Basic Pastry Making-Flour

Baking and pastry is a pretty technically specific piece of the culinary pie. Having said that, I truly believe that, armed with the science and techniques behind the recipes, anyone can learn to bake wonderful cakes, cookies and pastries.

In baking, it's best to really know your ingredients and how they function in a final product. Wheat flour is generally the most abundant component in any baked good, so let's start there.

There are generally two types of wheat flours, those made from hard wheat, and those made from soft wheat. The terms "hard" and "soft" designate protein content. High protein flours are milled from hard wheat, and low protein flours are milled from soft wheat.

Let's hold up just a second. Protein, schmotein--what am I even talking about?! Well, the main protein of concern to bakers is gluten. Gluten is formed when two other proteins, gliadin and glutenin are agitated with water. Gluten a rubbery, stretchy protein that can form a web within a dough that can trap air bubbles--that's what makes bread rise. The higher the protein content of the flour, the more gluten it can produce when mixed with water, and the tougher and chewier the end product.

Now that you know about the protein in flour, let's get back to our discussion.

Flours made from hard wheat, and thus higher in protein, are best used in breads. Flours made from soft wheat are lower in protein and are best used in making products that need to be tender, such as cookies, cakes and pie crusts.

Here are the wheat flours that you are most likely to see on the shelves of your grocery store:

Bread flour: made from hard wheat
Cake flour: made from soft wheat
All purpose flour: made from a blend of the two

Source: Notes & picture from Google