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First: most common baking recipes use all-purpose flour, which is around 10% protein. This type of flour is widely available and is best for most cookies, quick
by djur 8y ago
First: most common baking recipes use all-purpose flour, which is around 10% protein. This type of flour is widely available and is best for most cookies, quick breads, some types of cake, pancakes, waffles, etc. It's also acceptable for enriched bread doughs (because gluten development is going to be inhibited anyway) and for fatty/laminated doughs like typical pie crust or puff pastry (for basically the same reason).
Bread flour is 14-16%. It will be explicitly called for if necessary. It's more of a specialty product, but it's often available in grocery stores. You'll mostly find it in more 'artisan' bread recipes, especially lean European-style breads like baguettes, ciabatta, etc. Works fine for enriched bread as well -- probably better, but not so much that I'd run out and buy it if I was out if I had AP flour on hand. Useless/counterproductive in basically everything but bread.
Cake flour is a low-protein (8% or less) flour that is more finely milled and is usually bleached. It's suitable for cakes and for biscuits of the Southern variety.
Finally, self-rising flour is usually an all-purpose flour that has baking powder (chemical leavening) mixed in. This makes it more convenient to use for a lot of common American baked goods -- pancakes, waffles, and biscuits, in particular. But it also is unnecessary/harmful if you're using a recipe that doesn't call for baking powder. ('Pancake mix' is similar, but it also contains baking soda and sugar. Just add milk and eggs.)
That was long, sorry. Regarding your second question: jam is a common topping for biscuits, but clotted cream is not a commonplace food in the US. (More's the pity.) One would usually butter a biscuit before adding jam. Or honey, if you're me. Or sausage gravy.
- benj111 8y agoAh ok. The article read as if high protein (bread) flour was the default in the US. Checking my plain and sr flour, protein content is 9% and 8.9% so seemingly a bit closer to your cake flour. Sponge flour is a thing here but I think its just finely ground, and not very common. So that would suggest a 20%/80% mix of bread and plain flour would get closer to your AP flour. I assume all this is because the American climate is better for producing high protein wheat? I know the Chorleywood method was developed to make bread with low protein flour, because that is what was commonly produced in the UK. Bread flour was imported from Canada, and so was in short supply post war. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorleywood_bread_process https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorleywood_bread_process
- jonnycomputer 8y agoonly if by "US" you mean north of DC.
- benj111 8y agoSo high protein flour is default in the north, low protein in the south? Are they labeled differently?
- djur 8y agoIt's more that there are specific brands of low-protein flour intended for biscuit-making that are commonly available in the South and less available elsewhere. And, just for clarification, it's important to remember that when Americans refer to 'the South' or 'Southern' culture, they're referring to the southeastern states, east of the Rockies, and sometimes even to a narrower subset of these states. (For instance, biscuits are not a staple in Texas or Oklahoma.) Regional naming is often contentious in the US -- just ask which states are part of the Midwest and you might start an argument: https://www.vox.com/2016/2/16/10889440/midwest-analysis https://www.vox.com/2016/2/16/10889440/midwest-analysis Thanks for the info on the Chorleywood process, by the way. I'd never heard of it.
- benj111 8y agoJust when you thought they couldn't make more simple things complicated :) I might make a submission of the chorleywood process at the weekend then. (its basically sliced bread btw )