Separated by a Common Language?

[monster]

Sometimes, when I'm pootling about, I play with numbers in my head. Other times, language. And one of those language things is the UK/USA differences. We all know about the word differences and the strange pronunciations, and even the occasional grammar quirk, but it's so much more than that. I marvel at (and enjoy) how few things I would say the same way when talking to Brits or Americans. More often than not, there are several words that mean the same thing, and we all know all the meanings, but each country has a different word of preference. Rarely a sentence goes by that doesn't have something in it -and, I think, that's what marks us expats out as Brits (and Aussies) -as much as if not more than the accent- and is maybe why some Americans get confused between the two, when to us our accents couldn't be much more different. Maybe.

Anyway, I keep thinking I should share this with those of you who are interested in this sort of thing using real life examples (those who aren't please move on now, I'll take the "boring!" comments as read...)

(I'm betting the Americans will still be able to spot many Anglicisms in my writing -I haven't gotten ( )to the native level of expertise yet! And I'm sure there will be regional differences in both countries, please don't take offence if I neglected yours, although I'd be very interested to hear about it)

---

I just baked a birthday cake. My oven is electric, so I went over to the range (cooker) to turn it on to preheat. After checking there was nothing on the cooktop (hob/stove), I set it to 350F (Gas mark 5, something in centigrade). Then I went to wash my hands under the faucet (tap).

I may have been here 10 years and generally think in American, but I cook in British. So I got out my kitchen scales rather than my set of measuring cups to make sure I got the right amount of each ingredient.

I was making a sponge cake (like a heavier yellow cake), so I weighed the eggs first, then set them on one side. I weighed out the same amount of butter and of sugar (it would have been caster as opposed to granulated sugar if i was in the UK). Then I beat them together. No need to warm the butter because -being European- we keep the butter in use out of the fridge) Next, I added the eggs. I did take the eggs from the fridge, I would have done in the UK too, but interesting to note that in the UK, eggs are generally not refridgerated in the store (shop) -or weren't when I left on 2001, I don't know if other Brits refridgerate them at home or not. The eggs were actually brown, which is the norm to a Brit, but American eggs are more likely to be white. But we're not doing too badly here on the language differences.

I whisked in the eggs, being careful not to let the batter (mixture) curdle. Then I weighed out the same amount of self-rising flour (self-raising), it should be noted here that it is more the norm in the US to use general purpose (plain) flour and add baking powder. I added some cocoa powder to the flour, then sifted those onto the batter. I folded them in to prevent the air being beaten out again, added some semi-sweet chocolate chips (just chocolate chips to Brits) and then transferred the mixture to the cake pan (tin). The pan is a solid circle, not the bundt style that would be used for coffee cakes. (To Americans, a coffee cake is a cake designed to be eaten with coffee -more than likely cinammon or lemon flavo(u)red and drizzled with icing (which is the Brit term -would you merkins call that white drizzle icing, frosting, drizzle or something entirely different?)- to Brits, a coffee cake would generally be a cake flavored with coffee).

Well, the cake is now in the oven. When the pots are washed, it will be American-style, rinsed in hot water after the soap, and left to air dry. We used to do that in the UK too, but Brit visitors still don't rinse the soap off and want to dry them with a tea-towel (kitchen towel).

Newsflash! the cake is ready! When pressed lightly, It rebounds, it is no longer making a "clicking" noise, and when stuck with a toothpick (pricked with a cocktail stick) the stick comes away clean.

When the cake is cooled, I will fill it with chocolate buttercream -same weight of butter to powdered/confectioner's sugar (icing sugar), flavo(u)red with melted baker's unsweetened chocolate (cooking chocolate), and then it will be frosted (iced) it to look like a target with nerf darts in it. I will make the frosting with powdered sugar, food color (colour) and water.

The cake will be eaten with forks (only posh Brits use forks -and then they have special cake forks for the job) ....yup, for once the Brits are the ones who use their fingers and the Americans silverware/flatware (cutlery).

[Cloud]

very interesting. Some comments:

--I would call the drizzle on coffee cake icing
--Brits. . . don't rinse the soap off pans?
--frosted layer cakes are too messy to eat with your fingers!

[monster]

Yeah, I wanted to call it icing, but just wondered if that was the Brit in me fighting for recognition?

No, not in the main. The dishes really don't taste soapy -maybe the soap is different, but as someone who is allergic to soap, I've always rinsed, so i'm all American on that one. but go visit an American Expats in the UK board, and that's one of their major grumbles

British frosting is thinner on top, so less messy, and cakes are genrally a little more solid. But my family fancied themselves as posh, so I'm 50:50 on the fork thing. My MIL used to take the piss out of me back in the UK-for being posh and asking for a fork- but when she came over here and was the only one eating with fingers, we were all amused

[Pico and ME]

Why are eggs measured instead of just counted and why is the cake making a "clicking" noise in the first place?

[monster]

Originally Posted by Pico and ME

Why are eggs measured instead of just counted and why is the cake making a "clicking" noise in the first place?

I think the clicking is bubbling -a sign that it's still slightly liquid and not done yet... I dunno, it was just a thing I was taught and I've found that it works. If you take it out before then, even if the stick is coming out clean, it might well be soggy in the middle

[squirell nutkin]

Eggs are all different sizes and hence volumes. It is actually more accurate to weigh all your ingredients. a packed cup of flour is significantly heavier than a loose cup.

A large egg is about 2 oz. volume, but ex large or Jumbo or medium throw your recipe off.

3 eggs is sort of meaningless when you compare 3 medium eggs to 3 jumbo eggs.

