Difference Between Baking Flours – All Purpose, Self-Rising, Cake Flour

What’s The Difference Between Baking Flours?

Rose Asks:

What is the difference between all purpose flours, self rising flours and bleached and unbleached flours? Sometimes the bag just says flour… I want to start cooking from scratch but I am not sure of what flours I need to use. Thanks…

I’m glad you want to start cooking and baking from scratch. The good news is that it is really pretty easy to know the difference between baking flours and when to use each of them. I will include a brief description of each of them here.

I don’t go into the super scientific details, but rather the practical information you need to get cooking and baking fast! I hope this helps you understand the difference between all purpose flour, self-rising four and the other names you may see on flour bags!

All Purpose Flour, Bleached And Unbleached Flour

All purpose, bleached and unbleached flour can all be used interchangeably. The main difference is that unbleached flour has slightly more nutrients in it than the others. All purpose flour is what is used mostly in baking. For a beginning cook, I suggest you always use all purpose flour unless the recipe states otherwise.

 Cake Flour

There are some differences in the type of wheat between cake flour and other flours, but the most important thing for you to know is that cake flour is ground more finely than other flour. Cake flour is also made of a particular type of flour that produces a softer texture, so it is often preferred by professionals for making baked goods with a super light and fluffy texture.

If a recipe calls for cake flour and you don’t have cake flour on hand, it is perfectly OK to substitute 2 tablespoons less of the cake flour per cup of all purpose flour. In other words if the recipe calls for 1 cup of cake flour then you can use 1 cup minus 2 Tbsp. of all purpose flour.

Self Rising Flour

Self rising flour already has the salt and leavening mixed into it. A lot of bakers don’t like to use self-rising flour because it can lose its potency. It is usually not recommended for bread. If you have a recipe that calls for self rising flour but you don’t have self rising flour on hand,

I could go into all the scientific details about protein percent, varieties of wheat and a lot of other details but it’s easy to get into information overload so I won’t. I have included the details you need to make most recipes. Too many details just discourages us from trying something because we are afraid to get mired in irrelevant details.

When A Package Just Says Flour

If you find a package of flour in the store that just says “flour”, it is generally all purpose flour. I hope your scratch cooking goes well!

Jill

[dining]