I went through a phase where every measuring cup in my kitchen was dirty at the same time. I would wash one, use it, and it would go straight back into the pile. One night I needed a cup of flour for a cake and I stared at the sink like it had personally wronged me.

Then I remembered the trick my grandmother used: you do not need measuring cups if you have a kitchen scale. Flour, sugar, liquids, all of it can be weighed, and weighing is actually more accurate anyway.

The basic conversions

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour = about 125 grams
• 1 cup of granulated sugar = about 200 grams
• 1 cup of water or milk = 240 grams
• 1 cup of butter = 227 grams, which is also one stick and a half

Set your bowl on the scale, hit tare, and pour until you hit the number. Zeroing between ingredients lets you measure everything into one bowl without washing anything.

No scale either? Use a spoon and math

A standard tablespoon holds 15 milliliters. So a cup is about 16 tablespoons. If you only need a quarter cup, that is 4 tablespoons. Tablespoon math is the emergency backup when even the scale is buried.

For flour, the light scoop matters more than the container. Scoop loosely and level off with a knife. Packed flour weighs more and will make your cake dense.

Why this is actually better

Baking recipes measured by weight are consistent every single time. Measuring cups vary with how tightly you pack, how you scoop, even how humid your kitchen is. A scale does not care about any of that. Professional bakers weigh everything for this reason.

The one rule

Do not guess on liquids. Weigh liquids in grams, because 240 milliliters of milk is always 240 grams. Guessing by eye is how you end up with soup instead of cake.

My grandmother measured everything by eye and her cakes were perfect. The scale is my way of getting close to her level.