Helpful Tips
This page is designed to be able to help those of you who don’t work in grams, or if you just need some help converting ingredients, weights, ingredients or temperatures etc! I myself have ALWAYS worked in grams, so forgive me if my conversions on my recipes are a little off, but hopefully this will help
Vegan Baking Swaps
- Milks – Instead of dairy milk, I prefer to use almond, soy or other nut milks – it’s a straight 1:1 swap.
- Creams – There are some good alternatives now, you just need to make sure they are full fat alternatives. Or, coconut cream works well.
- Buttermilk – add 20 ml of lemon juice to a dairy free milk to make a homemade vegan buttermilk.
- Soured cream/yoghurt – any vegan full-fat yoghurt works, typically with a coconut base
- Butter – you want to find a dairy free alternative that is as firm as possible. Spreads should be avoided if possible as the oil content is higher to make it softer.
- Eggs – 1 tbsp flax seeds or chia seeds with 3 tbsps of water makes a good alternative to replace eggs in some bakes. 60g of applesauce, half a mashed ripe banana, or 3 tbsps of aquafaba are also good swaps.
- Chocolates – there are many good swaps out there, but some plain chocolate are naturally vegan so check the labels
- Honey – maple syrup works wonders, or golden syrup
- Cheese – I have often made my savoury dishes vegan using straight swaps. Nutritional yeast is lovely to add to a cheesy dish as it brings the cheesy flavour, on top of using a vegan cheese alternative.
- Meat – you can find some brilliant vegan meat alternatives out there now such as fake chicken, sausages etc, and these all work well. Mushrooms make a brilliant swap for a more meaty texture, as well as pressed tofu and tempeh.
Gluten Free Baking Swaps
- Flours – Most flours have gluten free alternatives now, and they work well. The texture can vary slightly, but xanthan gum is a useful addition.
- Pasta – rice and lentil based pastas are often gluten free, but the gluten free pasta options work perfectly.
- Xanthan Gum – it can vary, but a good start is about ¼ tsp of xantham gum per 150g of flour.
- Custard powder – this can help like xanthan gum as well. As it has a cornflour base, it works wonders. I add 50g of custard powder to a cupcake mix, and 100g to a cake mix
- Biscuits – Again, the swaps work perfectly. Add butter to biscuits slower for a biscuit base as some may need slightly less to make a good biscuit base.
- Cornflour – some bakes such as cupcakes can be improved by using cornflour. A lot of custard powders contain just cornflour and are gluten free – custard powder can improve the texture of a bake tenfold.
Cooking Temperature Conversion Table
Fahrenheit to Celcius (F to C)
500 F = 260 C = 240C Fan = Gas Mark 10
465 F = 240 C = 220C Fan = Gas Mark 9
445 F = 230 C = 210C Fan = Gas Mark 8
425 F = 220 C = 200C Fan = Gas Mark 7
400 F = 200 C = 180C Fan = Gas Mark 6
375 F = 190 C = 170C Fan = Gas Mark 5
350 F = 180 C = 160C Fan = Gas Mark 4
325 F = 160 C = 140C Fan = Gas Mark 3
300 F = 150 C = 130C Fan = Gas Mark 2
285 F = 140 C = 120C Fan = Gas Mark 1
250 F = 120 C = 100C Fan = Gas Mark 1/2
Weight Conversion Tables
Cups, Tablespoons and Teaspoons to Millitiers (cup to ml)
1 cup = 16 tablespoons = 48 teaspoons = 240 ml
3/4 cup = 12 tablespoons = 36 teaspoons = 180 ml
2/3 cup = 11 tablespoons = 32 teaspoons = 160 ml
1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons = 24 teaspoons = 120 ml
1/3 cup = 5 tablespoons = 16 teaspoons = 80 ml
1/4 cup = 4 tablespoons = 12 teaspoons = 60 ml
1 tablespoon = 15 ml
1 teaspoon = 5 ml
Cups to Fluid Ounces (cup to fl. oz)
1 cup = 8 fl oz
3/4 cup = 6 fl oz
2/3 cup = 5 fl oz
1/2 cup = 4 fl oz
1/3 cup = 3 fl oz
1/4 cup = 2 fl oz
1 tablespoon = 0.5 fl oz
1 fl oz = 2 tablespoons = 6 teaspoons
Ounces to Grams
1 oz = 28 grams
2 oz = 56 grams
3.5 oz = 100 grams
4 oz = 112 grams
5 oz = 140 grams
6 oz = 168 grams
8 oz = 225 grams
9 oz = 250 grams
10 oz = 280 grams
12 oz = 340 grams
16 oz = 450 grams
18 oz = 500 grams
20 oz = 560 grams
24 oz = 675 grams
27 oz = 750 grams
36 oz = 1 kilogram
54 oz = 1,5 kilograms
72 oz = 2 kilograms
Pounds to Grams
1/4 pound = 112 grams
1/2 pound = 225 grams
3/4 pound = 340 grams
1 pound = 450 grams
1,25 pound = 560 grams
1,5 pound = 675 grams
2 pound = 900 grams
2,25 pound = 1 kilogram
3 pound = 1,35 kilograms
4,5 pound = 2 kilograms
Ingredients – This demonstrates how different 1 cup of different ingredients can weigh!
