Help understanding American recipe?

[luzula]

I would like to make this cake recipe. What does it mean when it says "1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided" in the ingredient list? First I read it as "one to one half a cup", but that doesn't make sense. Is this in fact an American way of writing "one and a half"? And why does it say "divided"? Also it's a mystery to me why it says in the instructions that you should use "1-1/4 cups flour" instead of "1-1/2 cups flour". I can't see anywhere else in the recipe that uses flour. It does say "test kitchen approved", so I assume it's tested and proofread...

Comments

[sanguinity]

While I'm sure "1 cup" began its life as "grab a teacup from the cupboard and use that to measure", nowadays "1 cup" is a standardized measurement of 237ml, and they sell standardized measuring cups that are just exactly that size. Most of which are very bad for drinking beverages from. ;-)

[badly_knitted]

Ah, I am enlightened! Thank you!

[luzula]

Oops, I've been using 2.5 dl for an American cup, so I see I've been getting a little too much! Will adjust.

[sanguinity]

The difference is, what, 5%? It’s difficult to imagine there isn’t already that kind of wiggle room built in, to make everything come out in nice round measurements, “1/2 cup”, etc. The idea that 237ml of whatever is the precisely ideal amount of an ingredient seems unlikely to me.

[luzula]

Good point! I usually improvise and change recipes when cooking, but never cake recipes, because they are usually dependent on getting the proportions right. But you're right, there must be some wiggle room since they're usually in fairly even measurements.