A standard cup holds roughly 130 to 200 grams depending on the ingredient; flour, sugar and liquid at the same volume weigh differently from each other because of how their particles pack together. Because of this, the cup, teacup and spoon measures used in recipes need to be known in grams separately for each type of ingredient.
How many grams does a cup hold for each ingredient?
A standard cup (about 200 ml) holds around 130 grams of flour, 180 grams of granulated sugar, and close to a full 200 grams for liquids such as water or milk; since liquids match almost exactly in volume and weight, they are the easiest to convert. For grainy ingredients like rice or bulgur, a cup weighs roughly 160 to 170 grams; since there is less air between the grains than in flour, the weight comes out a little higher.
What about teacup and spoon measures?
A Turkish teacup is roughly half the size of a standard cup and holds about 100 ml of liquid; that comes to around 65 grams of flour or 90 grams of sugar. A tablespoon holds about 15 grams of liquid, 9 to 10 grams of flour, and around 12 to 13 grams of granulated sugar; a dessert spoon is taken as half a tablespoon, and a teaspoon as a third of one. At these small measures, whether the spoon is levelled off or heaped noticeably changes the result.
What should you watch for while measuring?
When measuring flour, spooning it into the cup or spoon without packing it down and levelling the top with the back of a knife gives the most consistent result; packed flour weighs noticeably more at the same volume and can throw a recipe off. For thick liquids like molasses or honey, lightly wetting the spoon before measuring is a simple trick that stops the ingredient from sticking and being under-measured. If a digital kitchen scale is available, measuring directly in grams rather than by cup or spoon gives the most reliable result, especially for precision-sensitive ingredients like flour and sugar.
Why do recipes sometimes disagree on measures?
Recipes from different countries or different authors do not always use exactly the same cup or spoon size; some treat a cup as 200 ml, others as 250 ml. Because of this, if a recipe from another source includes a note about which measure it uses, it is worth reading carefully, since otherwise the result can end up noticeably off. For core ingredients like flour and sugar, a difference in cup size can shift the outcome noticeably in delicate recipes like cakes and cookies; when trying a recipe for the first time and unsure about its measuring units, weighing on a scale is the most practical way to guarantee the result.