CLASSIFICATION OF FLOUR

WHITE FLOUR is the finely ground endosperm of the wheat kernel.

ALL-PURPOSE flour is white flour milled from hard wheats or a blend of hard and soft
wheats. It gives the best results for many kinds of products, including some yeast
breads, quick breads, cakes, cookies, pastries and noodles. All-purpose flour is usually
enriched and may be bleached or unbleached. Bleaching will not affect nutrient value.
Different brands will vary in performance. Protein varies from 8 to 11 percent.
BREAD FLOUR is white flour that is a blend of hard, high-protein wheats and has
greater gluten strength and protein content than all-purpose flour. Unbleached and in
some cases conditioned with ascorbic acid, bread flour is milled primarily for
commercial bakers, but is available at most grocery stores. Protein varies from 12 to 14
percent.
CAKE FLOUR is fine-textured, silky flour milled from soft wheats with low protein
content. It is used to make cakes, cookies, crackers, quick breads and some types of
pastry. Cake flour has a greater percentage of starch and less protein, which keeps
cakes and pastries tender and delicate. Protein varies from 7 to 9 percent.
SELF-RISING FLOUR, also referred to as phosphated flour, is a convenience product
made be adding salt and leavening to all-purpose flour. It is commonly used in biscuits
and quick breads, but is not recommended for yeast breads. One cup of self-rising flour
contains 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Self-rising can be
substituted for all-purpose flour by reducing salt and baking powder according to these
proportions.
PASTRY FLOUR has properties intermediate between those of all-purpose and cake
flours. It is usually milled from soft wheat for pastry-making, but can be used for
cookies, cakes, crackers and similar products. It differs from hard wheat flour in that it
has a finer texture and lighter consistency. Protein varies from 8 to 9 percent.
SEMOLINA is the coarsely ground endosperm of durum, a hard spring wheat with a
high-gluten content and golden color. It is hard, granular and resembles sugar.
Semolina is usually enriched and is used to make couscous and pasta products such as
spaghetti, vermicelli, macaroni and lasagna noodles. Except for some specialty
products, breads are seldom made with semolina.
DURUM FLOUR is finely ground semolina. It is usually enriched and used to make
noodles.
WHOLE WHEAT, stone-ground and graham flour can be used interchangeably;
nutrient values differ minimally. Either grinding the whole-wheat kernel or recombining
the white flour, germ and bran that have been separated during milling produces them.
Their only differences may be in coarseness and protein content. Insoluble fiber content
is higher than in white flours.

 GLUTEN FLOUR is usually milled from spring wheat and has a high protein (40-45
percent), low-starch content. It is used primarily for diabetic breads, or mixed with other
non-wheat or low-protein wheat flours to produce a stronger dough structure. Gluten
flour improves baking quality and produces high-protein gluten bread.

KINDS OF SUGAR

WHITE SUGAR

Regular or white sugar, extra fine or fine sugar

Regular or white sugar, as it is known to consumers, is the sugar found in every
homes sugar bowl, and most commonly used in home food preparation. White
sugar is the sugar called for in most cookbook recipes. The food industry
stipulates regular sugar to be extra fine or fine because small crystals are
ideal for bulk handling and not susceptible to caking.

Fruit Sugar
Fruit sugar is slightly finer than regular sugar and is used in dry mixes such as
gelatin and pudding desserts, and powdered drinks. Fruit sugar has a more
uniform small crystal size than regular sugar. The uniformity of crystal size
prevents separation or settling of larger crystals to the bottom of the box, an
important quality in dry mixes.

Bakers Special Sugar

The crystal size of Bakers Special is even finer than that of fruit sugar. As its
name suggests, it was developed specially for the baking industry. Bakers
Special is used for sugaring doughnuts and cookies, as well as in some
commercial cake recipes to create a fine crumb texture.

Superfine, ultrafine, or bar sugar

This sugars crystal size is the finest of all the types of granulated white sugar. It
is ideal for delicately textured cakes and meringues, as well as for sweetening
fruits and iced-drinks since it dissolves easily. In England, a sugar very similar to
superfine sugar is known as caster or castor, named after the type of shaker in
which it is often packaged.

