December 16, 2016 - 7:25am
Why do some bread recipes include plain/cake flour?
Hi, does anyone have any idea why some bread recipes include the use of plain/cake flour instead of solely bread flour? How does that affect the texture? Doesnt an all bread flour recipe produce some better bread since bread flour forms essentially more gluten?
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The more gluten-the chewier the bread. The less gluten- the cake-ier, more crumbly, the texture. Think of it like a scale.
AP flour has plenty of gluten to make a very nice bread crumb but you must pay attention to hydrating and developing not only the gluten but also the starch in the flour. Cake flour is so low in gluten that baked product will always turn out more like muffin or cake texture.
If all bread flour is used, the loaf will have plenty of gluten which makes a heavier,chewier crumb-even though it can rise higher. I've often used the analogy of the gluten being a rubber netting and balloons being the bubbles of gas trapped. More netting can possibly trap more balloons but you reach a point with too much netting that weighs them down. Same idea in the crumb of a loaf of bread.
Try making the same recipe using different levels of gluten flour and it will become immediately apparent.
Have fun!
I just tried out a new recipe; one that has lots of whole grains as well as a good base of unbleached flour. The second iteration of this recipe was yummy but the crust was almost too chewy / thick, so for the third try I used a half and half blend of bread flour and AP flour for the unbleached portion. The crust is wonderful - crisp, shattery and easy to chew. So that's my experience. :)