Ingredients & Brands
I like to keep my ingredients lists as succinct and readable as possible, so for ingredients I use frequently, I will usually just say flour, sugar, etc. Of course there are many kinds, and it can be easy to get confused if you’re new to baking, so I wanted to include a page going into all the specifics, as well as the brands I tend to use. By all means, use whatever brands you prefer, and feel free to make your own substitutions for any dietary or allergy preferences, but for those of you who would like to know exactly what I’m using, here they are!
Baking powder = typically a mixture of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), an acid (such as cream of tartar), and cornstarch (Clabber Girl brand), NOT baking soda
Baking soda = sodium bicarbonate (Arm & Hammer brand), NOT baking powder
Brown sugar = light, golden, or dark brown sugar that contains molasses (CH brand), NOT raw, turbinado, demerara, or muscovado sugar unless specified
Butter = unsalted* sweet cream butter in stick form, chilled unless otherwise specified (Kirkland brand), NOT European, Irish, or Amish butter, butter spread, clarified butter, margarine, or vegetable oil spread unless specified
*Why unsalted? I prefer to use unsalted butter in all of my recipes so that I can control how much salt is going in and adjust it, if necessary.
Cornstarch = powdery, white, flavorless thickening agent (Clabber Girl brand), NOT corn flour*, or cornmeal unless specified
*Cornstarch is referred to in some countries as corn flour, but I’m based in the United States, so here the powdery, white thickening agent is called cornstarch, and corn flour is grainy and yellow. If you’re based outside the U.S. just make sure you’re using the powdery, white thickening agent, and not anything yellow or grainy, and you should be good to go.
Flour = all purpose white (or unbleached) flour (Ardent Mills Harvest brand), NOT cake flour, bread flour, wheat flour, self-rising flour, semolina flour, rice flour, any nut flours, or potato flour unless specified
Powdered sugar = cane sugar that has been pulverized into a fine powder, also called confectioners’ sugar (which often has cornstarch added to prevent caking), icing sugar, or 10X sugar (CH brand), NOT granulated, superfine, bakers’, or caster sugar.
Salt = iodized (or non-iodized) table salt, (Morton brand), NOT kosher salt, sea salt, coarse salt, pink salt, or flaky salt unless specified
Sugar = granulated white cane sugar, standard size (CH brand), NOT powdered, confectioners’, superfine, baker’s or caster sugar unless specified
Vegetable shortening = white flavorless vegetable shortening in a cylindrical tub*, room temperature unless specified (Crisco brand), NOT margarine (which often has butter flavoring and a yellow color), or vegetable oil
*Shortening also comes in stick form, which may have a different consistency to the shortening in a tub. I usually use shortening to grease my pans, so for me, the tub works well. If you are using shortening instead of something like butter, however, the stick form may work better for you. I will specify sticks if a recipe calls for it, otherwise it’s safe to assume I’m using tub shortening.
Best Practices When Measuring
Certain ingredients can vary greatly by volume depending on how they are measured. When measuring, it is important to be consistent and use the techniques described below in order to get the best result from a recipe.
Scoop & Level: When measuring ingredients such as flour, powdered sugar, or other loose ingredients that can be condensed, it is important to aerate them before measuring. If you scoop the ingredient directly from its container with a measuring cup, it can condense irregularly and you might get more than you actually want. The best method is to use a separate utensil (such as a spoon) to “fluff up” the ingredient in it’s container, spoon the ingredient into your measuring cup, and then level off any excess with a knife.
Note: Brown sugar is an exception. When measuring brown sugar, it is actually advised to pack as much into your measuring cup as possible before leveling. Brown sugar, because of the stickiness caused by the molasses, can clump irregularly and be hard to aerate, so for a consistent result you will want to pack it.
Sifting: While not always necessary, if there are a lot of clumps in your flour or powdered sugar, you may want to sift it using a sifter or a fine mesh sieve, before adding to the rest of your ingredients. This is especially true for making things like frosting.
Measurement Abbreviations & Conversions
Made By Shade recipes use U.S. measurements such as cups, teaspoons, tablespoons, pounds, etc., as well as Fahrenheit for temperature. This is just the measurement system I am used to and what the majority of the recipes I have accumulated tend to use. I have included below a list of common abbreviations and symbols you might see on this blog.
° = degrees, temperature
C or c = cups, volume
F = Fahrenheit, temperature
fl. oz. = fluid ounce, volume
ft. = foot, distance, also indicated by a number followed by a single apostrophe (ex. 12’ = 12 feet)
in. = inch, distance, also indicated by a number followed by quotation marks (ex. 12” = 12 inches)
lb. = pound, weight
oz. = ounce, weight
stick = often used to refer to 8 tablespoons of butter or shortening (ex. 1/2 a stick would be 4 tablespoons)
tbsp = tablespoon, volume
tsp = teaspoon, volume
If you need to convert a recipe to another measurement or temperature system, I have linked to a site below that I use. It has lots of useful conversions, as well as calculators for specific ingredients, so take a look around their Cooking tab and you should find what you need. Please be aware that these tools are not foolproof and some conversions may not be perfect, especially when converting volume (such as cups) to weight (grams), so you may have to experiment a bit.
Baking Ingredient Conversions (link)
Oven Temperature Conversions (link)
If you want to convert a recipe to a different pan size, the site linked below is a great place to start. Keep in mind, baking times may change, so if you’re using a smaller pan than a recipe calls for, start at a lower baking time and keep an eye on it. Check the center with a toothpick or a thermometer as you go. Temperature may also need to be adjusted to preserve texture.
Cake Pan Sizes & Conversions (link)