Just like we’ve seen with vegetable weight and volume equivalents, some recipes make the same assumptions when it comes to fruit. They take for granted that you know how many bananas you need for “1 cup mashed bananas”, or how many strawberries it takes to get “2 cups sliced strawberries”. Now I don’t know about you, but when I’m in the middle of making jam, the last thing I want to do is stop and try to figure that out! It interrupts my rhythm and it’s just plain frustrating! I have strawberry juice and sugar all over my hands for goodness sake! (Takes deep, calming breath) So… in an effort to reduce my frustration and keep a grip on my sanity, I found myself making a list of volumes and weights for foods I use frequently. I printed it out and keep it in a protective plastic sleeve in a 3-ring notebook that lives on my cookbook shelf in the kitchen. I can promise you that I refer to it quite often!
If you have ever experienced this same frustration, I hope you print and save these posts on weight and volume equivalents, and I hope that you find the information as helpful as I do. And please, if you have food volume and weight equivalent questions I have not answered, please send me a shout and I’ll do my best to get it answered for you!
P.S. The real moral of this story is that when you are writing a recipe, don’t assume what your readers do or don’t know. Don’t talk down to them, but provide all the information necessary so that anyone can take your recipe and execute it perfectly! This includes information about weight and volume equivalents, pan sizes, and explanations of techniques your readers might not be familiar with like “chiffonade” or “deglaze”.
Apples: 1 pound (3 medium apples) = 2 ¾ cups sliced; 2 to 2 ½ cups chopped
Bananas: 1 pound (3 medium) = 1 1/3 cups mashed; 1 ½ to 2 cups sliced
Cranberries: 12 ounces = 3 cups whole; 2 ½ cups chopped
Grapefruit: 1 medium = 1 cup juice; 1 ½ cups segments
Grapes: 1 pound = 3 cups
Lemons: 1 medium = 3 tbsp. juice; 2 tsp. grated peel
Limes: 1 medium = 2 tbsp. juice; 1 ½ tsp. grated peel
Oranges: 1 medium = 1/3 to ½ cups juice; 4 tsp. grated peel
Peaches: 1 pound (4 medium) = 2 ¾ cups sliced; 2 ¼ cups chopped
Pumpkin: 5 pounds = 4 ½ cups cooked and mashed
Strawberries: 1 pint = 2 cups hulled and sliced