Favorite Things: Angled Measuring Cups
Feb 05, 2014, Updated Jan 08, 2021
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Measuring is serious business, especially when you’re baking. Most of us don’t use our Salter scales every time we add an ingredient to the mix, so the right measuring cups are important. My mom was the one who first started using the angled measure, and once I got a hold of them, well, she had to buy a new set.
It’s a small but irritating step that the angle removes: the step of pouring your liquid to the mark, setting the liquid measure (because we don’t use the dry measuring cups for liquid…) on the counter and squatting down to see how close you were to actually hitting the mark, then adding some more or pouring some off, then doing that again until the measure is met.
It sort of reminds me of when we used to drive downstate from Up North with my brother driving. He would do everything in his power to not have to stop on the way. Once I said, perhaps in a state of desperation, but you’re only shaving off 15 minutes at the most. His at-the-ready, lawyer’s son argument: add that up over a lifetime of rides, and it’s a lotta time, sister, a lotta time.
The angled measure doesn’t just save a few minutes for not having to stop along the way in the middle of a bake-off; really, for me, it’s a little stress-reducer, and more accurate when I’m not using a scale. All I have to do is look down as I pour to see my cream come up to my amount, and move on.
Add up those minutes, and that bitty nudge of a stress, over a lifetime of cakes, pies, pastries, and candies, and what you get is plenty more stress-free time to make more cakes, pies, pastries, and candies that come out great. Sounds like a pretty clear case to me.
Get yours here. A whole set won’t break the bank (about $20) and having all of the sizes is a treat.
hi maureen…
just stumbled upon your site this morning–and i LOVE IT… sifting through the recipes takes me back to my childhood –and my big lebanese family–and the center of my world–lebanese food!
unfortunately, my grandmother and aunts did most of the cooking then–and i was too young to really learn much from them–and now, they have all passed.
I have tried a million times to make my own laban… and i can NEVER EVER get the tartness that i remember eating as a child.
I am writing to ask what brand of active yogurt you use to make your laban? maybe that’s the key to the tartness? i’ve used so many different brands of whole milk–and still– none are tart…
any suggestions?
thanks,
rene.
shayrene@gmail.com
Hi Rene–thank you for your wonderful comment! That tart flavor can be hard to get–I use starter laban from our local Lebanese restaurant, which is tart and delicious. For commercial starters, I like goat milk yogurt for its tart flavor, but also like Labne brand labne that has incredible flavor. Let your yogurt incubate longer for more tartness, and you could add some lemon juice to your yogurt once it’s set. If you make laban and keep it for a while, at least a week, it will become more tart and then use that as your starter. Keep doing that and with each batch your laban will be more flavorful. Let me know how it goes!
marhaba! I am Lebanese and grew up in Africa years and years ago….I really miss real Lebanese food my mother used to prepare.
Thank you for keeping our culture alive.
Elias
How special, Elias, thank you!
Wow that is clever! Just reading about it makes me never want to use regular measuring cups again.
Never knew such a thing existed.