What is All-Purpose Flour in Australia?

Stumbled across it in a recipe, here's what to use. - by Lottie Dalziel

Q: What is all-purpose flour?

A: In Australia, plain flour is the equivalent to all-purpose flour. If you come across an American recipe you might see all-purpose flour listed as one of the ingredients in pie crusts, cakes, sweets and sometimes bread, just add plain flour in its place.

It is affectionately named overseas as you can use it for all purposes, but in Australia self-raising flour is more popular in baking which is why we call it plain flour.

Self-raising flour is actually unheard of in many countries around the world so chances are if you’ve come across a recipe with baking powder and all-purpose flour you can swap in self-raising flour instead.

Bakers flour or bread flour is used to create bakery products such as loaves and bread rolls.

Cake flour has a protein content of between 6-8% and is made from soft wheat flour so it can absorb more moisture and sugar than other flours to help create softer textures in cakes.

Lottie Dalziel

Lottie Dalziel, is a 4AM riser and coffee-addict who lives and breathes all things food. When she isn't reading up on the latest trends in sustainability or discovering ways to upcycle almost anything, you can find her by the beach, cooking up a storm or adding to her abundant (some would say out of control) plant collection.