Flour?

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Can anyone tell me what all purpose flour is please. I seen to think logically that it's plain. But it was in among all the self raising flours, so now I'm confused.

Help?

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Its plain.

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Oh thankyou ;D ;D. Thats great....off to bake :D ;)

[Jeannine]

Actually it is plain but...  it is a US term for plain flour  but it is it is not exactly the same as UK plain flour. It is in so much as it has no leavening in it eg baking powder, but it does have a slightly higher hard wheat content than UK flour which makes it a slightly stronger flour in terms of gluten content. It can make a cake a bit heavier, (the US purist uses cake flour for perfect results)and it makes a better bread than UK plain flour..however having said that for most baking needs you can substitute one for the other with little difference.If I want to make a  sponge  and I really want it light I don't use it but I would use UK plain flour.

You need to add leavening agents to make it like SR flour.as you would with UK plain too.It is the most used flour over here, I use it for most things. Don't like it for Yorkshire puds.

XX Jeannine

[Melbourne12]

This is quite a good summary of different flours: http://www.foodreference.com/html/a-flour-types-1008.html

For those in the UK, you can find out about individual brands of flour and where to buy them here: http://www.fabflour.co.uk/content/1/225/the-best-flour-for-the-job.html and click on "Flours for home baking" to download a list.

Although I'm picky about bread flours, and aware of specialist pasta and chapati flours, I've only recently begun to find out that there's a difference between cake flour and pastry flour.  Also, apparently cake flour should be bleached to give the best results. Fascinating stuff (well, it is if you're a cookery geek like me  ;D )