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One baking question that I’m frequently asked—“Is sifting really necessary?”

Sifting for Devil's Food Cake

I hope that answers the question…

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14 comments

    • Marcus

    Dave, off topic, is there any particular reason that RSS subscribers to your blog get every post duplicated? It’s not a big deal, but odds are you don’t read your own blog, so you wouldn’t know. Heck, maybe it’s just me?

    • dodo

    I use live bookmarks via rss and i dont get them duplicate, havent tried with a proper rss reader thought

    • Rita

    I use Google Reader and I get them duplicated every single time. Kinda wierd…

    We three are really off topic, lol.

    • flavia

    ok, back to business now!! I’m a baker and the only thing I sift is cocoa and confectioner’s sugar…The rest goes “as is” and works just the same…Parole de patissiere !!

    • PF

    I don’t get double posts with Firefox browser

    • Mercedes

    Cocoa powder and powdered sugar are the two things I always sift. In other news, I’m sure you saw todays ice cream articles in the NYTimes. I’m skeptical of Bittman’s claim about cornstarch ice cream, especially with skim milk; however, Harold McGee’s article on dondurma was cool…

    • David

    I use NewsFire and sometimes they come through twice around here too, since I have to make the inevitable corrections after posting.

    Since I can’t read what I write as clearly as I can after it’s posted, I do go back and make changes and they randomly do pop up sometimes twice in my feeder.

    I think there may be something in your Preferences that controls that, but I’m better at doling out baking advice rather than technical advice.
    Apologies, but perfection has it’s its price ; )

    Mercedes: Yes, I did see that. And I (and others) beat him to the punch and do have a cornstarch-based ice cream in The Perfect Scoop (page 133) that’s quite good.

    • mbs

    just a note. if they tell you to sift brown sugar, beware that it will clog your strainer instantly; the trick is to mix it up first with your other dry to-be-sifted ingredients.

    • Hillary

    Haha what a great exhibit. How do you think the cocoa powder got THAT clumpy? Is it from moisture in the air?

    • Judith in Umbria

    Hmmmm, I just whiz things in the FP and it gets all airy and separated.

    • Joanne

    I agree, i never sift even when the recipe says to (GASP!) unless i think need to. and you get pretty good at figuring out when you need to with time and experience… If you’re more of the paranoid type i think you need to sift all the time, though. it should give you peace of mind.

    Btw, good tips Judith & mbs, i will definately keep that in mind.

    • Sean

    OMG, why are there rocks in your cocoa?

    • Lu

    I rarely sift, but if I do I use my strainer. If I need to do a quick “sift”, I use a big whisk in the dry ingredient bowl.

    On another happy-go-lucky note…. YAY, the Blenheim jam is almost at my house, the Blenheim jam is almost at my house! Did I repeat myself? Did I repeat myself?

    (Translation: thanks for the tip oh-so-many month ago, David, I can’t wait to taste it.)

    • Kevin

    Cocoa Pebbles! haha Just pour the milk.

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