My cake came out dense even though I measured the flour carefully — what went wrong?

If you scooped the measuring cup directly into the flour bag, you likely packed in 140-150 g instead of the 120 g this conversion assumes — roughly 20% more flour than the recipe intended. Try the spoon-and-level method next time: spoon flour into the cup, then level with a knife without pressing down.

A European recipe calls for 250 g flour — how many cups is that?

250 g ÷ 120 g per cup ≈ 2.08 cups, so just over 2 cups using the spoon-and-level method. If you only have measuring cups, 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon is close enough for most baking.

All-Purpose Flour: Cups to Grams Converter

Convert all-purpose flour between cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, milliliters, grams, and ounces.

Ingredient

Amount

From

All-Purpose Flour: 120 Grams

Spoon-and-level method; scooping directly from the bag can pack flour to 140-150 g/cup.

Flour is one of the most variable ingredients to measure by volume — how it's scooped changes the weight dramatically. Spooning flour into a cup and leveling it off (the method assumed here, at 120 g per cup) gives a lighter result than scooping directly from the bag, which compacts the flour and can push the weight to 140-150 g per cup. Recipes that specify weight avoid this variability entirely, which is why professional and European recipes favor grams.

Common Amounts

All-Purpose Flour cups to grams
Cups	Grams
1/4 cups	30 g
1/3 cups	40 g
1/2 cups	60 g
3/4 cups	90 g
1 cup	120 g
2 cups	240 g

Frequently Asked Questions

Last reviewed: 2026-06-11 · Source: USDA FoodData Central / King Arthur Baking ingredient weight charts · see our methodology

Bread Flour cups to grams Whole Wheat Flour cups to grams Granulated Sugar cups to grams Brown Sugar (packed) cups to grams Powdered Sugar cups to grams Butter cups to grams Honey cups to grams Milk cups to grams

All-Purpose Flour: Cups to Grams Converter

Common Amounts

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Converters