A dessert spoon is a spoon designed specifically for eating

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

. Similar in size to a soup spoon (intermediate between a teaspoon and a tablespoon) but with an oval rather than round bowl, it typically has a capacity around twice that of a teaspoon. By extension, the term "dessert spoon" is used as a cooking measure of

volume Volume is a measure of regions in three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch) ...

, usually of 10 millilitres (mL), US fl oz, or imp fl oz.

Dining

The use of dessert spoons around the world varies massively; in some areas they are very common, while in other places the use of the dessert spoon is almost unheard of—with diners using forks or teaspoons for their desserts as a default. In most traditional table settings, the dessert spoon is placed above the plate or bowl, separated from the rest of the cutlery, or it may simply be brought in with the dessert.

Culinary measure

As a unit of culinary measure, in the United States, a level dessert spoon (''dsp., dspn. or dstspn.'') equals 2 US customary teaspoons, which is 2 US customary fluid drams ( of a US customary fluid ounce). In the United Kingdom, a dessert spoon is traditionally 2 British imperial fluid drachms ( of a British imperial fluid ounce). 1 UK dessert spoon is the equivalence of UK tablespoon, 2 UK teaspoons, or 4 UK salt spoons. A metric dessert spoon is 10mL, the equivalence of 2 metric teaspoons.

Apothecary measure

As a unit of Apothecary measure, the dessert-spoon was an unofficial but widely used unit of fluid measure equal to two fluid drams, or fluid ounce. However, even when approximated, its use was discouraged: "Inasmuch as spoons vary greatly in capacity, and from their form are unfit for use in the dosage of medicine, it is desirable... to be measured with a suitable medicine measure." In the United States and pre-1824 England, the fluid ounce was of a Queen Anne wine gallon (which was defined as exactly 231 cubic inches) thus making the dessert-spoon approximately . The post-1824 (British) imperial Apothecaries' dessert-spoon was also fluid ounce, but the ounce in question was of an imperial gallon, approximately 277.4 cubic inches, yielding a dessert-spoon of approximately . In both the British and American variants of the Apothecaries' system, two tea-spoons make a dessert-spoon, while two dessert-spoons make a table-spoon. In pharmaceutical Latin, the Apothecaries' dessert-spoon is known as , abbreviated as or less frequently , as opposed to the tea-spoon ( or ) and table-spoon ( or ).

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Silver place settings
from Butler's Guild Spoons Units of volume Alcohol measurement {{cooking-tool-stub Cooking weights and measures Customary units of measurement in the United States

Dining

Culinary measure

Apothecary measure

See also

Sources

External links