Flour is the ingredient on which most baked products are based. Flour is made up of starch, protein, sugar and minerals. The protein content decides what the end use of the flour will be

Nine type of flour :

ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR

      All-purpose flour is one of the most commonly used types of flour, according to What’s Cooking America. Berkeley Wellness notes this variety is made from a blend of hard and soft wheat. That gives it a middle-of-the-road protein and starch content.

        The Kitchn explains protein content directly influences how much gluten can be formed with a particular flour. Flours with low protein contents generate less gluten. Flours with high protein content generate more. And gluten determines the structure and texture of a baked good. All-purpose has a 10% to 12% protein content. Bread flour has more, at about 14% to 16%. But pastry flours (9%) and cake flours (7% to 8%) have less. SF Gate reports that almost 95% of the white flour sold in the United States is enriched with iron and B vitamins, including thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, and folic acid.

BREAD FLOUR

        According to Berkeley Wellness, bread flour is made entirely from hard wheat. The larger amount of gluten generated by this higher-protein flour helps bread rise higher. That’s because the gluten traps and holds air bubbles as you mix and knead the dough.

       According to What’s Cooking America, bread flour is the best choice for yeasted baking products, such as bread (hence its name). So what should you do if your recipe calls for this variety, and you don’t have it on hand? The Kitchn notes you can “bump up a flour’s protein content” and increase its gluten-producing potential by adding a few tablespoons of vital wheat gluten to plain old all-purpose.

CAKE FLOUR

        Cake flour is very finely milled from soft wheat, according to the Huffington Post. That gives it an almost silky feel. As The Kitchn pointed out, this variety has a low protein content. It’s also bleached. (Flours that bleach naturally as they age get the label “unbleached.” But chemically treated flours are “bleached.”)

         The bleaching process alters the structure of cake flour’s starches and fats, resulting in a more acidic pH. The acidity actually helps cakes — and other baked goods with a large amount of sugar — rise instead of collapsing. Meanwhile, the low protein content ensures a tender and fluffy texture.

Bon Appétit reports that cake flour is great for, well, cakes. But you should avoid it if you’re baking bread. If you need cake flour and don’t have it on hand, The Kitchn recommends adding 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to a cup of all-purpose.

PASTRY FLOUR

           Pastry flour is made from soft wheat, which makes it finer than all-purpose flour. Its protein content places it between all-purpose and cake flours. Food.com notes this variety is ideal for tart crusts, pie dough, muffins, and some cookie batters. What’s Cooking America recommends it if you’re trying to achieve a “tender but crumbly pastry.”

WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR

          According to The Huffington Post, you make whole wheat flour by grinding entire kernels of red wheat. Bon Appétit explains that a wheat seed head has three portions: the germ, bran, and endosperm. White flour includes just the endosperm, not the bran and germ. But the bran and germ contain the bulk of the fiber and protein.

WHITE WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR

           White whole wheat flour sounds like an oxymoron. But this variety contains the endosperm, germ, and bran of a paler variety of wheat, called hard white wheat, according to Bon Appétit. It tastes slightly sweeter than traditional whole wheat, thanks to its lower tannin content.

           Despite the difference in look and taste, whole wheat and white whole wheat flours have the same nutritional value. For that reason, The Huffington Post recommends using this variety blended with all-purpose “to achieve heartier and healthier results” than if you used all-purpose flour on its own. Not convinced yet? The Mayo Clinic explains, “If you prefer the taste and texture of white bread but want the natural nutritional benefits of whole wheat, choose white whole-wheat bread.”

OAT FLOUR

           Oat flour doesn’t come from wheat. Instead, it’s made from ground oats. Bon Appétit reports that oat flour has a superfine, even fluffy texture. And its sweet flavor makes it “one of the most approachable ‘whole grain’ flavors.”

          Oat flour is gluten-free and therefore perfect for people on a gluten-free diet. However, Livestrong notes this variety can leave your baked goods heavy or crumbly. So you might need to add more liquid or rising ingredients to your recipe. (Or, if you aren’t gluten-free, Bon Appétit recommends using oat flour in conjunction with a high-gluten variety, such as bread flour.)

SELF-RISING FLOUR 

            Not sure whether you need self-rising flour, or wondering what’s in it? We can help. This variety is a blend of all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt, according to The Kitchn. And yes, you can definitely make it in your kitchen. Mix 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1½ teaspoons of baking powder and ¼ teaspoon fine salt.

            Recipes for breads, biscuits, and pancakes often call for it. Sometimes, you’ll also see it in cake and cupcake recipes. However, you shouldn’t use it in yeast breads. And unless you’re really in a pinch, you shouldn’t use it in place of all-purpose. If you did, you would need to reduce the amount of salt and baking powder in the recipe.

SEMOLINA

         Semolina, which you might run across in recipes for pasta and Italian puddings, is made from the coarsely ground endosperm of durum wheat. What’s Cooking America notes durum wheat is the hardest type of wheat. Interestingly enough, semolina has the highest gluten content of all flours.

