Cook Metric!

Updated February 28, 2017 | Infoplease Staff

Just Say "Yum" to Metric Measures

by Holly Hartman

Don't look now—but your kitchen is full of math. When you make a recipe, you measure the volume or weight of your ingredients. When you choose a pot or pan, you consider its volume or length. And when you're ready to bake, you set the oven for a particular temperature. Any of these can be done with either U.S. or metric measurements.

By making some rich, fudgy brownies or delicious, steaming soup, you could be on your way to metric mastery. Just tie on an apron and check out these recipes. Your measuring cups and spoons (and oven) might already include both U.S. and metric measures, or you can use the helpful links below.

Chewy Chocolate Brownies

• 60 ml butter
• 56 grams unsweetened chocolate
• 240 ml white sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 5 ml vanilla extract
• 1 ml salt
• 120 ml flour
• 120 ml chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)


• PLUS: a little extra butter and flour for the pan

Preheat your oven to 150 degrees Celsius.*

Prepare a 20-centimeter-square pan.** First, cut wax paper to line the bottom and sides of the pan. Next, grease the paper with butter and then sprinkle flour over it. Shake the flour around until the pan is evenly coated, then dump out the extra flour.

Put the butter and chocolate in a small pot on the stove. Heat it over very low heat, stirring, until it melts. Next, take the pan off the heat. Add the sugar, egg, vanilla, salt, flour, and nuts. Stir them together until the batter is smooth.

Pour the batter into your pan and spread it around. Bake for about 30 minutes.

Let cool for about 10 minutes. Then turn the pan upside-down onto a large plate so that the brownies fall out. Peel off the waxed paper. Cut the brownies into squares, and enjoy!

Super Lentil Soup

• 45 ml olive oil
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 stalk of celery, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 15 ml dried oregano, thyme, OR basil
• 10 ml salt
• 360 ml tomato (canned is fine), diced
• 360 ml lentils
• 1.5 liters water
• 1 medium potato, diced

Find a pot that holds about 4 liters. Pour in the olive oil and heat it over medium heat on the stovetop. Add the diced carrot, celery, and onion, and the dried herb and salt. Cook, stirring now and then, for about 8 minutes. The vegetables should be getting soft.

Next, add the tomato, lentils, water, and diced potato. Turn the heat up all the way until the mixture comes to a boil. Then turn down the heat to medium-low. Let cook, stirring now and then, until the lentils are soft. This will take about 45 minutes to an hour.

Taste the soup; you might wish to add more salt and some pepper. If you prefer a "smooth" soup, you can puree this in the blender after it cools and then reheat it. Yum!