So the wife is making frosting, and the recipe calls for “4 cups (about 1 lb.)” of confectioner’s sugar. Problem is, we have a 1 lb. box of sugar. It wasn’t nearly enough to fill four cups. The box even says “contains about 3 3/4 cups”,and the weight is listed as 16 oz (1 lb.). What the heck am I missing here? Both the box and the recipe seem to think there are about 4 cups in a pound of confectioner’s sugar, but I had to use well more than half of the two pound box to fill four cups. Anyone out there bake often enough to tell me what I’m missing here?
You’re missing the word “about”. Neither the recipe nor the box claim that four cups of sugar weighs exactly one pound. How much a given volume of sugar will weigh depends on the size of the sugar crystals. Four cups of large sugar crystals will weigh less than four cups of more finely powdered sugar.
I don’t think that’s it…we’re not even talking close here. I needed a lot closer to two pounds than one to get four cups of confectioner’s sugar. And the box that it came in said it contained 1 lb (or about 3 3/4 cups), but it didn’t even give me a full 3 cups.
Are you spooning or pouring the sugar into the cup and then leveling the top?
It shouldn’t be packed. Could that be it?
Apples and oranges. One is measuring volume, the other, weight. They do not always correlate.
I poured it in…but do you think that could really account for such a ridiculous difference in volume?
While the OP is a valid GQ question, let’s kick this over to CAfe Society, and let the cooking mavens chime in.
samclem
I realize there isn’t necessarily a direct correlation between weight and volume…but a certain volume of sugar should have a specific weight. I realize that if I pack it or sift I can change that somewhat, but it just seemed to me that coming in at around 2 1/4 cups instead of the 3 3/4 cups that the package says it should hold is way off.
And lest we conclude I must have just measured wrong, I did it twice with two different brands of sugar. (Both were 10x sifted confectioners sugar). In both cases, the package claimed to hold significantly more cups of sugar than I was able to measure by pouring the package into a measuring cup.
If powdered sugar can be packed, compressed, then you can have a very big difference in volume per unit of weight. With a powder like that, usually you sift it before measuring volume, that will give you a consistent measuring point. This is also why many cooks advocate using weight instead of volume measure for powders like flour.
I would have just gone with one pound box, and not bothered with the cup measure.
Don’t try to tell this to certain cooks of my acquaintance. They think ounces are ounces and that ‘fluid’ can’t mean anything because sugar isn’t liquid.
Trying to help them convert a recipie made me feel like a Haskell compiler.
She used a similar recipe recently, and actually used the 1 lb. box. Out of frustration tonight we went with the four cups out of the two pound bag. Obviously the icing is much sweeter, but not sickeningly sweet. I think we’re actually going to keep using the four cups from now on.
So I’m guessing I’m the only one here to ever run into this problem? One day when I have spare time I’ll try sifting it to see what happens to the volume.
I prefer to measure powdered sugar, flour and other compressible ingredients by weight. When measuring by weight you always know exactly what you’re getting. In this case I would use a pound of confectioner’s sugar and forget about the four cups (which can only be an approximate equivalent of a pound).
BTW, are you sure you have confectioner’s sugar (AKA powdered sugar)? Granulated sugar (even superfine) is denser than powdered sugar.
My home ec teacher told us to always double sift onfectioner’s sugar before measuring.
Both packages say 10x sifted confectioner’s sugar. It’s not so much that I can’t proceed with the recipe (the cake is already done now), it’s just that neither of us can understand how the measurement could be so far off. I agree that weight is a more accurate measurement–assuming the person who wrote the recipe knew that. The problem is, the person who wrote the recipe put both volume and weight in the recipe–how do I know which measurement he used? And how did both sugar companies arrive at the “3 3/4 cups in a pound of sugar” comparison when I can’ t even come close to that?
anyone got a box of sugar he wants to measure out in cups so we can see what someone else gets?
Because it can compress further while in shipment if packed tightly in the box. It can compress more is something heavy is put on top of the bag on the way home from the grocery store. If you have it sitting in the bag in your pantry and you shove it towards the back then shove another item against it while moving stuff about, it compresses more. And on and on and on. It was 3 3/4 cup when they measured it at the factory. That’s the sifted volume. By the time you get it, it’s compressed some and no longer that volume.
When the recipe was written, most likely 4 cups were sifted out, and then weighed. Both measurements were given, and if you can, use both if you’re trying to approximate closely what the cooks who tested it did. Yes, some recipes leave out details that aren’t obvious if you’re unfamiliar with the type of ingredient or recipe.
Even the packager wants you to sift it. Measure the volume of the box. Use Google for unit conversions if you need to.
Recipes aren’t always accurate, of course. My favorite beer batter recipe calls for three tablespoons of salt in the ingredient list. When you read the text, it refers to teaspoons. If something doesn’t sound right, an experienced cook will pause and try to reason it out before proceeding. In your case, I would agree with the sifted measurement answer.
I’m with ouryL. Powdered sugar should always be sifted first, if you want a true measure. It’s not “supposed” to be compressed into a brick; it’s packed as a full box, then settles during shipment. If you just scoop it in a measuring cup, not only are you getting a bad measure, you’re also setting yourself up for gluey, lumpy frosting (or whatever). Pour it from the box into a sifter, sift it onto a papertowel, spoon it into the measuring cup, then level it off with the back of a knife. Don’t shake it down
If you’re a meticulous cook, you measure flour the same way.
Trust me. You can always trust a 400-lb woman baker!! 
I find it interesting that the OP increased the amount of sugar to hit the right volume. This side of the Atlantic, we’d never do that: we use weight for solids. I personally find the American volumetric way of baking much easier to follow, but the possibility of contents settling in transit and thus skewing the amounts, had never occurred to me. Which is correct? Anyone know? I’m guessing a top French boulanger would be the best person to follow, but I don’t know how they do their measurements.