           The Kitchn reports you might see semolina flour labeled as 00 flour, a finely ground pasta flour that has a mid-range protein content of about 11% to 12%. The gluten from durum wheat flour tends to be strong but not very elastic. In contrast, the gluten in flours made from red wheat is both strong and elastic.

        The Kitchn says semolina gives “a nice bite” to breads and pasta — “but not as much chew.” However, Bon Appétit reports that 00 flour is too fine to make a good bread.

4. Sugar

         Sugar gives cakes and other baked products sweetness and is used in many forms and many ways. In yeast raised products, sugar acts as food for the yeast. In cakes, sugar assists with the aeration and stabilising of batters. Sugars improve the crust colour of baked products, improve flavour and help to retain moisture, keeping products softer for longer and so reducing staling. Examples of sugar forms are granulated sugar, castor sugar and icing sugar. Sugar also comes in liquid forms such as syrup, treacle, corn syrup, honey and caramel. Sugar is a carbohydrate that is present naturally in fruits and vegetables. All plants use a natural process called photosynthesis to turn sunlight into the nourishment they need for growth.

            Of all known plants, sugar is most highly concentrated in sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) and sugar beets (Beta vulgaris). Sugar is simply separated from the beet or cane plant, and the result is 99.95% pure sucrose (sugar). The sucrose from sugar beets and sugar cane is not only identical to one another, but each is the same as the sucrose present in fruits and vegetables. Minor commercial sugar crops include the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), sorghum (Sorghum vulgare), and the sugar maple (Acer saccharum). 

            Yeast is the common name for the strains of yeast commonly used as a leavening agent in baking bread and bakery products, where it converts the fermentable sugars present in the dough into carbon dioxide and ethanol. Baker's yeast is of the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is the same species (but a different strain) commonly used in alcoholic fermentation, which is called brewer's yeast. Baker's yeast is also a single-cell microorganism found on and around the human body.

           The use of steamed or boiled potatoes, water from potato boiling, or sugar in a bread dough provides food for the growth of yeasts; however, too much sugar will dehydrate them. Yeast growth is inhibited by both salt and sugar, but more so with salt than sugar. Fats, such as butter or eggs, slow down yeast growth; however, others say the effect of fat on dough remains unclear, presenting evidence that small amounts of fat are beneficial for baked bread volume.

        Whipped cream is an aerated colloid produced when air is incorporated into cream containing at least 35% fat. During whipping, partially coalesced fat molecules create a stabilized network which traps air bubbles. The resulting colloid is roughly double the volume of the original cream. If, however, the whipping is continued, the fat droplets will stick together destroying the colloid and forming butter. Lower-fat cream (or milk) does not whip well, while higher-fat cream produces a more stable foam.

       Cream is usually whipped with a whisk, an electric or hand mixer, or a food processor. Results are best when the equipment and ingredients are cold. Whipped cream is often flavored with sugar, vanilla, coffee, chocolate, orange, and so on. Many 19th-century recipes recommend adding gum tragacanth to stabilize whipped cream; a few include whipped egg whites. Various other substances, including gelatinand diphosphate (E450), are used in commercial stabilizers.

        Whipped cream may also be made in a whipping siphon, typically using nitrous oxide as the gas, as carbon dioxide tends to give a sour taste. The siphon may have replaceable cartridges or be sold as a pre-pressurized retail package. The gas dissolves in the butterfat under pressure, and when the pressure is released, produces bubbles and thus whipped cream.

       Whipped cream or crème Chantilly is a popular topping for fruit and desserts such as pie, ice cream (especially sundaes), cupcakes, cakes, milkshakes, waffles, hot chocolate,Jello and puddings. It is also served on coffee, especially in the Viennese coffee house tradition, where coffee with whipped cream is known as Melange mit Schlagobers. Whipped cream is used as an ingredient in many desserts, for example as a filling for profiteroles and layer cakes.

            Margarine is an imitation butter spread used for spreading, baking, and cooking. Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès created it in France, in 1869. He was responding to a challenge by Emperor Napoleon III to create a butter substitute for the armed forces and lower classes. It was later named margarine.

            Whereas butter is made from the butterfat of milk, modern margarine is made mainly of refined vegetable oil and water, and may also contain milk. In some places in the United States it is colloquially referred to as "oleo", short for oleomargarine.

                Margarine, like butter, consists of a water-in-fat emulsion, with tiny droplets of water dispersed uniformly throughout a fat phase in a stable crystalline form. In some jurisdictions margarine must have a minimum fat content of 80% to be labelled as such, the same as butter. Colloquially in the United States, the term margarine is used to describe "non-dairy spreads" like Country Crock and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, with varying fat contents.

             Margarine can be used for spreading, baking, and cooking. It is also commonly used as an ingredient in other food products, such as pastries, doughnuts, and cookies, owing to its versatility.

