Hello Ann! It was very hit and miss as I had never made the recipe before - basically I just warmed the dates up in the water and then strained it away so that they were left really moist but not water-logged. As for the beaker/cup measurements, that was purely guess work too - just a large tall mug for the dry things and a small coffee size mug for the water.Hope it works out okay for you - let me know! Spangle