How I was Defeated by Cake

[wolfie]

3 cups cake flour

125g Self Raising Flour

PSA to those who aren't serious cooks (or into trivia) - not all flour is created equal. Some baked goods (cakes, pastry, etc) are better when there's not too much gluten, otherwise they become chewy. The proper flour to use for them is (surprisingly) called "cake flour" or "pastry flour". Other baked goods (such as bread) depend on the gluten to hold them together. The proper flour for these is (you'd never guess) "bread flour". "All-purpose flour" has more gluten than cake/pastry flour, but less than bread flour. Self-raising flour is flour which has had baking powder added.

Also, besides climate, a given type of flour can have varying properties depending on where it's made. For example, all-purpose flour in Canada is closer to bread flour than all-purpose flour in the U.S., simply because the varieties of wheat which grow best in Canada have a higher gluten content than the varieties which grow best in the U.S.

[42_42_42]

Right on, wolfie! Always use the flour called for in the recipe.

Also, when measuring flour, use a scoop or a spoon to put the flour into the measuring cup, never dip the flour out using the measuring cup.

If the recipe says "X # cups of flour, sifted" then you measure the flour then sift it.
If the recipe says "X # cups of sifted flour" then you sift out flour and measure the flour from what you've sifted.

Oh, and don't use margarine in place of butter, they don't work the same.

[lordlundar]

PSA to those who aren't serious cooks (or into trivia) - not all flour is created equal. Some baked goods (cakes, pastry, etc) are better when there's not too much protein, otherwise they become chewy. The proper flour to use for them is (surprisingly) called "cake flour" or "pastry flour". Other baked goods (such as bread) depend on the gluten to hold them together. The proper flour for these is (you'd never guess) "bread flour". "All-purpose flour" has more protein than cake/pastry flour, but less than bread flour. Self-raising flour is flour which has had baking powder added.

Also, besides climate, a given type of flour can have varying properties depending on where it's made. For example, all-purpose flour in Canada is closer to bread flour than all-purpose flour in the U.S., simply because the varieties of wheat which grow best in Canada have a higher protein content than the varieties which grow best in the U.S.

Fixed that for you. Gluten is formed from the moist manipulation of the protein in wheat flour, it's not inherently in it. More protein = more gluten.

As for measuring, you're better off measuring by weight or mass, not by volume, especially for flour. Compacted flour for example will have the same mass but only a portion of volume. So if you go by volume it will vary. Most of the time it's negligible but if you strive for consistency then you need to go by mass or weight.

[Pixilated]

I have many baking disasters mainly around the holidays feeling all sentimental and stuff. *snip*

OMG, that reminds me of the one time in my entire life I ever tried to make strudel from scratch. I had no idea just how long it takes to stretch the dough and got bored halfway through. It looked fine ... but it would've made a handy weapon to send an intruder into oblivion for quite some time. Moral of the story: I will save the strudel-making until I retire and can spend a whole damn day working on the dough ...

PSA to those who aren't serious cooks (or into trivia) - not all flour is created equal. *snip*

Thanks for that info! I once used a fantastic flour called Ezekiel flour which apparently is no longer on the market (although, oddly, you can buy breads made with it). It consisted of both grains and legumes. I used it to make muffins and they were pretty dang solid, but still very edible.