In fact just last Friday alone, I had baked 3 different recipes on the same day.
1) Cheese Breadsticks
2) Choc Chip Cookies
3) Meh Meh/ Sheep German Cookies
However with so many different kind of recipe experiments, each recipe called for different kind of flour. I am not a pro as yet to differentiate one from another. So to be on the safe side, I buy those flour as indicated in the recipe and guess what, I have so many different kind of flour now. This can get quite frustrating.
So I googled the Internet to get a better understanding. This particular website stands out, perhaps she's a Singaporean and can explain better.
http://everybodyeatswell.blogspot.com/2013/05/different-types-of-flours-for-chinese.html
Some excerpts from the website:
QUOTE
To understand what type of flour to be used for what type of cakes, tarts, cookies, breads or buns, you have to first understand the role of protein and gluten in flours. Flours are either wheat-derived or from non-wheat sources (gluten-free). Wheat flour contains protein and when it comes into contact with water and heat, it produces gluten, which helps yeast stretch and rise, and which gives elasticity and strength to baked goods. Different types of wheat flour contain different amounts of protein, so the main difference between flour types is in the gluten content, which can vary depending on whether the flour is made from hard wheat or soft wheat, what brand it is, whether it is bleached or unbleached or for what purpose. At one end of the spectrum, you have Cake Flour (lowest protein level, 6-8%), then you have Pastry Flour (8-10%) and All-Purpose or Plain Flour (medium-protein level, 10-12%), and at the other end of the spectrum, you have Bread Flour (highest-protein level, 12-14%). The type of flour used will ultimately affect the finished product, so always use the type of flour which the recipe specifically calls for.
Cake Flour (low-protein flour, low-gluten flour, 低筋面粉) is a finely-milled soft wheat flour with a high starch content and a low protein content (6-8%). It has the lowest protein content of all wheat flours. It is smooth and velvety in texture. Cake flour is almost always chlorinated (bleached), which toughens the protein molecules, enabling the flour to carry more sugar and liquid with collapsing. Good for making cakes (especially white cakes and biscuits) where a tender and delicate texture is desired, or cakes with a high amount of sugar and liquid in proportion to flour.
One cup sifted Cake Flour can be substituted with 3/4 cup (84 grams) sifted bleached All-Purpose Flour plus 2 tablespoons (15 grams) cornstarch.
Cake Flour is sometimes also called "Softassilk Flour".
Pastry Flour is similar to Cake Flour, but not bleached. It is made from soft wheat flour and has a slightly higher protein content (8-10%) than Cake Flour, which aids the elasticity needed to hold together the buttery layers in flaky doughs such as croissants, puff pastry and pie crusts. It is soft and ivory in color. The medium protein level makes Pastry Flour great to use in recipes where you want a tender and crumbly pastry, as too much protein would give you a hard pastry and too little protein would give you a brittle dough. Good for making pastry, pies and cookies.
To make Two cups of Pasty Flour, combine 1-1/3 cups (185 grams) All-Purpose Flour with 2/3 cup (90 grams) Cake Flour.
Self-Rising Flour (自发粉） has a 8-9% protein content and contains flour plus baking powder and salt. If the flour is stored too long, the baking powder will lose some of its strength and your baked goods will not rise properly.
If you want to make you own SR Flour, add 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt per cup (130 grams) of All-Purpose Flour.
All-Purpose Flour or Plain Flour (medium-protein flour, medium-gluten flour, 中筋面粉) has a 10-12% protein content and is made from a blend of hard and soft wheat flours. It can be bleached or unbleached. Good for making cakes, cookies, breads and pastries.
Bread Flour (high-protein flour, high-gluten flour, 高筋面粉) has a 12-14% protein content and is made from hard wheat flour. The high gluten content is good for bread baking, because when combined with water, the flour becomes elastic from gluten formation, and this gives you the chewy texture that is desired in a good bread. Comes in white, whole wheat, organic, bleached and unbleached. Good for making breads and some pastries.
The above cover more or less all you need to know about flours in the western baking world. When you need to make chinese steamed buns, the recipe often calls for using Hong Kong Flour (Waterlily Flour) or Pau Flour or Cake Flour, you start scratching your head again and ask what the heck is that? Actually HK Flour = Waterlily Flour = 香港水仙面粉. Pau Flour is most of the time synonymous with HK Flour, but not always, because some Pau Flour comes pre-mixed with added yeast. Then you wonder, why do you need HK Flour, Pau Flour or Cake Flour to make chinese steamed buns, why can't I use ordinary Plain Flour? Well, HK Flour is highly bleached. Freshly milled flour is unbleached and is yellowish naturall. Bleaching not only whitens the flour, it breaks down the gluten level further and makes the flour softer. HK Flour has about the same protein level as Pastry Flour, about 8-10%, whereas Cake Flour has a slightly lower protein level, about 6-8%. Hence HK Flour, Pau Flour and Cake Flour which are all bleached low-protein flours are suitable for making asian dim sum especially the HK-style smiling char siew buns which have a very white fluffy texture.
Then how does HK Flour differ from Superlite Flour and Top Flour which are often mentioned in recipes from Singapore and Malaysia? According to the Prima Flour website, "Superlite Flour is a super soft flour best used for making Hong Kong type steamed buns, Japanese castella cake, Malay sponge cake (kueh baulu) and others where a specially soft and light texture is required. This flour is also referred to as "Hong Kong Flour" by some users." Ok, mystery solved. So the Prima brand Superlite Flour is actually just Hong Kong Flour!
Then what about Prima Top Flour? The Prima website says that "Top Flour is an extra-fine quality flour to give exceptionally smooth and fine texture for your baking needs. It is especially ideal for baking very fine cakes; such as chiffon cakes, swiss rolls, crepes, cake doughnuts and butter cookies." I have never used Prima Superlite Flour or Top Flour before, and I don't know their protein level so I can't tell you what is the difference, but I suspect if there is a difference, it is very subtle in terms of protein level. They should be very similar in nature as in they are both low-protein flours for making delicate cakes and cookies.
Not to forget, Prima also has a Cake Flour which we already know what it is. The Prima website says that "Cake Flour is a superb quality, soft-as-silk flour. It has excellent tolerance to a high amount of butter and sugar resulting in cakes of good volume. This flour is best used for baking sponge cakes and very rich cakes like pound cakes."
**More useful info on the comments:
Bake King Brand, Top Flour is also Cake Flour
Basic Flour to have: Plain Flour, Cake Flour and Bread Flour
How to turn All-Purpose Flour into Cake Flour
Step One: Measure out the all-purpose flour that you'll need for your recipe.
Step Two: For every cup of flour you use, take out two tablespoons of flour and return it to the flour bin. Throw the cup of flour (minus the two tablespoons) into a sifter set over a bowl.
Step Three: Replace the two tablespoons of flour that you removed with two tablespoons of cornstarch.
Step Four: Sift the flour and cornstarch together.
To make 1 cup of self raising flour:
1 cup of all purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
UNQUOTE
A table I found from another website
http://www.eatbydate.com/substitutions/flour-substitutes/
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