baking from scratch questions (angel food and breads in specific)

[bethie_alane]

Okay, first off, I made angel food cake from scratch for our bar-be-que Sat. Came out quite tasty althought it didn't rise as much as it should of, perhaps only 1/2 way. Everyone still ate it but I don't know what went wrong. I used "cake flour" by Swann since the recipe specified cake flour although others I ran across said I could use regular flour. Anyone have any suggestion on how I could make it rise much more???? Also, I baked at 325 for 25 min and the top got kinda burnt, bummer, our oven is sooo weird with baked goods. Do you think if I lowered the temp and baked longer that would help???


Second question, there are soooo many types of flour! Like self-rising vs. regular and stuff like that. What are you supposed to use for muffins and breads. I bought a small pack of self-rising flour yesterday for some muffins. Reading the ingredients on different tpes of flours, and they all seemed the same to me. What flour do you use most often and can be used for muffins and breads from scratch??????

Also, if you buy self-rising flour and you are gonna make bread from scratch, do you still need to add that active yeast packet???????

Thanks for any advise, it will be much welcomed!!!!!!!

[lovemydogs]

Bethie, I can't answer all your questions, but I'll tell you what I do for flour. If I'm making biscuits, cornbread, waffles, etc. I always use self-rising flour and leave out the baking powder, etc. For my bread machine I use bread flour or whole wheat flour because I don't think you need to use self-rising flour with yeast. For a made-from-scratch cake, I usually try to use the Swan's cake flour (you do know that you have to adjust the amount when you use this, right?). If I were you, I would buy an oven thermometer (not very expensive to purchase). I did this when I was first married and we moved often (husband in construction). Wherever I went, I could test the oven and then know how to make adjustments accordingly. I have never made an angel food cake, but I'll bet your oven is the problem. Hope this helped!! Basically I think most "quick" breads that do not use yeast can be made with self-rising flour just fine.!

[hootieman]

I have forgotten the adjustment level but you dont use the same amounts for regular and cake flour when baking some goods. Also, like doglover said, your oven is way off. Buy an oven thermometer and check it. I had to do this. My oven was off and it fried all baked goods. They would rise really high and then fall like a brick.

[doglover22]

The problem with your angel food cake was probably with the egg whites. Did you make sure that you whipped them into soft peaks? Also, were you careful not to deflate the whites when adding the dry ingredients?

[bethie_alane]

Originally posted by doglover22
The problem with your angel food cake was probably with the egg whites. Did you make sure that you whipped them into soft peaks? Also, were you careful not to deflate the whites when adding the dry ingredients?

yes, i was extremely good at separating the whites from the yolks..... i whipped em good and the whites did not deflate when i folded in the flour/sugar stuff......

perhaps i did not whip them well enough to get stiff peaks????? who knows.... everyone ate it though!

[bethie_alane]

Originally posted by lovemydogs
Bethie, I can't answer all your questions, but I'll tell you what I do for flour. If I'm making biscuits, cornbread, waffles, etc. I always use self-rising flour and leave out the baking powder, etc. For my bread machine I use bread flour or whole wheat flour because I don't think you need to use self-rising flour with yeast. For a made-from-scratch cake, I usually try to use the Swan's cake flour (you do know that you have to adjust the amount when you use this, right?). If I were you, I would buy an oven thermometer (not very expensive to purchase). I did this when I was first married and we moved often (husband in construction). Wherever I went, I could test the oven and then know how to make adjustments accordingly. I have never made an angel food cake, but I'll bet your oven is the problem. Hope this helped!! Basically I think most "quick" breads that do not use yeast can be made with self-rising flour just fine.!

okay, so i just made muffins, they came out yum, i used self-rising flour but put the baking powder in anyway, they didn't rise extra but they were good!

swan's cake flour, yesh, that's what i bought to make the angel food cake, the recipe i found online said use either 1 1/4 cup cake flour or just 1 cup regular flour... what is the cake flour to flour conversion??????
coud i of used cake flour for muffins too? i used self-rising flour and they came out great

also, if i'm gonna make bread, do i buy regular non self-rising flour and then add the active yeast like the recipe directs??

if the recipe does not call for active yeast, do you buy self-rising flour????

any tips would be appreciated!!!!

[bethie_alane]

Originally posted by hootieman
I have forgotten the adjustment level but you dont use the same amounts for regular and cake flour when baking some goods. Also, like doglover said, your oven is way off. Buy an oven thermometer and check it. I had to do this. My oven was off and it fried all baked goods. They would rise really high and then fall like a brick.

but what is soooo odd about my oven is that it cooks meats, chickens, & lasagnas perfectly and for the exact time a recipe calls for! it's baked goods that messes it all up, my muffins only took less than 15 minutes to bake and the recipe said 20 - 25 min! do you still think i should get an oven thermometer cuz it cooks everything else fine....

[lovemydogs]

"swan's cake flour, yesh, that's what i bought to make the angel food cake, the recipe i found online said use either 1 1/4 cup cake flour or just 1 cup regular flour... what is the cake flour to flour conversion??????
coud i of used cake flour for muffins too? i used self-rising flour and they came out great"

That is the correct adjustment for the cake flour. I would still use the self-rising flour for the muffins, but leave out the baking powder. When you make yeast bread, don't use self-rising flour. Use either bread flour or All purpose flour.

[bethie_alane]

Originally posted by lovemydogs
"swan's cake flour, yesh, that's what i bought to make the angel food cake, the recipe i found online said use either 1 1/4 cup cake flour or just 1 cup regular flour... what is the cake flour to flour conversion??????
coud i of used cake flour for muffins too? i used self-rising flour and they came out great"

That is the correct adjustment for the cake flour. I would still use the self-rising flour for the muffins, but leave out the baking powder. When you make yeast bread, don't use self-rising flour. Use either bread flour or All purpose flour.

okay, i'm dumb and new to baking from scratch, it's fun though.... when you say "yeast bread" do you just mean bread recipes that call for a packet of active yeast???

[lovemydogs]

Originally posted by bethie_alane


okay, i'm dumb and new to baking from scratch, it's fun though.... when you say "yeast bread" do you just mean bread recipes that call for a packet of active yeast???

Honey, you're not dumb!!! Don't talk about yourself like that!! Yes, I mean recipes that call for yeast and have to rise. You don't want to use self-rising flour for these because they won't turn out right!

[hootieman]

Dont ever call yourself dumb! Too many of us walk around everyday with low self-esteem because of what we were called.
I used to make lots of bread by hand. If using a bread machine you will probably want to use bread flour. I liked to do it by hand and used regular flour. It always turned out wonderful. It's relaxing to push and knead the dough. Also, you dont have to wash the bread machine yeah! I used things that were dishwasher safe so cleanup was easy.
I think your oven is too hot. If it only took 15 minutes for the muffins, it is off. Get the thermometer. Mine did other things great but messed up baked goods. Oven was off. Corrected it and they did just fine. Also, certain types of pans stink at baking cakes. They claim they are made for them but they stink. Makes it fall every time.