Any other flour which can be used to replace Maida flour for chewy cakes?
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maida_flour
Maida has been linked with diabetes[10] and known to cause blood sugar imbalances, have negative influence on Insulin.[1] Consuming maida makes people become prone to kidney stone and heart disease.[11] Maida contains anti-nutrients which can affect the digestive process.
and
maida is popular in a white color, bleached with benzoyl peroxide,
It is not easy to find special cake flour where I live. Wheat flour contains gluten which will result in hard cakes.
Now, considering the fact that I won't mind a bit chewy cakes, what other flours other than Wheat have lowest gluten which can be used to make a bit chewy cakes?
UPDATE
I just saw a muffin in market whose ingredients contained "corn flour". That muffin was not extremely soft, it was just a bit chewy. So, corn flour can be used instead of maida? What else?
Best Answer
Flour labeled as Cake flour usually is weak flour: low W
value, or less formally "low protein" or "fewer gluten". This is somehow weird, as some cakes will require weak flour, whether others nedd strong flour (for yeasted dough cakes, if they add lots of fat/oil to the dough, if they add lots of sugar, pieces of fruits/nuts, etc).
I specifically don't know whether Maida is strong or weak flour, despite this answer and it's comments.
Wheat plants has been selected for several milleniums to get more productive varieties, and, yes, grains that give stronger flour.
Substitutes as weak flour
Trying to get flour from a more "primitive" variety of wheat, such as spelt, emmer or einkorn. These are expensive where I live, and usually sold as bio, but maybe spelt is easily found in India. As they have not been so "genetically selected", they still have less gluten than today's "normal" flour. They also tend to have more and better taste than "normal" flour.
Another flour with low gluten content is rye. It has a different taste than wheat, but I thing it fits really well with cakes. This grain grows better in colder climates, so I'm not very sure how hard will it be to get it where you live.
Other flours, as rice or corn / maize have no gluten. It means gas bubbles won't be trapped in, and will result in a much too dense crumb. You might search some gluten-free bread tricks to solve this.
Substitutes as strong flour
Any bread flour will probably work. Maybe it won't rise as much and you'll get a crumb with a denser consistency, more similar to a "chewing gum" than a "soft cake". But if you are ok with this, you can go on.
Note(Thank to @Anisha for the suggestion): Notice that different flours have different absorption, so some readjustment on hydration should probably be made to the original recipe.
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Quick Answer about "Any other flour which can be used to replace Maida flour for chewy cakes?"
Any bread flour will probably work. Maybe it won't rise as much and you'll get a crumb with a denser consistency, more similar to a "chewing gum" than a "soft cake". But if you are ok with this, you can go on.What can you use instead of Maida flour?
- Almond Flour. Almonds are blanched and powdered to give almond flour. ...
- Coconut flour. This low carb, gluten-free and vegan flour can be easily made at home, which is great for your pocket! ...
- Buckwheat flour. ...
- Tapioca flour. ...
- Quinoa flour. ...
- Ragi flour. ...
- Banana flour.
Can I use flour instead of maida for cake?
Maida is wheat flour similar to what is sold in the US as cake flour. Like cake flour, maida is finely milled, and it has less protein than all purpose flour. You can use it for bread and cakes, as well as chapatis, parathas and puris.What is the best alternative for maida?
Ditch Refined Flour (Maida): 5 Healthier Alternatives- If you can't seem to pick and choose one out of the many flour available near you, head this way please. We've listed out five essential flours that should be a part of your regular cooking. ...
- Quinoa Flour.
- Soy Flour.
- Bajra Flour.
- Jowar Flour.
Which flour is best for baking cakes?
Cake flour is the best choice when you're making a cake with a fine, tender crumb, such as pound cake, devil's food cake or sponge cake. Cake flour is milled from soft wheat, and contains between 5 and 8 percent protein, according to Fine Cooking.how to make cake flour at home/cake flour substitute--Cooking A Dream
More answers regarding any other flour which can be used to replace Maida flour for chewy cakes?
Answer 2
if you don't have maida, consider a packet of marie gold or any other hardly sweetened biscuits for your cake, powder the whole pack in a mixer and use it instead of maida. The cake will be better than that made up of maida.
Answer 3
One option is to make cake flour yourself. The recipes I've found use US units, so I've provided translations.
For each cup of all-purpose flour (125 g) remove 2 TB (28.3 g) of the flour. Replace with an equal amount (2 TB/28.3 g) of pure starch, such as corn starch or potato starch. Sift a bunch of times to mix. (Food.com says to sift five to six times.)
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