Baking Basics What Flour To Use? How Should You Mix It? We Have The Answers

Here are some questions and answers about common baking problems and procedures.

Q. What is the difference between cake flour and regular flour?

A. All-purpose flour is a blend of hard and soft wheats and has a higher gluten content than cake flour. Cake flour, which is milled from a soft wheat, has a finer texture and a lower gluten content.

Gluten develops when the proteins in flour are mixed with liquid, and provides elasticity to a batter or dough. When making bread dough, the object is to fully develop the gluten in the flour to provide structure and character to the bread. Just the opposite is true with cake, muffin or quick-bread recipes where too much gluten will toughen the finished product.

Many cake recipes call for all-purpose flour, but those that suggest cake flour do so for a reason - a lighter, delicate texture. If you run out of cake flour, use all-purpose flour but substitute 2 tablespoons cornstarch for 2 tablespoons flour in every cup.

When substituting cake flour for all-purpose flour, use 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour for every cup of flour called for in the recipe.

Q. What kind of salt should be used in baking?

A. Common table salt is the preferred salt for baking, with one exception. If you are making focaccia or pretzels, you would substitute kosher or coarse salt, because the large grains tend to stick to the top of the dough rather than bake into it.

A bit of salt may seem unnecessary in a dessert recipe that is essentially sweet. But salt enhances flavors, particularly chocolate, and adds a slight counterpoint to sugar or other sweeteners.

Q. When directions call for mixing wet and dry ingredients just until moistened, should you still see clumps of flour? What happens if you mix the batter until it is perfectly smooth?

A. Instructions for muffins and quick breads often suggest mixing just until the dry ingredients are moistened. You should not see large clumps of flour in the batter. If so, gently mix until the flour is incorporated. If you beat or mix the batter too long, the result is a quick bread or muffin that will still have good flavor but will be tough or rubbery.

Q. Why do some recipes say grease only bottom of pan and not sides?

A. Pans for cakes such as angel food, sponge or chiffon are never greased. The batter needs a clean surface to cling to as the cake rises during baking. If the sides were greased, the batter/cake would fall. These cakes also are baked in a tube pan, which is made of two pieces. The tube and bottom portion lifts out of the edges of the pan. The baker can run a knife under the bottom of the cake to release it easily from the pan.

Other recipes that produce a light, airy batter sometimes call for greasing only the bottom of the pan for much the same reason. The batter must be able to cling to the side of the pan. When turned into conventional cake pans or muffin tins, the greased bottom helps to ensure that the finished product pops out of the pan in one piece.

Q. Are dark pans best for baking? Can I use glass pans?

A. Shiny, heavy aluminum or steel pans are best for baking. These dull metals absorb the heat evenly and well. Dark pans tend to overbrown and toughen the outer crust of baked goods. Glass pans can be used in baking, although oven temperature should be reduced by 25 degrees.

Q. What happens if the pan is too large or too small for the recipe?

A. If you try to put cake batter intended for a 9- by 13-inch pan into a 9-inch-square pan, you’ll end up with a cake that bakes and burns around the edges and a center that never bakes completely. The amount of batter simply overwhelms the pan.

If the pan is too large, the batter will bake evenly but more quickly, and the cake will look more like a pancake.

Q. Where should I place pans in the oven?

A. Probably the most even heat will be found in the center of the oven. Heat rises, so the top of the oven generally is the hottest. If you are trying to bake two cookie sheets at once, put one rack in the center and another in the next highest position. Make sure the pans are in the center of the rack to allow heat to circulate around them. Check the pans halfway through the baking time. If the cookies on the top rack are browning too quickly, reverse the two baking sheets.

Q. Why is it important to have butter at room temperature?

A. When making pie doughs, the butter should be well chilled. Cold butter will absorb less flour yet work in tandem with the flour to produce a flaky crust when baked.

For most cakes, cookies and other baked goods that begin with the method of creaming together the butter and sugar, the butter must be soft and pliable yet not runny. The butter coats air bubbles produced during creaming. These air bubbles contribute to the volume of the finished baked good.

Q. Why did my cookies spread while baking?

A. There are a few reasons. Make sure that baking sheets are cooled between batches. The dough may be too soft; try refrigerating it until firm, or add a tablespoon of flour to thicken the dough.

With so many butter and margarine products available, choosing the right one for baking is confusing. Products labeled light, low fat, reduced fat or fat free are not suitable for baking because they contain more water than fat.

Q. Should I bake with salted or unsalted butter?

A. Professional chefs prefer unsalted butter because they believe it is a fresher-tasting product. Either, however, can be used in baking.