If you have ever followed a British recipe to the letter and still ended up with a sauce that is too salty or a cake that just refuses to rise properly, it might not be your cooking skills at all. The real problem could be hiding in your cutlery drawer. While Australian cooks use a 20 ml tablespoon, British recipes are built around a smaller 15 ml version, and that five millilitre gap can seriously change the final result.
The difference seems small on paper, but it becomes a big deal once you multiply it across ingredients. A British recipe asking for two tablespoons of soy sauce expects 30 ml, but an Australian tablespoon measure delivers 40 ml. The extra quantity can throw out the balance of salty, acidic, or sweet elements in everything from marinades to stir fries, and the impact is even more noticeable in baking where ratios are everything.
Baking is where this discrepancy does the most damage. British cookbook authors test their batters with the 15 ml standard, which means that an Australian cook accidentally adds 33 percent more liquid or fat every time a tablespoon is involved. The result might be a cake that sinks, a biscuit that spreads too far, or icing that simply refuses to set the way it should.
Even in savoury cooking, the tablespoon mismatch can muddle flavours. Curries, dressings, and reductions rely on careful balance, and adding a bigger Australian tablespoon of spices or oil can change the texture and taste of the final dish.
The good news is that it is an easy issue to fix. When following UK recipes, swap your Australian tablespoon for a proper 15 ml spoon, or simply measure ¾ of a tablespoon when needed. A small adjustment makes a big difference, particularly if you produce content or film cooking segments where consistency matters. Once you match the measurements the recipe was designed for, British dishes come together exactly the way the author intended.
