slice of blackberry tiramisu. A fork has taken a bite out of the tiramisu which is sat on a small plate.
      Bramble Blackberry Tiramisu
    • Close up shot of chocolate chip oatmeal pistachio cookie broken in half revealing gooey soft inside of a freshly baked cookie.
      Oatmeal Chocolate Pistachio Cookies
    • A slice of homemade apple pie on a blue and white plate with a dessert fork. The pie is topped with ice cream and a generous drizzle of caramel sauce.
      Apple Pie with Apple Caramel Sauce
    • Black Velvet layer cake, with a slice cut and partly pulled out showing the layers. The cake is on a glass cake stand.
      Black Velvet Cake
    • Close up of blackberry curd in a glass jar.
      Easy Homemade Blackberry Curd
    • Close up shot of pouring a rich purple blackberry simple syrup from a small jug into a purple bowl blurred below.
      Bramble Blackberry Simple Syrup
    • Overhead shot of a British Christmas cake fresh from the oven, being fed bourbon with a spoon. The cake is still in its lined baking pan, which is sat on trivet to cool.
      Easy British Christmas Cake
    • Stack of butterscotch chip biscoff oatmeal cookies. The top cookie is split in half to show to oozy biscoff filling.
      Butterscotch Biscoff Oatmeal Cookies
    • Overhead shot of a pumpkin pie with graham cracker crust. The pie is covered in whipped cream and a sprinkle of cookie crumbs. A slice is being removed from the pie.
      Pumpkin Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
    • Overhead shot of Biscoff fudge brownies cut into pieces and sat on a white countertop.
      Biscoff Brownies
    • Close up of fudgy dark chocolate black cocoa spider web brownies with candy eyes on top.
      Spider Web Brownies
    Home » Baking Basics

    Baking Weights versus Cups - Weighing in on the Contentious Divide

    Published: Nov 29, 2021 · Modified: Aug 13, 2022 by Liz Mincin · This post may contain affiliate links

    Amongst bakers, the question of using measurements in weights versus cups is extremely contentious. In general, these days, most bakers (especially anyone who considers themselves professional) will swear by weight measurements. There has been a big call to get homebakers to move away from cups and adopt weights.

    Digital scales next to cup measures.

    Why use weights? Benefits of weight measurements

    There are a lot of good reasons for using the scale instead of cups. Weight measurement offers some significant benefits:

    • Better control of precise measurements - you don't have to worry about over- or under-filling a cup measure, levelling flour or the difference between sifted and unsifted flour volume.
    • It is easier to scale up or down a recipe by weight. Have you ever had a recipe that calls for an awkward measurement that is difficult to divide by cups? With a scale, it's never a problem - even halving 3 eggs by weight can be accomplished with precision.

    There are also some arguments in favour of weights that I don't particularly agree with:

    • Many will also claim that using scales saves on washing up - that is one factor I've never personally found to be true, since I usually need to use a plate or bowl to measure the weight before adding to my mix.

    Problems with the Flour Example

    Now, I actually do like using weights for certain recipes - patisserie in particular. But, I think that cup measurements still have a place for the homebaker.

    This is because the arguments I've seen in favour of weight measurements really only focus on flour.

    Ever notice that everyone demonstrating the significance of using a scale will use poorly measured cups of flours as their example? Well, yes, of course if you go measuring your flour without any care for actually levelling the cup or scooping evenly, you're going to get drastically different amounts. That's not really a demonstration that cups are useless so much as a demonstration that bakers should take some care in scooping their ingredients.

    If you scoop and level your flour in your cup measures, the degree of difference will be much more negligible.

    Those same bakers arguing for scales will continue to use teaspoons and even tablespoons as measures in their recipes on the grounds that these are micromeasurements. Well a teaspoon of salt weighs 7g. If this is an insignificant micromeasurement, then the fact that an entire tablespoon of flour only weights about 9g is also quite an insignificant measure overall.

    If you level your flour, you're unlikely to go much more than 10g over/under the necessary amount for your recipe. Unless you are making delicate patisserie (choux or other finicky pastries), this amount of variance is not going to dramatically effect the result of your overall bake.

    Arguments in Favour of Cup Measures

    Personally, I think cup measures have some important benefits, so I want to weigh these in to the discussion.

    A selection of measuring cups, including a quarter cup measure with dusting of flour and an offset spatula to level measures.

    1. Opportunity for Baking Creativity

    How many of you have heard that 'baking is a science'?

    It's not untrue - the chemical reactions of ingredients in baking is exactly what produces a well risen bread or moist cake. But, how many of you have been put off home baking because science sounds scary? Or exclusive? As if you can't do it without deep knowledge of the chemical process?

    I've heard from many people that they love to cook but hate to bake. They like cooking because they feel more empowered to experiment with a recipe and they feel that baking can't be experimented with. This fear of baking is only compounded by adding an obsession with precision to the mix.

