Flour Power (the most riveting article you'll read today)
On flour:
While some flour may be listed as "all purpose," this is unfortunately not really the case. While you can use all purpose flour in most recipes, to achieve superior results, it's much better to use the flour intended for whatever you're making. More on that later. Also, no brands are created equally. Consistently King Arthur Flour is rated superior to all other mainstream brands, and it is the brand I most often use. Now, I'll explain the difference between the flours that I use in recipes here. The three main types I use are:
All Purpose (AP) Flour
Cake Flour
Bread Flour
The main difference between each of these is the amount of protein in each. The more protein in a flour, the more gluten you can develop. This is why it is important to use the flour right for your recipe. In foods like cakes, you do not want to create gluten. But in breads, however, you want to create a lot of gluten. I know gluten is often demonized in the media but it is actually just a combination of proteins that give bread structure and texture by holding in air inside the crumb. If you've ever had the misfortune of trying gluten free bread, you'll notice it is either an unsweet cake or a glorified cracker,
because they don't hold in air the way bread is supposed to.
Okay, back to the types of flour. Cake flour is the flour I use with the lowest protein content. I buy King Arthur Unbleached Cake Flour. It comes in a 2 lb blue box next to the All Purpose flours. This flour has a 9.4% protein content which is slightly higher than most cake flours because this one is unbleached. There is debate about whether or not bleaching flour is actually bad, but I prefer to stick to unbleached because it is not treated with potentially harmful chemicals. The next flour I use is King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour. This flour has an 11.7% protein content. The last flour that I keep consistently in my pantry is King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour with a 12.7% protein content. You might think only a few percentage points won't make a difference, but it very noticeable.
Using the right flour makes baking easier. This is comes back down to the gluten. When you make cakes, usually a recipe tells you to just mix until combined. The reason is you don't want to inadvertently overwork the gluten and get a tough cake. However, with cake four, it's harder to overwork the gluten, so you can mix your batters through much better. Sometimes, I'll whip my finished batter extra for a lighter texture. This is not recommended with AP flour. Contrastingly, it's easier to knead and develop gluten in bread dough made with bread flour because there is physically more gluten to develop.
Now, I'll break down what I use for what. Not everyone might break it down like this, but this is what I find works for me.
Cake Flour: anything that you want to have a lighter texture.
Cakes
Cupcakes
Muffins
Chemically Leavened Breads (like banana bread)
Pancakes
Bread Flour: any time you want gluten
Yeast breads
Pizza dough (although Italian 00 superfine flour is the best)
AP Flour
Cookies
Pie dough
Brownies
Bottom Line:
Start using these flours when you bake. If you're making a cake that calls for AP flour, try it with cake flour instead and you will be amazed with the results.
