When it comes to baking, there are many ways that one ingredient can make or break the outcome. This month, we are starting a new educational series with a focus on baking. From the terms, to the ingredients, and even techniques, tips and tricks to help you become a master at baking!
All purpose - As the name suggests, this kind of flour is good to use for all kinds of baking. Whether it’s pizza, cookies, bread, cakes or muffins, this is great to keep in your pantry.
Self raising - This is a flour that already contains some baking powder and salt. It is less rich in protein compared to regular flour and can be used to bake many different baked goods such as fluffy cakes and breads. If a recipe calls for self-raising flour but you only have regular flour, you can bake your own by combining 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder and ¼ teaspoon of fine salt to every 1 cup of all purpose flour.
Cake
Bread - If you want to bake bread or a pizza that has a chew to it then you’ll need bread flour. This type of flour is made from a different kind of wheat compared to all purpose flour. It is made with hard wheat which also means that it is higher in gluten. Although a lot may try to avoid gluten, in the case of making bread it works with the yeast which then affects how the dough will rise due to having better elasticity, which then of course affects the overall texture of bread. However, you do not strictly need bread flour in order to make bread. There are other bread-like recipes you can make such as cinnamon rolls or focaccia bread that doesn’t call for bread flour which can sometimes be hard to find.
Pastry - This is a flour made from soft white wheat which makes it low in protein content. Since it has a low protein content it does not have much gluten which makes the dough less elastic and which leads to a more crumbly and softer pastry. If you cannot get your hands on pastry flour, do not fret, you can make your own mixture at home. Just had ½ a cup of cake flour and ½ a cup of all purpose flour together to create 1 cup of pastry flour. Pastry flour is great for baking croissants, biscuits, tarts, muffins, and pie crusts.
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