What's the point of sifting flour?
What's the point of sifting flour?
Originally, the point of sifting flour used to be to remove lumps and the occasional insect, although modern flour is generally free of those concerns. If you don't buy pre-sifted flour, sifting can still be a good idea for a number of reasons.
First, it loosens up flour that has been sitting around in storage for a long time, aerating it and helping your baked goods to have a lighter texture. It's also a good idea to sift flour if you are combining it with other ingredients, such as salt, baking powder or soda, or cocoa powder, to give the mixture a homogeneous texture.
Flour can be sifted either with an old-fashioned sifter, or by shaking flour through a sieve. Dry ingredients can also be whisked together with a wire whisk in a pinch, which also helps lighten up the flour.
Nevertheless, some people think that sifting flour is a pain, and skip it altogether, claiming they don't notice the difference. Do you?
Recipe: Sour Cream Bundt Cake (VeganYumYum)
Recipe: Banana Hazelnut Upside-Down Cake (Hogwash)
Parchment paper is moisture- and grease-resistant heavy paper that's useful in the kitchen, whether you're making a pouch to cook something en papillote, lining a baking pan to prevent a cake or other preparation from sticking, in need of a pastry bag, or making a collar to line a soufflé dish.
Parchment is made by coating thick paper with silicone that allows it to resist heat and sticking, meaning that you don't have to use extra grease when baking. Unlike wax paper, parchment paper is durable and will not burn.
Yerba mate is the green tea of South America.
A grassy tasting infusion made from the dried leaves (and sometimes twigs) of the yerba mate plant, it has less caffeine than coffee but is easier on the stomach. Devotees swear by it for creating alertness without the jittery effects of coffee.
In South America, yerba mate is traditionally sweetened with sugar substitute stevia and drunk from decorated gourd cups with a straw.
what you should know
Unsalted butter is always equally unsalted, but salted butter is never quite salted the same.
The NaCl uncertainty is the main reason we prefer to use unsalted butter when we cook. Often that salt can subdue the sweet flavor of butter. (Unsalted butter is often labeled as "sweet butter.")
salt conversion In most recipes, the little extra salt will go unnoticed. Still, as a general rule if a recipe calls for unsalted butter but all you've got is salted butter, cut 1/4 teaspoon of salt per stick of butter (1/2 cup) you use.
stick it up Salt acts as a preservative for butter. Tightly wrapped in foil and stored in the fridge, salted butter can last for five months, while unsalted butter lasts about three before going stale. (Spot stale butter by slicing into the stick; the outside will be darker than the inside.) Then again, many people don't store butter in the fridge to begin with.
cooking with butter Sometimes, when you want a nuttier flavor, you'll want to let the butter's foam subside. But butter has a low smoke point, so be careful using it as your cooking fat. It'll burn easily. Clarified butter, or ghee, has a higher smoke point (and also makes a tasty dipping sauce for crab, lobster and anything else).
roux-dimentary Butter forms the foundation for countless classic sauces and thickeners, including béchamel, beurre manié and roux.
what you need
Have you ever wanted to make fresh butter at home? This traditional butter churn is based on the famous Dazey churn from the early 20th century.
You can also make a small batch of butter by putting cream in a jar and shaking it for a long, long time until you've shaken it solid.
The water-cooled crock owners we know swear by the constant supply of creamy, spreadable butter they keep on their tables.
Other butter lovers who shun the refrigerator prefer the classic rectangular butter dish.
what you do
Sage and butter are absolutely delicious together. How delicious? Try this rich and pillowy tortellini with sage brown butter and parmesan to find out.
Steamy Kitchen likes to top her slow butter- braised asparagus with parmesan and sea salt. With that savory finale, you definitely don't need salted butter.
Drizzling roasted sweet potatoes with cilantro-lime butter gives them a burst of tart richness.
Salted butter might interfere with the complex sugar-spice interaction in these orange-scented popovers with cinnamon-orange honey.
These better-for-you whole-grain flapjacks from hogwash are made with quinoa, millet and flaxseed. After using butter to grease the pan, you can afford to use a little extra on the cakes themselves.
Coconut & Lime's worked out one of the fastest and tastiest cinnamon bun recipes out there.
Brown sugar is nothing more than white sugar (which is highly refined and made from cane or beets) that has been mixed with molasses to color it and give it a more moist texture. Light brown sugar has less molasses than dark brown sugar.
Brown sugar should not be confused with raw sugar, that has a similar color and taste but is actually the residue from processed sugarcane.
what you should know
What makes brown sugar brown? Molasses. That's what.
While raw sugar (like demarara or turbinado) comes by its golden color naturally, brown sugar is refined white sugar tarted up with a bit of molasses. (Dark brown sugar has more molasses than light).
pour some sugar The water in molasses adds moisture to brown sugar that makes it ideal for baked goods, giving them a crumbly texture and a deeper flavor than ordinary white sugar does.
keep it tight Be sure to store your brown sugar in a tightly sealed container to keep it soft and pliant.
dirty sugar Domino sugar launched a smear campaign against brown sugar at the end of the 1800s, replete with nasty photographs of benign microbes living in brown sugar.
sticky fingers Sugar formed one leg of history's most notorious triangle trade route, one of many taboo subjects that might have inspired Sir Lips when he sat down and wrote, "Gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields..."
what you need
Try this classic for some good, old-school ideas about how to use brown sugar.
Use these stainless steel measuring cups to dole out the sweet stuff.
Along with a song, brown sugar has inspired a movie and an album.
Winter's coming and with it hard times: stock up on this steel-cut oatmeal. Top it with brown sugar and raisins to make a wholesome and warming breakfast.
what you do
For a sweet but stimulating breakfast, try these carrot and ginger muffins.
Scandinavian gravlax gets an American twist with a brown sugar cure.
Dark brown sugar and red wine vinegar give this brisket its rich, balanced flavor.
Spicy squash would make a fine addition to the Thanksgiving (or any) table.
We always look forward to making these crispy spice cookies around the holidays.
Simultaneously rustic and elegant, black plum tarte tatin makes the most of brown sugar's caramel quality.
Featured: A deliciously autumnal recipe for Apple Almond Upside-Down Cake from Wine Imbiber won this week's Root Source Challenge. Congratulations, Rich and Leah!
Find more brown sugar recipes at Cookthink.com. And if you haven't yet signed up for a free account at Cookthink, do it now!