Flour – 1 cup = 140g
Butter – 1 cup = 2 sticks = 8oz = 230g
Granulated Sugar – 1 cup = 200g
Brown Sugar – 1 cup = 220g
Cocoa – 1 cup = 105g
Icing Sugar – 1 cup = 160g
Yoghurt – 1 cup = 235g
Milk – 1 cup = 245g
Cream – 1 cup = 245g
Sugar Temperature Conversion
Thread = 107C/225F
Softball = 119C/238F
Firmball = 125C/256F
Hardball = 138C/280
Soft Crack = 151C/304F
Hard Crack = 168C/336F
Cake Tin Sizes
Round Tins = Square Tins
6 inch/15cm = 5 inch/13cm
8 inch/20cm = 7 inch/18cm
9 inch/23cm = 8 inch/20cm
11 inch/28cm = 10inch/25.5cm
Hi Jane! I love your recipes and i am trying to learn how to pipe but it never looks as good as yours..
What piping nozzle do you use? And do you have any tips?
great advice, I had just invested in an oven thermometer and my very old decrepit oven has to be turned up much higher to get to the right temperature. This will make such a big difference
Can any of your cookie recipes be converted to Gluten Free?
Hi Jane,
If I was to use ground nuts in one of your NYC cookie bakes, at what point would I add these in? Thanks ☺️ x
Hi Jane,
I just purchased your book it looks great! I am British living in the USA and was wondering what I can substitute caster sugar for? I can’t get hold of caster sugar and a lot of your cake recipes include caster sugar.
Thanks,
Kate
Can you get hold of light brown sugar? I know in some of the recipes that it’s a 50/50 mix of caster sugar and light brown sugar.
A quick google search suggests bakers sugar or super fine sugar is the same as castor sugar (not sure if you can find either of those two)
Hello Jane I am going to make your Coconut cake from your book and was wondering with the buttercream will any long life coconut milk work ok? And also do you have a tinned coconut milk that works best for the sponge? Many thanks x
How do I stop my brownies almost being cake like as opposed to dense and gooey??
Mine come out quite spongy like a choc cake!!!
Hi Jane,
Is it ok to freeze the Sticky Toffee cake sponges as per normal sponge cake freezing or not please? Been asked to make this and didn’t want the stress of doing it all on one day lol.
Yes you can, but the sponge can easily be made the day before so you don’t have to even bother freezing!
What can I use instead of 100ml buttermilk please x
Hi Jane
Could you help me out with this question I’m pretty new to this. Every where I look at recipes it says salt could you advise on what salt to use please table salt / sea salt / rock salt I just don’t know lol. So if you could help I would appreciate it and then it would answer my question
Thank you
I use Maldon sea salt or rock salt – table salt should be avoided in my opinion! x
Hello,
I make a lot of your recipes with your daughter & would like to invest in a whisk. We have a hand held on at the moment but I’d like one of the standing ones. Which do you recommend is best? I am on a budget. Thank you!
Hiya, I always use Kenwood or Kitchen aid but they vary in cost for both – it is worth looking in price wise x
Hi Jane!
I am looking to invest in a proper baking oven, specifically for cakes, cookies and brownies. I am doing some research but would love a pointer if you have a recommendation? What do you use?!
Many Thanks and LOVE your recipes!
Emily x
Hiya, I like Bosch branded fan ovens but I am not sure if that counts as ‘proper baking’, do you mean home or industrial ovens? Bless you thank you so much x
Hi Jane, I was looking for a white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake recipe and found yours on You Tube! I have made it before but received so many compliments. The advice about bltzing the biscuit base down to a sand texture was brilliant and mixing the melted butter in the mixture was a gamechanger.
I now have my sights set on the chocolate box cookie dough bar as I have recently been giving 2 huge boxes of chocolates to do something with. It looks perfect and even your tip for freezing the chocolate beforehand makes sense. You make your recipes easy to follow and best of all they look so good.
Keep up the good work.
Can’t wait to try more.
Thank you
Heyy! Thank you so much for such a lovely message, I am so pleased you enjoy my recipes xx
Hi Jane, Absolutely loving your recipes, the cheesecake ones especially! I am planning to make the lemon and raspberry cheesecake this weekend, can I swap the digestives for shortbread?
Thank you! 🙂 x
Hello! Yes you can, just use 2/3rds of the butter!x
Do you find that in cakes stork works just as well as unsalted butter? I’m always drawn towards using proper butter but stork is better value!
Yes in sponges I ALWAYS use stork!! x
Hi Jane. Love your recipes! Every time I make brownies or blondies though, the edge always cooks faster than the middle. How do I rectify this? I normally bake on 160 degrees. Thanks
You could lower the temp by about 20c and then bake for longer – it may make a more even bake! x
Hi Lydia
Did you find lowering the temp and cooking for longer helped? I make Jane’s rolo brownies and the are amazing but have the same problem. They are just right around the edges but too under baked in the middle. I’ve tried cooking at a lower temp for longer and it just does the same. Just wondered if you had found a solution?
Thanks
Claire X