Flour measurements can be one of the biggest variables when it comes to making the perfect bread or cake. In fact, really serious bakers prefer weighing their ingredients using a digital scale, because it is the most accurate method.
However…..as a mom of 5, I just never took the time to do that, but I do agree that it is important to know how to measure flour and do so consistently so that your bread or cake will turn out just as the recipe intended!
Here is the general quick rule:
To measure the flour, always use dry measuring cups and do NOT pack the flour!
Your dry cup should be filled so that the flour stays light and fluffy, then use a knife (or your index finger, straight across to go faster!) to level the flour across the measuring cup to get rid of excess on top, so that the flour is flush with the rim.
Here is what I mean by dry measuring cups (good for flour and sugar and such), as opposed to liquid measuring cups, which, as the name implies (!) is for liquid ingredients (oil, flour, wine etc):
Lyne says
June 26, 2015 at 11:23 pmHi Catherine, for me, the use of a digital scale, save me a lot of time as I reset (tarer) the scale after each ingredient. At the end, I’ve just two bols to wash, the one for dry and the other for wet ingredients. Unfortunately, it is really rare to find recipes with the weight of ingredients.
Catherine Katz says
July 19, 2015 at 8:19 amI understand what you mean Lyne and in fact I have a follower who is a nutritionist specializing in doing just that and she has been so generous as to start “translating” some of of my recipes with the weight of ingredients. I will post her great work very soon.
Lyne says
August 9, 2015 at 10:36 pmWhat a precious help!
Glad says
January 29, 2015 at 1:30 pmSmile
I am looking for an alternate way to make tea biscuits. Right now I use 4 teaspoons of baking power in 3 cus of flour is there. A substitute for baking powder
Any hep or suggestions would be helpful
Thanks
Glad
Catherine Katz says
January 30, 2015 at 5:40 pmHi Glad, I would love to help you but I need the recipe first to try and “play” with it to upgrade it. So if you send it to me, I’ll see what I can do!