I'm Libby, a home cook and recipe blogger from the Hunter Valley in Australia.
If you've landed here from the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa or someplace else... G'day! Glad you're here!
Here, I want to help you to easily use and love my recipes. Because you may come across some slight differences in our ingredient names, measurements and temperatures.
I have tried to incorporate the information into each recipe, but some older recipes may not contain this information. And it's just good to have this as a reference in any case.
So, here are the things to keep in mind when reading and using my recipes:
1. Ingredient and food names
| If I mention... | You might instead know it as... |
| plain flour | all purpose flour |
| SR flour (self-raising flour) | SR flour = Self-raising flour |
| icing sugar | confectioners or powdered sugar |
| caster sugar | superfine or bakers sugar |
| bicarb soda | baking soda |
| glucose syrup | light corn syrup |
| treacle | molasses (though I'm told treacle is slightly sweeter) |
| stock cube | bouillon cube, granules or base |
| thickened cream | heavy cream |
| beef mince | ground beef |
| glace fruit | candied fruit |
| eggplant | aubergine |
| choko | chayote, vegetable pear, christophine or mango squash |
| chips | crisps or french fries |
| digestive biscuits | graham crackers |
| tomato sauce | ketchup |
| hard-boiled egg | hard-cooked egg |
| zucchini | courgette |
| capsicum | sweet or bell pepper |
| beetroot | beet |
| rockmelon | cantaloupe |
| celery stick | celery rib |
| prawns | shrimp |
| rocket | arugula |
| pancakes | flapjacks |
| coriander | cilantro |
| scones | biscuits |
| biscuits | cookies |
| jelly | jello |
(And Aussies who are using the above table in reverse, might wonder what "cool whip" is in recipes from the US. Find out how to make a substitute for cool whip here.)
2. Measurements
- 1 cup = 250ml (1 US cup = 237 ml)
- 1 teaspoon = 5ml
- 1 tablespoon = 20ml
- 1 tablespoon butter = 20 grams
- 1 stick of butter = 8 tablespoons of butter = 115 grams
Find a pounds to grams calculator here.
3. Oven temperatures: celsius to fahrenheit
| degrees celsius | degrees fahrenheit | |
| very slow | 120 | 250 |
| slow | 150 | 300 |
| moderate | 180 | 350 |
| moderately hot | 200 | 400 |
| hot | 220 | 425 |
4. Kitchen equipment
baking tray = baking sheet
frying pan = skillet
greaseproof paper = parchment paper
kettle = well, apparently in the US you don't bother with electric kettles! So if I mention boiling water in a kettle, I guess you just do that in a pot on a stovetop?
Ready to get started with Aussie recipes?
If you're keen to dig into some great Aussie recipes, things you may not have come across in your country, then I suggest heading over to check out my Aussie recipe collection.
And before you read my posts, you may also want to read through this guide to understanding Aussie slang.
Peggy says
Thank you so much! It’s hard to know what Tablespoon Australian bloggers are using because I’ve discovered some of them convert to the more common 15 ml so as to not cause recipe failures when made by non Aussie cooks. Off to make your vintage SAO vanilla slice, confident that I know which 6 Tablespoons of custard powder to measure!
Libby Hakim says
It is confusing and thanks for asking as it reminds me I need to make this clear as I update older recipes and add new ones. I have made a conscious decision to stay Aussie - whereas some Aussie bloggers try to appeal to the very large US market by writing more to for a US audience. (My recipes are largely very Australian so to me it just makes no sense to start calling plain flour all purpose flour etc - and I'm just a bit stubborn like that lol!!)
Michelle Armitage says
Libby I love your work!
Libby Hakim says
Thanks so much, Michelle x
Rekeaki says
Another big one is
Grill = Broil
If you tell someone from the USA to grill something they might take it outside to their BBQ (which they call “the grill” by the way) or attempt to cook it in a frypan.
I’m an Aussie living in the USA and yes, I have watch an American attempt to brown baked pasta in a frypan because the recipe called for them to “place it under the grill” (admittedly this person was not a very experienced cook, but I could see other being fooled with certain recipes).
Libby Hakim says
Thank you!! I'll add it in when I review the post.
RITA DAWSON says
Is icing sugar pure icing or icing sugar mixture??
Libby Hakim says
Icing sugar mixture 🙂 I'll clarify in the post. Thanks, Rita.
Belinda says
What about cool whip? What is the Aussie conversion in recipes?
Libby Hakim says
Hi Belinda. Thanks for the question! I've updated the post and added a post all about what to use instead of cool whip here: https://www.cookingwithnanaling.com/cool-whip/
Cheers, Libby
Leonie O’Donnell says
What about a ‘stick of butter?’
Libby Hakim says
Thank you Leonie, have just added this 🙂
Caroline S says
@Libby Hakim, can you please convert the stick of butter to grams for us?I’d never measure 8 tablespoons of butter, heaps quicker to weigh it.
Libby Hakim says
Done! Thanks for the feedback, Caroline 🙂