8. Butter

       Butter is a dairy product containing up to 80% butterfat (in commercial products) which is solid when chilled and at room temperature in some regions and liquid when warmed. It is made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk to separate the butterfat from the buttermilk. It is generally used as a spread on plain or toasted bread products and a condiment on cooked vegetables, as well as in cooking, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying. Butter consists of butterfat, milk proteins and water, and in some types, added salt. Butter may also be sold with added flavourings, such as garlic butter.

      Most frequently made from cows' milk, butter can also be manufactured from the milk of other mammals, including sheep, goats,buffalo, and yaks. Salt such as dairy salt, flavorings and preservatives are sometimes added to butter. Rendering butter produces clarified butter or ghee, which is almost entirely butterfat.

              Butter is a water-in-oil emulsion resulting from an inversion of the cream; in a water-in-oil emulsion, the milk proteins are the emulsifiers. Butter remains a solid when refrigerated, but softens to a spreadable consistency at room temperature, and melts to a thin liquid consistency at 32–35 °C (90–95 °F). The density of butter is 911 g/L (0.950 lb per US pint). It generally has a pale yellow color, but varies from deep yellow to nearly white. Its unmodified color is dependent on the animals' feed and genetics but is commonly manipulated with food colorings in the commercial manufacturing process, most commonly annatto orcarotene.

9. Salt 

       Salt has several functions in baked goods. It modifies flavour, increases crust colour and controls the rate of yeast fermentation and enzyme activity. 

           Salt also strengthens gluten, making it more cohesiveness and less sticky. With salt present, gluten holds more water and carbon dioxide, allowing the dough to expand without tearing. This means that salt prevents excessive tearing when gluten stretches so bread is easier to handle and has a better volume and a finer crumb.

            Because salt noticeably strengthens gluten, bread bakers sometimes delay the addition of salt to dough made from strong flour, adding it late in the mixing process. The dough mixes faster and cooler as there is less resistance and frictional heat generated during mixing. Once salt is added, the dough tightens and is more difficult to stretch, but it will stretch further without tearing.

10. Milk Powder

        Milk powder or dried milk is a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it; milk powder has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and does not need to be refrigerated, due to its low moisture content. Another purpose is to reduce its bulk for economy of transportation. Powdered milk and dairy products include such items as dry whole milk, nonfat (skimmed) dry milk, dry buttermilk, dry whey products and dry dairy blends. Many dairy products exported conform to standards laid out in Codex Alimentarius. Many forms of milk powder are traded on exchanges.

          The almond is a deciduous tree, growing 4–10 m (13–33 ft) in height, with a trunk of up to 30 cm (12 in) in diameter. The young twigs are green at first, becoming purplish where exposed to sunlight, then grey in their second year. The leaves are 3–5 inches long, with a serrated margin and a 2.5 cm (1 in) petiole. The flowers are white to pale pink, 3–5 cm (1–2 in) diameter with five petals, produced singly or in pairs and appearing before the leaves in early spring. Almond grows best in Mediterranean climates with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters.             The optimal temperature for their growth is between 15 and 30 °C (59 and 86 °F) and the tree buds have a chilling requirement of 300 to 600 hours below 7.2 °C (45.0 °F) to break dormancy.

           Almonds begin bearing an economic crop in the third year after planting. Trees reach full bearing five to six years after planting. The fruit matures in the autumn, 7–8 months after flowering.

          While the almond is often eaten on its own, raw or toasted, it is also a component of various dishes. Almonds are available in many forms, such as whole, sliced (flaked, slivered), and as flour. Almonds yield almond oil and can also be made into almond butter or almond milk. These products can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes.

         Along with other nuts, almonds can be sprinkled over breakfasts and desserts, particularly muesli or ice cream-based dishes. Almonds are used in marzipan, nougat, many pastries (including jesuites), cookies (including French macarons, macaroons), and cakes (includingfinanciers), noghl, and other sweets and desserts. They are also used to make almond butter, a spread similar to peanut butter, popular with peanut allergy sufferers and for its naturally sweeter taste. The young, developing fruit of the almond tree can be eaten whole ("green almonds") when they are still green and fleshy on the outside and the inner shell has not yet hardened. The fruit is somewhat sour, but is a popular snack in parts of the Middle East, eaten dipped in salt to balance the sour taste. Also in the Middle East they are often eaten with dates. They are available only from mid-April to mid-June in the Northern Hemisphere; pickling or brining extends the fruit's shelf life.

Almond cookies, Chinese almond biscuits, and Italian ricciarelli are made with almonds.

            The 'Marcona' almond cultivar is recognizably different from other almonds, and is marketed by name. The kernel is short, round, relatively sweet, and delicate in texture. It has been grown in Spain for a long time and its origin is unknown; the tree is very productive, and the shell of the nut is very hard. 'Marcona' almonds are traditionally served after being lightly fried in oil, and are used by Spanish confectioners to prepare a sweet called turrón.

          Certain natural food stores sell "bitter almonds" or "apricot kernels" labeled as such, requiring significant caution by consumers for how to prepare and eat these products.