Soft wheat, commonly known as "white wheat" due to its light golden color, contains more starch and less gluten than hard wheat. This makes it well-suited for cakes, pastries, desserts, and sauces. Both hard and soft wheats can be categorized as either winter or spring varieties, depending on their planting season.
Soft wheat flour, often categorized as cake flour and pastry flour, possesses a low gluten content, resulting in a finer texture in baked goods compared to those made with hard flour. Cake flour is milled from the innermost part of the soft wheat endosperm and contains the least amount of protein among flours, approximately 5 to 8%.
Pastry flour, primarily crafted from soft wheat for pastry production, is versatile and can also be employed in cookies, cakes, crackers, and similar baked items. It features a slightly higher protein content than cake flour and a reduced starch content.
Soft vs Hard Wheat
