US Baking ingredients can sound very different to other countries’ names. The modern internet, whilst amazing, means many people access recipes from all over the world. That means many of the more specific names we call our foods, may not relate to local ingredients by name.
Regardless of where you are, now there’s a way to get access to the world’s largest cookbook. But because US baking ingredients don’t always sound the same as some foreign websites, I’ve put together the following list, to help you understand the differences.
While there might be similar names where you live, most of the ingredients on this list are available from a number of online sources, particularly Amazon. I remember the frustration of finding a delicious recipe to try, only to find that half the ingredients sounded like they were from another planet, often using brand names instead of what they actually were.
That’s why a list like the following helps you identify normal everyday ingredients that feature in many popular recipes. There’s also the option to create some of the ingredients yourself using the items from your very own pantry.
But if you get stuck, then there’s always a vast online community of willing people who readily share their own discoveries.
Check out some of the below items and see how many you identify with. If I’ve missed some, why not send me a message and I’ll be more than happy to add it to the list. It is, after all, meant to help those looking for simpler ways to identify necessary ingredients.
US Baking Ingredients Explained in Your Language
Ingredient #1: All-Purpose Flour
Also known as Plain Flour in many countries.
Ingredient #2: Baking Soda
This is also known as either Soda Bicarbonate or Bicarbonate of Soda
Ingredient #3: Baking Spread
Also known as Stork, this used to be margarine before it lost most of its original ingredients.
Ingredient #4: Bisquick/Biscuit Mix
A simple scone mix.
Ingredient #5: Bitter-sweet Chocolate
Dark chocolate with a minimum of 70% Cocoa solids or above. The cocoa gives the chocolate its bitterness.
Ingredient #6: Bread Flour
Also known as Strong Flour
Ingredient #7: Cake/Pastry Flour
Most common for cakes, this is called self-raising flour.
Ingredient #8: Cane Syrup
Golden Syrup
Ingredient #9: Candyquick
Called Candy Melts, great for dipping fruit and candy into.
Ingredient #10: Canola Oil
Had its name changed from rapeseed oil.
Ingredient #11: Confectioner’s Sugar
Icing sugar, which is the finest of all sugar, perfect for icing cakes.
Ingredient #12: Cool Whip
Also known as Birds Dream Topping
Ingredient #13: Cornmeal
Polenta or Maize flour
Ingredient #14: Dark Corn Syrup
Treacle, which has a very distinctive taste.
Ingredient #15: Graham Crackers
It can be shortbread, ginger biscuits, or a combination of digestive and rich tea biscuits.
Ingredient #16: Graham Flour
Wholemeal flour
Ingredient #17: Half and Half
Simply half milk and half double cream.
Ingredient #18: Heavy Cream
Double cream.
Ingredient #19: Kosher/Coarse Salt
Sea salt or rock salt.
Ingredient #20: Light Cream
Single cream
Ingredient #21: Light Corn Syrup
Golden syrup, great for use in pancakes.
Ingredient #22: Marshmallow Fluff
Melted marshmallows
Ingredient #23: Molasses
Another name for treacle.
Ingredient #24: Nilla Wafers
Also known as ladyfingers, great for trifle sponges.
Ingredient #25: Pine Kernels
Just pine nuts
Ingredient #26: Powdered Sugar
Another name for icing sugar.
Ingredient #27: Pudding Mix
Custard powder.
Ingredient #28: Saltines Crackers
Water crackers available in most supermarkets.
Ingredient #29: Semi-Sweet Chocolate
Like bittersweet chocolate, gets its name from the cocoa content. 50% cocoa is considered semi-sweet.
Ingredient #30: Shortening/Crisco
Similar to softened butter or lard.
Ingredient #31: Sweetened coconut
Easily prepared by using 35g desiccated coconut, 1 tbsp icing sugar, and 1 tbsp hot water and left to soak.
Ingredient #32: Sacanat
Demerara sugar, one of the many varieties of sugar grain.
Ingredient #33: Super Fine Sugar
Caster sugar, perfect for whipping into wet ingredients as it dissolves faster.
Ingredient #34: White/Table Sugar
Granulated sugar
Ingredient #35: Whole Wheat Flour
Another name for Wholemeal flour
Final Thoughts
There are many English-speaking countries in the world and most have their own unique names for food ingredients. So regardless of whether you live in America, England, Australia, Scotland, Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand, or any other of the dozens and dozens of countries, share those unique ingredients.
Tell the rest of us just what you call things, so we all benefit from the vast pool of knowledge. With the internet home to literally millions of online recipe sites, the mind boggles when trying to work out just how many recipes exist for us to try. They don’t even need to relate to prepping, although that would be extremely helpful.
Speaking of prepping, a few recipes already exist on the site to help you with using some of the foods as you rotate them out from your cache. There will no doubt be a nice variety of foods needing to be used as their shelf lives expire.
Now would be a great opportunity to load up on recipes, some of which may contain those elusive ingredients you don’t quite understand.
No matter where you are in your prepping journey, there’s always room for us to grow that little bit more. From what ingredients to store, to those we need for tonight dinner, our world is never quite complete. Knowing food terms that exist around the world is a great way to educate yourself for the unexpected even more.
