Flour is one of the most important ingredients in a cake recipe. It not only is the structural workhorse of a cake but provides important flavor and textural elements. Choosing the best flour for a cake recipe can be tricky. There are many options on the market and depending on where you are in the world, certain flours may or may not be available. Here I will try to clarify some of the differences between various types of wheat flours and show you how they translate to baked cakes.
Naturevibe Botanicals has a variety of options that will meet just about any need depending on personal preference, dietary restrictions, and general demand for nutritious flours.
Here are the top 5 flours of Naturevibe Botanicals:
1. Arrowroot Flour:
It’s usually processed into a powder, also called arrowroot flour. The powder is extracted from the plant’s rhizome, an underground stem with multiple roots that store its starch and energy. This flour is mostly employed in the kitchen, as it works well in sweet and savory dishes alike, although it may have medicinal properties as well. Aside from being high in protein and several nutrients, arrowroot is very easy to digest making it ideal for children and older adults who may need gentler food. Some of the dishes which include arrowroot flour are puddings, cakes, bread, etc.
2. Cassava Flour
Organic Cassava flour is a gluten-free flour made from the tuber cassava, which is native to South America and grown in tropical and subtropical regions.Despite cassava’s nutty flavor, its flour has a light or neutral taste and a fine or smooth texture. It is predominantly white in color, although you may find some with a light red or yellow hue, depending on the cassava variety. Cassava flour is a highly versatile ingredient with numerous uses in the food industry, including in all sorts of baked goods, tortillas, porridge, pancakes, pasta, and pizza. Manufacturers also sometimes use it as a thickener for ice cream, sauces, and dressings.
3. Tapioca Flour
Tapioca Flour is derived from the starchy vegetable called cassava root. The root is finely shredded, washed, and dehydrated. The dried pulp is then ground into flour. The Flour is virtually tasteless and odorless but is used to achieve a spongy, light, and fluffy texture in baked goods or to make crispy pie crusts and pizzas. Due to its starchy properties, Tapioca Flour can be used for binding, thickening and moistening recipes.
4. Green Banana Flour
Green banana flour is simply the yield of green, under-ripe bananas. Not just under-ripe either; it has to be green to have the benefits! While these aren’t exactly tasty snacks, they are nutritious for numerous reasons and dry up into a very effective flour replacement. You can even make your own with a few bundles of green bananas, a little sunshine, and a mortar and pestle! Rich in fiber and nutrients and low in fat, green banana flour helps prevent overeating and is being used in bread, cakes, pizza, and much more.
5. All-purpose baking flour
All-purpose flour is versatile and general-use wheat flour. It is milled from hard red wheat or a blend of hard and soft wheat. As the name suggests, all-purpose flour is suitable for all types of baked goods such as bread, biscuits, pizza, cookies, muffins, etc. It is also used in thickening gravies and sauces.
Naturevibe Botanicals offers a wide variety of flours that are healthy and organic. Now, choose your flour and make some delicious recipes from it. If you’ve used any before, do share your recipe with us in the ‘Submit your recipe’ section. We’d love to hear them.