    Yes, to get results, baking does require recipes and measurement. But in most homebaking recipes, you don't need to be unfailingly precise. I feel that the current appeal to use scales limits people feeling free to be creative.

    2. Focus on Baking by Ratios

    The true science in baking is actually about ratios.

    If you're used to baking by volume and cup measurements then you actually are gaining a skill that can see you make cake with a literal cup. I've made pound cake with a mug in a pinch.

    By thinking about baking in terms of ratios, you start to understand the amounts needed and the relationship of the ingredients to each other. For example, using pound cake as an example, I know that I need 3:2:1 - 3 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup butter. Another 1 cup of buttermilk and about 1 cup of eggs. It doesn't really matter what size the actual cups are, so long as the ratios stay the same.

    With an eye to the volume you can then adjust the leavening agents. If you're using conventional cups for the 3:2:1 ratio, it's ½ teaspoon of each baking powder and baking soda with a bit more salt. If you're using a smaller cup or a larger cup, eye it up and add a bit more of each just knowing that you use equal parts of baking powder, baking soda and a bit extra salt.

    Vanilla or other extracts to flavour and bake until a toothpick tells me it's done.

    3. Making your Family Recipes

    Now, maybe this is just me, but one of my favourite parts of baking is making family recipes.

    Cup measurements came into use in the US in the 19th century. All of my grandmothers' recipes are in cups. Yes, if I really wanted to, I could go through each of these and translate them into weights. But, why convert recipes that already work?

    I'm perhaps a little too much of a stickler for tradition, but I like using the recipe as it was actually passed down. It reminds me how I started baking and gives a better sense of continuity with my family than superficially converting them to weights just to keep up with a trend.

    Conclusions on Weights versus Cups

    Honestly, I'm all for using whatever you're most comfortable with in terms of your baking! If you're a lover of weights or a firm supporter of being as precise as possible, then stick with it and embrace the scales. But, if you're like me and still have a soft spot for cups, know that you're not alone!

    With few exceptions, all of my recipes are in cup measurements - this is what I grew up with and what I credit with giving me confidence to experiment with baking. Cups provided an avenue for me to learn how baking worked and to understand ratios, whereas I found weights restrictive and with an air of exclusivity.

    As an aside, I should also note that my reluctance to endorse scales may also stem from the fact that they aren't always precision guaranteed. Mine aren't very good or accurate - sometimes throwing up all sorts of odd readings! So there is that too - take it for what it's worth. And make your own decisions on how you prefer to bake!

    Tired of the question of weights versus cups? Try out some favourite family recipes instead:

    • Grandma's Thrifty Pound Cake
    • Seven Layer Chocolate Cake
    • Easy Angel Food Cake
    • Anise Pizzelle

    More Baking Basics

    • Piped homemade chocolate whipped cream.
      Homemade Chocolate Whipped Cream
    • Taking a spoonful out of a bowl of easy chocolate pastry cream.
      Easy Chocolate Pastry Cream
    • The ultimate oat crumble topping in a skillet.
      Oat Crumble Topping
    • Firmly pressing golden Oreo sandwich cookie crumb crust into lined springform pan for cheesecake base.
      Golden Oreo Crust Recipe

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Image of Liz Mincin blogger and recipe developer behind Waiting for Blancmange.

    Hi, I'm Liz! I'm an American expat in the UK, with over 20 years experience baking and creating desserts. Taught tricks and tips by my mother and grandmothers, I'm sharing recipes and baking tips from my Italian American and Southern roots, along with a few British staples picked up from my time living across various regions in the UK.

    More about me →

    Spring Faves

    • Close up shot of chocolate chip oatmeal pistachio cookie broken in half revealing gooey soft inside of a freshly baked cookie.
      Oatmeal Chocolate Pistachio Cookies
    • A slice of lemon and blackberry layer cake with blackberry filling and blackberry buttercream.
      Lemon Blackberry Cake
    • Close up of mini cheesecake with chocolate ganache sitting in its open cupcake wrapper after a bite has been taken.
      Mini Cheesecakes with Chocolate Ganache
    • Overhead shot of a piece of no bake pistachio cheesecake with a pistachio white chocolate ganache topping and pieces of pistachio and rose petals for decoration.
      No Bake Pistachio Cheesecake

    Easter Treats

    • Soft and chewy giant Peeps cookie with a gooey marshmallow centre, white chocolate chips and sprinkles.
      Peeps Cookies
    • Close up of hot cross bun cinnamon rolls.
      Hot Cross Bun Cinnamon Rolls
    • Large slices of mini egg brownies with two pieces on their side to show the fudgy brownie base with mini eggs.
      Mini Egg Brownies
    • Cadbury Creme Egg cookies.
      Creme Egg Cookies

    Featured In:

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms & Conditions

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • About

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2025 Waiting for Blancmange