Confectioners or powdered sugar

This sugar is granulated sugar ground to a smooth powder and then sifted. It
contains about 3% cornstarch to prevent caking. Powdered sugar is ground into
three different degrees of fineness. The confectioners sugar available in
supermarkets 10X is the finest of the three and is used in icings, confections
and whipping cream. The other two types of powdered sugar are used by
industrial bakers.

Coarse sugar
As its name implies, the crystal size of coarse sugar is larger than that of
regular sugar. Coarse sugar is recovered when molasses-rich, sugar syrups
high in sucrose are allowed to crystallize. The large crystal size of coarse sugar
makes it highly resistant to color change or inversion (natural breakdown to
fructose and glucose) at cooking and baking temperatures. These characteristics
are important in making fondants, confections and liquors.

Sanding sugar
Another large crystal sugar, sanding sugar, is used mainly in the baking and
confectionery industries as a sprinkle on top of baked goods. The large crystals
reflect light and give the product a sparkling appearance.

BROWN SUGAR
Turbinado sugar
This sugar is raw sugar which has been partially processed, where only the
surface molasses has been washed off. It has a blond color and mild brown
sugar flavor, and is often used in tea and other beverages.

Evaporated Cane Juice

Evaporated Cane Juice is the common name for the food-grade cane based
sweetener produced directly from milled cane using a single-crystallization
process. The filtered, clarified juice is evaporated into syrup, crystallized and
cured. This free flowing sweetener has a light golden color and retains a hint of
molasses flavor because there is no further processing.

Brown sugar (light and dark)

Brown sugar retains some of the surface molasses syrup, which imparts a
characteristic pleasurable flavor. Dark brown sugar has a deeper color and
stronger molasses flavor than light brown sugar. Lighter types are generally used
in baking and making butterscotch, condiments and glazes. The rich, full flavor of
dark brown sugar makes it good for gingerbread, mincemeat, baked beans, and
other full flavored foods.

Muscovado or Barbados sugar

Muscovado sugar, a British specialty brown sugar, is very dark brown and has a
particularly strong molasses flavor. The crystals are slightly coarser and stickier
in texture than regular brown sugar.

Free-flowing brown sugars

These sugars are specialty products produced by a co-crystallization process.
The process yields fine, powder-like brown sugar that is less moist than regular
brown sugar. Since it is less moist, it does not clump and is free-flowing like white
sugar.

Demerara sugar
Popular in England, Demerara sugar is a light brown sugar with large golden
crystals, which are slightly sticky from the adhering molasses. It is often used in
tea, coffee, or on top of hot cereals.

LIQUID SUGAR
Liquid sugars
There are several types of liquid sugar. Liquid sugar (sucrose) is white
granulated sugar that has been dissolved in water before it is used. Liquid sugar
is ideal for products whose recipes first require sugar to be dissolved. Amber
liquid sugar is darker in color and can be used in foods where brown color is
desired.

Invert sugar
Sucrose can be split into its two component sugars (glucose and fructose). This
process is called inversion, and the product is called invert sugar. Commercial
invert sugar is a liquid product that contains equal amounts of glucose and
fructose. Because fructose is sweeter than either glucose or sucrose, invert
sugar is sweeter than white sugar.

KINDS OF LEAVENING AGENTS OR LEAVENERS

CHEMICAL LEAVENERS-- these are substances which when react to moisture

or heat can produce gases -- the carbon dioxide gas -- they are used in
quickbread as well as cakes and cookies. it is for immediate use unlike biological
leaveners which used fermentation and take longer time. This usually combines
the base chemicals and acid.

BIOLOGOCAL LEAVENERS -- are usually this process is longer than chemical

leaveners as it used fermentation like the yeast --- it alters the biological
chemistry of the batter or dough while the yeast is at work.

MECHANICAL LEAVENERS-- are what it is you used your hand by mixing

leavening agents like whisking cream, egg whites or when you do creaming -mixing butter with sugar. According to wikipedia usually this process "integrates
tiny air bubbles into the mixture, since the sugar crystals physically cut through

the structure of the fat. Creamed mixtures are usually further leavened by a
chemical leavener and is often used in cookies