[Tulip]

Originally Posted by squirell nutkin

Eggs are all different sizes and hence volumes. It is actually more accurate to weigh all your ingredients. a packed cup of flour is significantly heavier than a loose cup.

A large egg is about 2 oz. volume, but ex large or Jumbo or medium throw your recipe off.

3 eggs is sort of meaningless when you compare 3 medium eggs to 3 jumbo eggs.

That is why sometimes in recipes, they call for small, medium, or large eggs.

[Clodfobble]

The crazy thing is, so much of this stuff is regional even within the US. Just for example:

Originally Posted by monster

My oven is electric, so I went over to the range (cooker) to turn it on to preheat. After checking there was nothing on the cooktop (hob/stove), I set it to 350F (Gas mark 5, something in centigrade). Then I went to wash my hands under the faucet (tap).

I would never say range or cooker, the thing as a whole and the inside part are both the oven, and the top burners are the stove. Also, I would wash my hands "in the sink," I wouldn't refer to the faucet at all.

Originally Posted by monster

(To Americans, a coffee cake is a cake designed to be eaten with coffee -more than likely cinammon or lemon flavo(u)red and drizzled with icing (which is the Brit term -would you merkins call that white drizzle icing, frosting, drizzle or something entirely different?)-

To me, icing is the kind that is 1.) always white, and 2.) made with pure sugar and little else, so when it dries it is somewhat hard and can flake off. Frosting is the fluffy stuff that goes on cupcakes and can't be drizzled. But I would definitely never call any of it "drizzle," as that borders on obscene. And while I wouldn't be taken aback at a cinnamon-flavored coffee cake that didn't actually contain any coffee, I would scoff at a lemon cake being called coffee cake. That's always lemon cake. Also, we call it "food coloring," never just "food color."

But again, this is all just how it is down in Texas. It's totally different up north, as I'm sure you know.

[SamIam]

My mother was European, but learned her English (and cooking) in the UK. Your recipe brought back a smile and fond childhod memories. She did use measuring cups as scales were not that easy to get here at the time.

[monster]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

I would never say range or cooker, the thing as a whole and the inside part are both the oven, and the top burners are the stove. Also, I would wash my hands "in the sink," I wouldn't refer to the faucet at all.

Most Brits, however, would use cooker, I think, and most Americans would not. I do find Americans have a greater range of terms for this appliance.

Yes, I would also say "in the sink" but if asked to specify which bit of the sink, to a Brit I'd say tap, to an American faucet.

I wonder if the coffee cake think is due to the Germanic influence up here?

[jinx]

Originally Posted by monster

Yes, I would also say "in the sink" but if asked to specify which bit of the sink, to a Brit I'd say tap, to an American faucet.

My mom's mom would say spigot.

Coffee cake must have those little cinnamon crumb things, and the icing on it it more like a glaze.

[monster]

Originally Posted by jinx

My mom's mom would say spigot.

I've heard spigot used a lot too -I just forgot about it! Is it regional?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by monster

I've heard spigot used a lot too -I just forgot about it! Is it regional?

I think it's more generational... an old fashioned term.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by monster

Are they refrigerated at the supermarket, now?

As Dani says - nope. We get them from the local butcher and they sit proudly on display behind the counter in large egg trays. You have to bring your own eggbox (carton?) as they're local farm eggs and although they're obviously sorted and stamped they are not packed. And yes, they come with feathers and gunk, are varying sizes and sometimes a bit knobbly.

As an aside, I looked all over town for white eggs for Easter. Nope. You can't get white eggs for love nor money in this town. Weird, because it was white or nothing when I was growing up. Still, the dyes worked well on the brown. They would just have been brighter on white.

And we don't put the eggs in the fridge when we come home either. They're out on the counter. Or they will be when I buy some today - I had egg on toast for tea last night.

Originally Posted by monster

I've heard spigot used a lot too -I just forgot about it! Is it regional?

Spiggits are biscuits in our family. Comes from my brother trying to say biscuits as a child (more properly s-bicits) Whenever I hear spigot that's what I think of.

Re wiping up. If you have soap bubbles on your plates when they're draining, you're using too much washing up liquid. We wipe up as soon as we've washed up and I don't recall any bubbles on the plates. And after all, you are wiping them... It would be a waste of hot water to rinse them! Then again, I grew up in a house where three of us would use the same bathwater, for fear of the ruinious cost of hving the immersion on. And we boiled a keetle for our morning wash in the sink.

[squirell nutkin]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

The crazy thing is, so much of this stuff is regional even within the US. Just for example:



I would never say range or cooker, the thing as a whole and the inside part are both the oven, and the top burners are the stove. Also, I would wash my hands "in the sink," I wouldn't refer to the faucet at all.

But do you say "tap water?" I do.

To me, icing is the kind that is 1.) always white, and 2.) made with pure sugar and little else, so when it dries it is somewhat hard and can flake off. Frosting is the fluffy stuff that goes on cupcakes and can't be drizzled. But I would definitely never call any of it "drizzle," as that borders on obscene. And while I wouldn't be taken aback at a cinnamon-flavored coffee cake that didn't actually contain any coffee, I would scoff at a lemon cake being called coffee cake. That's always lemon cake. Also, we call it "food coloring," never just "food color."

But again, this is all just how it is down in Texas. It's totally different up north, as I'm sure you know.

When I worked in a bakery 'drizzle' was a verb. Icing was 'drizzled.' Drizzle wasn't usually a noun.

Coffee cakes of any variety or flavor were typically yeasted, slightly sweet breads, usually with nuts or cinnamon, and meant to be eaten with coffee. Much more bread like than cake like. never a pound cake or lemon cake.

Bundt cakes were made in a ring shaped pan because the batter was especially liquid and would not bake evenly in a conventional pan.