Sift First Then Measure Or Measure First Then Sift?
Decorating By Echooo3 Updated 4 Jul 2009 , 11:12pm by tallgood
I want to make Sylvia Weinstock's Classic Yellow Cake and the receipe calls for 2-1/4 cups sifted cake flour. So do I sift first then measure the flour?
I think if you should measure first it should say 2-1/4 cups cake flour, sifted. I need some direction please.
If the recipe calls for "x cups sifted cake flour", sift first, then measure.
If the recipe calls for "x cups cake flour, sifted" measure first, then sift.
If the recipe includes weights, get a scale. It's more accurate than any other type of measuring. 
Edited to add: Even with a scale, you still have to follow the sifting directions. 
If the recipe calls for "2 cups flour", then in the directions it says to sift dry ingredients together, do you measure unsifted?
I have been so confused about this. Seems the way you put the flour in the measuring cup can affect the total amount of flour in the recipe. Scooping vs. "snowing" the flour into the cup. Over 3 or 4 cups that could maybe change the amount by near 1/4 cup.
Anyone?
Over 3 or 4 cups that could maybe change the amount by near 1/4 cup.
Anyone?
We were just discussing this in another thread. I've seen different charts say a cup of flour weighs anywhere from 4.25 cups to 5.5 cups. in a recipe with four cups of flour, that's a potential difference of a whole cup! It's even worse with powdered sugar.
If the recipe author only lists cups, and doesn't make it clear how they measure them, the odds are pretty good that you won't be getting the same results the author did.
I want every recipe to include weights...by law!
Maybe that is why the same recipe turns out so differently made by different cakers. And could affect the end results of a tough cake, dry cake, or humps and ridges on top. They aren't sifting at the same point in recipe. or are either using the scoop vs the snowing method to measure.
Mixes are most of the time the same weight, but the difference between sifting and non-sifting cake mixes makes a big difference to the final outcome. Since I have started sifting my cake mixes, I can tell a BIG difference in final product. Could this apply to scratch cakes? Sure!
I agree the weight measurement should be by law. Contact Congress for cake hearings!! 
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