Mary in Bel Air says that all of her baked goods have too much of a floury flavor, and she would like to know what, if anything, she is doing wrong.

Well Mary, chances are you’re not doing anything wrong at all. Or, you consistently measure too much flour for your recipes. There are a lot of baking methods out there, so we’ll focus on cakes and cake-like products, like muffins and pancakes, and cover a few tips.

Properly measuring your flour
Use a whisk to fluff up the flour then spoon gently into measuring cup. Level cup with the flat edge of a knife. Don’t shake or tap the measuring cup to even it out because that can settle the flour and make it more densely packed.

Use a different flour
Try using a different flour, like cake or pastry flour, or a combination of cake flour and all-purpose flour or bread flour. Also, make sure to purchase good quality organic flour whenever possible. You may also experiment with other kinds of flour to see if any offer a more agreeable flavor.

Try your hand at some flourless baking
Also, keep in mind that many recipes require little or no flour. Here is a recipe for low-flour pancakes, and here is a recipe for a flourless chocolate torte, only two examples of the pastry items that can be done without the use of any flour at all.

Sweeten and contrast
If you are going to use a flour-based recipe, however, one trick would be to make a simple syrup by boiling 3 cups and sugar and 2 cups of water in a pot for a couple minutes until the syrup is clear, and paint the finished, cooled cake with it using a pastry brush before frosting the cake. This will help the cake to be sweeter and moister.

~ Chef Adam

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