Have a question my wife asked me this morning. Seems she has used self rising flour all her life and I have used general purpose flour. Can anyone tell me the difference, if any?

Self-rising flour has baking powder in it already. Regular flour needs leavening added: baking powder, yeast, or air incorporated in beaten egg white or other aerated material folded in.

When cooking with an acid food such as buttermilk, the baking powder needs to be amended with bicarbonate of soda. (Baking powder is a buffered mixture of bicarbonate of soda and tartaric acid.) The release of carbon dioxide gas when the acid and the alkali come together is what causes rising or leavening of the batter/dough.

Yeasts are little beasties which 'breathe out' carbon dioxide gas during their short life-span. We let them live long enough to aerate the dough, then we kill them off during baking. Yeast also gives off a little alcohol as a waste product.

Thanks for the reply, Babthrower. Just gave it to my spouse.

Hiya, Babthrower. My wife just finished baking a special cake that called for regular flour and she used self rising flour. She asked me to tell you that you were absolutely correct in your response to me. Her cake did not come out very well. She appreciates your answer.

Good, Johnny Velo. I have one basic cake recipe:

Take some shortening & sugar & eggs & mess 'em up.

Mix in some dry stuff: flour, baking powder, salt.

Mix in some wet stuff: milk or juice, vanilla or rum flavoring, whatever. Keep adding wet stuff until you like the consistency. If you have some fruit or something, pop that in.

Mess it up and bake it till the top looks nice. Poke in a toothpick to be sure. If the toothpick comes out gooey, bake a little more.

Make a pretty icing.

This works pretty well, and uses up just about anything you have in the fridge.

Which reminds me. I've got an old banana that needs taking care of. See ya.

Wow, what a sense of humor. Thanks!!!!!!!