Different Kinds of Flour…
All Purpose Flour- A blend of hard and soft wheat; which can be bleached or unbleached. All-Purpose Flour has 8% to 11% protein (gluten) . All-purpose flour is one of the most commonly used and readily accessible flour in the United States.
Cake Flour is a fine-textured, soft-wheat flour with a high starch content. It has the lowest protein content of any wheat flour. It is chlorinated (a bleaching process) which leaves the flour slightly acidic, sets a cake faster and distributes fat more evenly throughout the batter in order to improve texture. When you’re making baked goods with a high ratio of sugar to flour such as a cake, this flour will be better able to hold its rise and will be less liable to collapse. This flour is excellent for baking fine-textured cakes with greater volume and is used in some quick breads, muffins and cookies. If you cannot find cake flour, try substituting bleached all-purpose flour, but subtract 2 tablespoons of flour for each cup used in the recipe.
Self Rising Flour-
A low-protein flour with salt and baking powder that has already been added. It’s most often recommended for biscuits and some quick breads, but never for yeast breads.
You can make your own! For each cup of flour add 1 1/2 ts Baking Powder and 1/2 ts salt
Whole Wheat Flour – Whole wheat flour is made from the whole kernel of wheat and is higher in dietary fiber and overall nutrient content than white flour. It does not have as high a gluten level, so often it’s mixed with all-purpose or bread flour when making yeast breads.