Errrr, I accidentally bought some self-rising flour instead of standard, run of the mill flour.
- What in the heck is “self-rising flour”?
- Does anyone have any recipes that call for self-rising flour, so I can see if I can rid of this stuff?
Update: Aha. Well, with more judicious Googling than I had been doing, I found the following: “1 cup of self-rising flour contains 1 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. It can be used instead of all-purpose flour in a recipe by reducing the salt and baking powder according to these proportions.”
So to use self-rising flour in recipes asking for flour, baking powder, and salt will require math. Well, okay.
I take the lazy way out and just leave out the salt, baking powder, and baking soda any time I use self-rising flour. But probably to be precise, the math would be better.
In lieu of math (the horror!), you might be able to use British and European baking recipes, if such things are available online. For what reason I’m unsure, they use self-rising flour more than the US. I can remember both Jamie Oliver (the Naked Chef) and Nigella Lawson using it in their UK-produced shows. Other British baking oddities: double cream (a beautiful thing not to be found on these shores, at least I haven’t) and caster sugar (sort of like sugar in the raw, but not so chunky).
I’ve watched too many Food TV and PBS cooking shows in my life, clearly.
And upon thinking about cookbooks more, here’s a brief list of my must-have books:
– Marcella Hazan, The Classic Italian Cook Book, the Italian cooking of my childhood and the book I can’t look at on an empty stomach. It’s authentic and very good — her lasagna, a classic northern-style one with béchamel, is sinful and divine.
– Julia Child, Mastering the Art of French Cooking is just a classic. It’s authentic and there are many, many good things in it.
Both books are good teaching books; they’re written for cooks new to their respective cuisines and have a lot of useful information in the front matter.
– The Joy of Cooking has what feels like thousands of recipes, so it’s just a handy thing to have around.
Actually, I don’t mind the math. I was a Math Sciences major at Stanford. (Well, for all of a quarter, until I discovered there were people there who were very talented at math, as opposed to me, who’d been good at it without much effort. Turns out you need effort in college, dammit.)
I think we have double cream in our local supermarkets (Silicon Valley). I think Trader Joe’s might carry it too. Next time I’m in the store I’ll get the name.
I second the recommendation for Joy of Cooking — but if you’re looking, I’d make sure to get one of the older printings (the Irma Rombauer / Marion Rombauer Becker editions, ’64, ’72, ’75). Despite some of the quaint and bizarre recipes they still maintained from earlier editions (the ones that scream THE NINETEEN FIFTIES all over the place: “Golden Glow Gelatin Salad”, “Variety Meat Patties”), there are so many good basic techniques and recipes for the American kitchen that I find myself using my dog-eared and food-stained 25-year-old copy every week in my kitchen. Bon appetite!
hadn’t used self-rising flour in a long time, so I thought to check online for some recipes that would refresh my skill in it…
but your Q&A on it was enough…thanksomuch !
elle fagan
Wow! First time I googled and found exactly what I needed for measurements on the first try. Now I can actually bake something instead of searching the net and cookbooks for hours.
Thanks
Castor sugar, is not actually raw sugar, it is regular white sugar that has been run through more grinders or castors. So it is super fine sugar. You can get a similar effect by putting white sugar in a food processor and spinning it a while.
Also powdered sugar is called icing sugar in the U,K,.
Hope that helps.
Happy eating
i need a recipe for banana bread using self rising flour.
Well… I can’t believe what I am reading. There are actually people who do not know or appreciate how wonderful self rising flour can be! I love it! It has been my best friend for years! Ever since I was old enough to satnd on a chair in my Nana’s kitchen and lick the cake battered wooden spoon. Nana taught me that there was a short to practically anything. And that for some things there should never be a short cut. Now whenever we made pound cake we never used self rising flour but for basic cookie recipes, basic yellow and chocolate cakes or cupcakes, quick breads like “panny cakes” and banana nut bread, it was a staple in our kitchen. As far as the math Nana never worried with that extra measuring stuff. She alwys seemed to know just how much of everything to use in her recipes and she never wrote anything down. I learned that way…by watching her. As I got older I decided to record measurements for my daughter’s sake, who loves to bake but needs a guide to go by. I have some great cookie and bread recipes for those who are interested you can email me at caramelcherry@hotmail.com . Don’t worry they’re free and you don’t have to subscribe to anything. I’m just a nice lady who doesn’t mind sharing happy food!
I don’t know about lack of appreciation, but the whole reason I asked about this so many moons ago is that I’d never seen or heard of self-rising flour before I bought it. It’s not a standard ingredient in most recipes, and it’s not a standard flour on the shelves (at least, around here).
I have a recipe for biscuits that requires selfrising flour.They are yummy. 2 cups slf rising flour,6 tablespoons of mayo,1 cup warm milk.Combine all mix until lumpy,bake at 400 for 13 minutes.Enjoy!!!
U mean self-raising flour
@nide
Not in the U.S.A.
LOL!!! Self-raising flour is SO MUCH EASIER than ‘regular’ flour!!! It already has exactly the required amount of raising agent (bicarb/soda) to give a super result, without the risk of having that horrible Baking Soda taste you can get when someone’s put in much of it in say scones! yuck! It will make your recipes nicer and easier!
maybe in america! but self-raising flour in england certainly does NOT contain any salt!
My family cooks and bakes all the time. We use self rising flour for everything! As stated earlier, just exclude the salt and baking powder. We’ve never had a problem and always got our desired results. 🙂