For...maybe a year or two, I have battled a recurring frustration.
Sometimes, my recipes turn out great, and other times...they're stodgy and dry and unappetizing. I could not, for the life of me, figure out what I was doing wrong. Finally, I have solved the mystery!
I have two sets of measuring cups; one I received as a bridal shower gift from my mom in 1988, classic orange Tupperware. The other, I bought several years ago, made of brushed stainless steel.Why did I buy the second set? I was perfectly happy with the old ones, all nostalgic and full of sweet memories...except for one problem. The first year we were married, I accidentally melted one side of the one-third cup from my Tupperware set. I made do for almost thirty years without that cup and finally decided to just buy another set so I could have a one-third cup measure again. It saved a lot of hassle.
The problem, which I recently discovered, is that these cups were not "created equal!" On a whim, I dumped flour mix from the metal one-cup to the plastic one...and it overflowed! I kind of froze there for a moment, staring at the spilled flour, as the pieces to the puzzle started dropping into place in my mind. I was in the process of making a batch of my waffles As I started measuring out the dry ingredients, I was mulling over the frustration I've had recently with this recipe. I worked hard to develop my own safe-for-me waffle recipe and I'm proud of it. The past number of months, though, they've been coming out heavy and stodgy, and making me sad. Waffles are a favorite comfort food, so it's all kinds of wrong to have them make me sad!
This time, as I measured and pondered, I suddenly wondered if the cups could possibly have something to do with the change. On that whim, I dumped the cup of flour into the other cup, and...mystery solved.
This evening, as I set out to make a batch of Coconut Rice (to go with my quick, easy and delicious Chicken Adobo I remembered my discovery, as well as the recent batches of coconut rice that have come out dry, rather than creamy. I realized that I had been using the metal cup for rice, too, and decided to continue my research into the problem. I realized that, by only using flour as a test, I could have inaccurate results. Flour changes density so easily that it could easily skew my results. I tried my cup-to-cup test with rice and it did seem that the metal cup held more. Rice, though, is also not an ideal test substance. I thought a little and decided on a better one.
I would use rice farina, marketed as Cream of Rice hot cereal. It is easier to make level with the cup's rim than rice is, but does not fluff and compact like flour. I measured out a cup of rice farina, using the metal cup. I even leveled it neatly with the straight back of a knife, for accuracy. I knew that if I simply tried to pour the farina into the smaller cup, there would be spillage. As I pulled out a large funnel, I realized I was feeling very science-y and official. I carefully poured the farina through the funnel, into the plastic cup...and it did spill over! Aha!
I leveled the farina in the plastic cup, then carefully measured the spillage. It was almost exactly two tablespoons. Now, two tablespoons of difference may not sound like a big deal, but it does make a difference in baking! Two tablespoons is one-eighth of a cup. In a two-cup recipe, that means a full quarter-cup of extra flour, and that is more than enough to affect the results.
A decent, inexpensive kitchen scale is now on my Christmas wishlist. If people try my recipes and don't like the results, they may simply have cups that measure differently than mine do. I'd hate for people to miss out on delicious, tender, crispy waffles, because of treacherous, unequal measuring cups! 😏
Once I learn to work with the scale, I'll be able to give exact measurements of key ingredients. I want my recipes to work for my readers and give you joy. I know too well the frustration of trying to eat well in a limited food world. I want my recipes to be a little bit of light in the darkness. I want to help bring delicious comfort foods back into the world of my fellow food-strugglers.
