PrintWhen a baking recipe asks for xx cups of 'sifted flour',
do they mean that you measure the prescribed amount and then sift. Or sift and then measure to meet the amount? I'm making a birthday cake and don't want it to be too dry...
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8 Comments:
If it says "1 cup sifted flour," then it means that you should sift the flour directly into the measuring cup (do this over a piece of parchment paper so that you can pour the excess flour back into the container).
If it says "1 cup flour, sifted," then it means that you should sift the flour after you measure it.
Cooks Illustrated has a nice tipsheet: http://pie.cooksillustrated.com/images/document/howto/SO01_ISMeasuring101.pdf
charm city cupcake at 8:42PM on 10/14/07
I was about to write the same thing -- Suffice it to say that I second charm city cupcake's answer :-)
I'll just add that it is always helpful to know how a cookbook author measures their flour to ensure success. For instance, Cook's Illustrated (and many others) use the "dip and sweep" method. They calibrate 1 cup of flour to weigh 5 oz. Others use the "spoon and sweep" method, producing a cup of flour that weighs closer to 4 oz. The "sift and sweep" method produces the lightest cup of flour, usually about 3.5 oz.
For these reasons, I love recipes that actually tell you the weight of the flour (and other ingredients). I find it easier and faster to prep ingredients that way -- not to mention that baking by weight is the only way to reliably reproducing the final product time and time again.
By the way, when I am testing a recipe that doesn't mention how the author measured their flour, I assume 4.5 oz per cup. It usually works out just fine that way.
Dominic
the zen kitchen
dvchurch at 10:24PM on 10/14/07
Thanks for the tips, Dominic. I like the Fine Cooking recipes for this very reason. They always measure with weight.
eatdrinkandbemerry at 11:29PM on 10/14/07
I totally agree with everyone's comments. Sifting adds air to your measure. Also, when I was in a baking class we did experiments taking a cup scoop directly into a container of flour, and then using a smaller scoop to pour into the cup scoop. By putting the cup scoop directly into the flour, we ended up with almost one extra cup of flour( we were measuring for 6 cups) By using a smaller measure to pour into the larger one, more air is incorporated. These measuring methods make the difference between success and failure.
Mich23 at 7:28AM on 10/15/07
I'm finding more and more reasons to measure by weight vs. volume. Having lived in both Colorado (NO humidity) and Florida (TONS of humidity) I know how the weights of dry ingredients can vary.
chiff0nade at 9:54AM on 10/15/07
This is a good time to point out that when you're dealing with an actual cookook (as opposed to an on-line recipe), reading the front of the book, where an author talks about ingredients and techniques, is a significant help, especially with baking, which is so much more precise than other cooking. The author may say things like "All the recipes in this book assume that you're using unbleached flour" or use kosher salt, or use non-stick pans--that sort of thing. Nice to know in advance, and one of the reasons that some of us read cookbooks like novels.
lemons at 10:06AM on 10/15/07
lemons -- I totally agree about reading those important notes. Failing to realize that a recipe calls for kosher instead of table salt can be disastrous. I still find, however, that most cookbooks don't tell you by which method they measured flour for baking (or even better, their calibration for a cup of flour). That's why I assume the 4.5 oz unless told otherwise.
dvchurch at 10:56AM on 10/15/07
You guys are good- thank you so much. That CI guide is great! Wish me luck!
shaofan at 4:45PM on 10/15/07