Decoding Flour - Tip of the Day

by Adeena Sussman, Posted Jul 20th 2010 @ 9:00AM

The flour aisle can be confusing with all its choices. What's the difference between all-purpose flour, self-rising flour and cake flour?

Photo: Amy C. Evans / Southern Foodways Alliance, Flickr

All-purpose flour is considered appropriate for many baking tasks, from breads and pancakes to cookies, biscuits and muffins. All-purpose flour is typically milled from "harder" wheat, meaning wheat that contains more gluten.

Cake flour is a silkier, finer-textured flour made with softer wheat which contains less gluten and protein, making it ideal for cakes and pastries.

Self-rising flour is essentially cake flour which contains rising agents like baking powder, often along with a little salt.

Filed Under: Tip of the Day
Tags: all purpose flour, baking, cake flour, cakes, cookies, flour, self rising flour