Old family recipes and British cookbooks both use ingredient names that don't match what's on American grocery store shelves. None of these are exotic substitutions — they're the same ingredients under a different name, or a very close modern equivalent.
Sugar & Sweeteners
| Old/British Term | What to Buy | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Caster sugar | Superfine sugar | Or pulse granulated sugar in a food processor ~30 sec |
| Icing sugar | Powdered/confectioners' sugar | Identical product, different name |
| Golden syrup | No exact US equivalent | Light corn syrup + a little molasses is the closest substitute |
| Treacle | Molasses | "Black treacle" = dark molasses; "golden treacle" = golden syrup |
Flour & Leavening
| Old/British Term | What to Buy | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Self-raising flour | All-purpose flour + baking powder + salt | 1 cup flour + 1½ tsp baking powder + ¼ tsp salt per cup called for |
| Plain flour | All-purpose flour | Direct equivalent |
| Saleratus | Baking soda | 19th-century American term, converts 1:1 |
| Corn flour (UK) | Cornstarch (US) | Same product — "corn flour" in the US means cornmeal instead, so this one causes real confusion |
Dairy & Fat
| Old/British Term | What to Buy | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Double cream | Heavy cream | Double cream is slightly higher fat (~48% vs ~36%), whips a bit stiffer |
| Single cream | Light cream / half-and-half | Close but not identical fat content |
| Shortening (older US recipes) | Solid vegetable fat (e.g. Crisco) | Same meaning today, just less commonly used now than in mid-century recipes |
| Suet | Beef or vegetable suet | Still sold, though less common in US supermarkets — look in the baking or specialty section |
The One That Causes the Most Confusion
"Corn flour" is the term most likely to cause a real mistake, not just a naming mix-up: in the UK, corn flour means cornstarch, but in the US, "corn flour" is a completely different product — finely ground cornmeal, used in cornbread and tortillas. If a British recipe calls for corn flour to thicken a sauce, reach for cornstarch, not the corn flour on a US grocery shelf, or the sauce won't thicken the way the recipe expects.
Why the Terms Diverged
Most of this naming split traces back to British and American English developing separately after colonization, combined with different manufacturing and marketing histories on each side of the Atlantic — sugar refiners, flour millers, and syrup producers in each country settled on their own product names decades apart, with no real coordination. A few terms (saleratus, "size of an egg") are simply older English that fell out of use in the US once standardized measuring tools and consistent product names took over, but stuck around longer in handwritten family recipes than in published cookbooks.
None of this means the ingredients themselves are meaningfully different — a British recipe using icing sugar isn't asking for something exotic, just powdered sugar by another name. The confusion is purely linguistic, not culinary, which is why a straightforward name-to-name lookup like the tables above resolves almost every case without needing to adjust the recipe itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is caster sugar in American terms?
Caster sugar is superfine sugar — granulated sugar ground finer than standard table sugar but not as fine as powdered sugar. If you can't find it, pulse regular granulated sugar in a food processor for about 30 seconds, or use standard granulated sugar; the difference is mainly how quickly it dissolves.
What is self-raising flour, and how do I make my own?
Self-raising (or self-rising) flour is regular flour pre-mixed with baking powder and salt. To substitute, use 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 1½ teaspoons baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt for every cup of self-raising flour a recipe calls for.
What is saleratus?
Saleratus is an old term for baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) — the name was common in 19th-century American recipes before "baking soda" became the standard term. It's the same substance and converts 1:1 with modern baking soda.