What is is and where do I find it?

Cake flour (usually called cake and pastry flour) is a finer flour that all purpose, just like icing sugar is finer than regular sugar. It should be in any grocery store in the section with the all purpose flour, just make sure to read the labels as it could look very similar.

Thanks

You should be able to get it at the grocery store.

There are a number of "grades" of flour out there, and it all has to do with the amount of gluten in the flour.

"Hard" flours such as bread flour are very high in gluten - this makes the structure of your breads work ... kneading actually activates the gluten.

"Soft" flours (such as cake & pastry flours) have less gluten, because gluten makes cakes tough. (This is also why you don't want to over-beat your cake, muffin or pancake batters... you want to avoid activating the gluten in the flour)

All-purpose flour falls somewhere in the middle and can be used for either one!

just to clarify a smidge: the gluten content that MelC speaks of has to do with the protein content of the flour, which results in the development of glutenin and gliadin, known collectively as "gluten".

canadian AP (all-purpose) flour typically has a higher protein content than AP flour in the u.s., but if your recipe calls for cake flour, regardless of where you are, buying the box or bag labelled "cake/pastry" will ensure that you'll be getting a low-protein, low-gluten flour, suitable for cakes and other baked goods that don't require the strong structure that bread needs (in canada, you can often make quite good bread with AP flour, rather than buying the more expensive "bread" flour).

I'm so glad there are so many smart people on here.

aunt-judy just wondering if you knew about www.cakescanada.com...great site for us canadians!

Swans Down and Softasilk are two popular brands of cake flour. They are near the other flours in the baking aisle but are both in red boxes.

Cake flour is becoming increasingly harder for me to find in grocery stores. This has been happening over the last 6 months or so. The store managers are saying that no one is buying it (except for me apparently).

Does anyone buy this in bulk? And if so, are you ordering from a distributor or directly from the company? I guess I could ask a store manager if they would order me a case, but I was wondering if it would be cheaper to get it direct from the company.

I like unbleached all purpose flour--if the recipe calls for a-p flour, of course. Does anyone know if there is any difference in the baked cake, bread, etc. between bleached & unbleached a-p flour?

Thanks, bakersofcakes

P.S. Sorry if this is the wrong thread to post this question.

I just got mine at Walmart

Here is an interesting link from baking911.com that compares and discusses various types of grains and flours:

http://www.baking911.com/pantry/flour,grains.htm

gliaden makes the flour more elastic, and glutenin is what makes the flour tough and you can over develop the glutenin from over mixing.

There are also subsets to the

We have a test on this on Monday so I may as well use you to review..lol

"There are many types of flour, but I'm sure you will just want to know about Wheat".

Wheat flour:
All purpose.................Mixture of hard and soft flour
Whole Wheat..........Bran added, not separated
Cake flour.............protein (gluten) 8%
Durum wheat flour....used for pasta
Graham.............contains wheat germ and bran
Hard flour.................Used for breads
Self-Rising...............soft wheat flour with leavening

Ok, here are the subsets..( I know, more info than you need, but bear with me..I'm reviewing...lol)

Hard wheat flour...has kernels that are hard, tough and difficult to cut. Best bread flour. Creamy or creamy white in color, granular in feel, doesn't pack well when you squeeze it, has a heavy wheat smell and is usually a winter wheat.

First clear....uses only the endosperm of the wheat kernel, which gives it softness and spreadability to the dough. Straight flour is used after the wheat has been washed and the brand and germ removed and it goes through one milling process. Protein content...14 to 15% Used where strength is needed, used to make artisan breads where no pan is needed as it can hold it's shape. and lifts multigrains and strength to multigrain breads.

High gluten flour...is a product of washing out the starch from patent flour. resulting in higher protein , same character as first clear. Protein 13 to 14%

Patent or second clear flour, is the most used flour, less than the entire endosperm used. It's also good for strenght.

Whole wheat..the entire kernel is used in making. Protein 11 to 13 %. whole wheat flour has poor structure and poor gas retention and it must be used in combo with first clear, poor absorbtion and must be s oaked overnight.

SOFT WHEAT...soft kernel, suitable for cakes, pastries and crackers. creamy white in color, feels soft, packs easily when squeezed, light wheat smell and is usually a spring wheat.

Cake flour...the softest flour, it has a high starch content and a low protein count...6 to 8 % Cake flour is white because it has been chemically treated. it packs easily and absorbs moisture, cake flour is used for high ratio cakes...higher ratio of sugar to flour. It is able to carry increased amounts of shortening and sugar.

Pastry flour...has a protein count of aa7 to 10 % and it's off white in color. It is used for low ratio cakes where the amount of flour is greater than the amount of sugar and only used when cake flour is unavailable. It is used for cookies , pie doughs and short doughs.

FLOUR BLENDS:

All purpose: family flour, or blend flour because it is a blend of cake flour and bread flour. It is used in the home as a multipurpose flour

Cookie Flour: similar to all purpose, blend of hard and soft wheat. but contains less starch.


WINTER WHEAT: sown in the fall and harvested the following summer in climates where winters are not severe enough to kill the sprout

SPRING WHEAT: is sown in the spring and harvested late summer and fall in climates where frost will not kill it before it has a chance to ripen

SOMETHING INTERESTING FOR YOU:

Bleached flour...flour requires proper aging to produce the best results in baking, flour that is newly milled is called GREEN FLOUR and there are 2 ways to age it. It can be stored for several months to allow the oxygen in the air to react with the color pigments of the flour, this is costly and time consuming

.....or they can use artificial chemicals like chlorine and benzoyl peroxide...some places are trying to outlaw this practice.

Sorry to quote out of a textbook for your information, I usually like to put things in simple terms so everyone understands, but...I wanted to share a good basic understanding of the types of flours out there.

Sometimes our recipes don't turn out the way we want them to, and we blame ourselves....well....it all starts with the type of flour you use...as a matter of fact...before you blame yourself...take a look at all your ingredients!

By the way...flour CAN get to old, and lose it's protein strength!


Thank you for letting me use you guys for review, there is a WHOLE chapter of this that I have to get inside my ole head for Monday!..lol

Thanks for that Diva! I had a general idea about the differences, but not the hows and whys! I love this sort of peripheral information when I'm doing any sort of project (you should have seen my reserach when I was pregnant! LOL)

Thanks Diva for the info...you just scared me to death!!! I start my Pastry Chef program on January 9th and my first class is baking 101 where I'm sure we will learn what you just shared with us. I can't believe there is so much to know about flour.

Thanks for breaking that down Pastry Diva! Now I know the difference between pastry and cake flour. You mentioned that pastry flour should be used for cakes that have less sugar than flour. My recipes use less sugar than flour. Should I switch from cake flour to pastry flour and if I do what result can I expect?

Thanks Pastry Diva!!!

I'm very interested in details too. Didn't know it was because I'm a scorpio, though!

I buy kind of in bulk. I get mine from the bulk bins at a Whole Foods-like grocery store. It's only $.59/lb that way, instead of $1+ for Swan's Down, but I don't buy more than I can use in a couple of months.

And Diva, when you say "hatch" do you mean that literally?

Oh my, Here's something else I didn't know. Always assumed that unless flour was kept in a airtight container the little buggies would find there way into it. Never knew that the eggs were already there!!! ugh

Freezing, just keeps the critters dormant...and any you ingest..well, your stomach acids pretty much take care of the problem..lol

yes, they are already there, harvested and processed with the flour!

FYI..

lol

I'm like cocopuff. I thought they got in instead of being already there. I've had the moths, but they seemed to love my almonds, no problem with the flour, but then my flour rotates pretty quickly.