Walk into your local supermarket in search of flour and you’ll find that these days several brands have come up with various types of flour for usage in different ways. 7 Star Cake Flour is one of the most popular flour products seen on the shelf and recommended by many bakers too. But why use cake flour for your bakes?
What is cake flour?
Now, most flours look alike unless you have the eye and the knowledge to know what’s different about each of them. If you want to know why you should be using cake flour for your cakes, let’s start by exploring what cake flour really is.
Milled from wheat grown in winter, this type of flour is finer than other variants. If you look closely, you’ll find that the flour is much whiter than others too.
Let’s take a look at a few minute details as well…cake flour has lesser gluten percentage in comparison to other flours. It is because special soft wheat is used to mill cake flour. In order to get a better idea, let’s take the example of freshly baked bread. Munch on it and the chewiness of the bread is certainly satisfying, but would it be the same if it were a cake? When it comes to cake, what bakers strive to achieve is a melt in the mouth, light, spongy texture with a soft, fine crumb. To accomplish these exquisite results, cake flour is the answer! Try it once and you are sure to be awe-inspired at your finished cake.
Is cake flour only for cakes?
Just as the name suggests, cake flour is best used for cakes, but this doesn’t mean that it cannot be used in other recipes. Yes, you can use cake flour for all those delicate and airy bakes you’ve been wanting to try out. Cake flour can be used for muffins, quick bread, pancakes, waffles, biscuits, and scones.
That being said, it would be best to stick to 7 Star All-Purpose Flour when it comes to pie crusts, cookies, or any mix which requires the use of yeast.
Why not simply use All-Purpose Flour?
You can always use all-purpose flour instead of cake flour for your bakes. But if you are that baker who tends to meticulously focus on the details, you’ll find that cake flour works better for your cakes.
Prepare your cake mix with all-purpose flour and after it’s done baking, what you get is an open crumb on the top. This means you’ll have bigger air pockets inside the cake. You will also find that these cakes are chewier than the cakes made from a cake flour mixture.