How much confectioners sugar is in a "box?"

 Don'tcha love people who write recipes? Your recipe writer probably thought he or she was doing you a favor. Instead of specifying "3-1/2 to 4 cups confectioner's sugar," he thought it would be much simpler if you just dumped in the whole box.

The problem, of course, is that a one-pound box is no longer the only — or even the most common — way to purchase powdered sugar. You most often find it in one-pound or two-pound bags, boxes, or canisters in grocery stores these days.

Just as with flour, a pound of confectioner's sugar can take up more or less space depending on how it is scooped and measured. If you mash it into measuring cups, it takes up about 3-1/2 cups. If you gently scoop it, it takes up four. Our quibble is with that extra half-cup. A lot of recipes that call for confectioner's sugar ask you to add most of it, holding a bit in reserve in case you need to thicken whatever it is you're making.

In any event, he is asking for a pound of confectioner's sugar. We're sure you have a kitchen scale and can happily measure out a pound. Or we're sure you have a one-pound box/bag/canister/whatever. In the almost inconceivably unlikely chance that you do not have a scale, you should add 3-1/2 cups, and if that doesn't seem like enough, you will add up to a half cup more to get whatever consistency seems right.

Giving recipe writers the benefit of the doubt, we'll imagine that your recipe is quite an old one.

Submit your question
to Ochef