Better Definitions Than A Dictionary

ADULT
A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.

BEAUTY PARLOR
A place where women curl up and dye.

CANNIBAL
Someone who is fed up with people.


CHICKENS
The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead..

COMMITTEE
A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.

DUST
Mud with the juice squeezed out.

EGOTIST
Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.

HANDKERCHIEF
Cold Storage.

INFLATION
Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.

MOSQUITO
An insect that makes you like flies better.

RAISIN
Grape with a sunburn.

SECRET
Something you tell to one person at a time.

SKELETON
A bunch of bones with the person scraped off.

TOOTHACHE
The pain that drives you to extraction .

TOMORROW
One of the greatest labor saving devices of today.

YAWN
An honest opinion openly expressed.

and last but not least…..

WRINKLES
Something other people have, similar to my character lines

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What Is Cake Flour?

I found that questions several times as a comment to my post on Chocolate Cake In A Mug, and I decided to do a whole post about cake flour. It never occurred to me that there might be other countries in which cake flour isn’t as popular or widely available as in South Africa.  For those of you who mostly use all purpose flour, I have below the definition of what cake flour is, and then also a substitute for it :)


Cake-flour-definitionWhen I searched the internet for a proper explanation, I found this…

Cake flour is a highly specialized type of wheat flour, intended for use in making cakes, cookies, and other delicate baked goods. Several characteristics differentiate cake flour from other wheat flours, making it unsuitable for certain tasks like baking bread. Many markets carry cake flour, and in a pinch a substitute can be made with ¾ cup sifted bleached all purpose flour and two tablespoons of cornstarch.

When baking a cake, most cooks aim to create a light, fluffy cake with a tender crumb. This requires a flour with a low protein content, as protein promotes the production of gluten, which can make baked goods more tough. It also means that the flour must be very finely milled, to keep baked goods from getting heavy. Finally, a flour which is starchy and able to hold large amounts of fat and sugar without collapsing is required.

All of these needs are addressed with cake flour, which is made from the endosperm of soft wheat. The endosperm is the softest part of the wheat kernel, making cake flour the finest flour available. As cake flour is milled, it is heavily bleached, not only to make it white but to break down the protein in the flour. Typically, cake flour is around seven percent protein, much lower than other flours; bread flour, for example, has twice that amount of protein.

The delicate, fine texture of cake flour is accomplished by heavy milling. The fine grain absorbs fat readily, ensuring that butter and other fats in cakes are well distributed throughout the batter. Cake flour can also carry a high volume of sugar when compared to higher protein flours. Since cake flour is a high-starch flour, it is extremely well suited for certain baking tasks. Cake flour is also lighter than conventional flour, which is why the substitution above falls short of a full cup.

Cookie and cake recipes which call for cake flour should be made using cake flour, if possible. In the production of certain other baked goods, cake flour can replace ordinary flour for a lighter end product, using one cup and two tablespoons of cake flour for every cup of flour called for in the recipe. Cake flour should not be used to make breads and other leavened products, as it is not strong enough. Also, as a general rule, a recipe which calls for “sifted flour” requires the cook to sift the flour before measuring, while “flour, sifted” is flour which is measured and then sifted. Since sifting changes the volume of flour, this seemingly petty distinction is actually very important.

However interesting it might be to know what cake flour really is, I managed to also find a substitute for it, which might be a bit more interesting for you if you want to use a recipe which uses cake flour.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch

Directions
To make two cups of cake flour combine 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour with 1/4 cup cornstarch; proceed with your recipe.

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Formal Definition Of A Pipe

Art 2.64: Definitions for Pipes [as amended 01.02.08] per Govt. Gazette
1. All pipe is to be made of a long hole, surrounded by metal or plastic, centered around the hole.

2. All pipe is to be hollow throughout the entire length – do not use holes of different length than the pipe.

3. The ID (Inside Diameter) of all pipes must not exceed their OD (Outside Diameter) – otherwise the hole will be on the outside.

4. The pipe is supplied with nothing in the hole, so that water, steam or other stuff can be put inside at a later date.

5. All pipes is to be supplied without rust; this can be more readily applied at the job site.

NOTE: Some vendors are now able to supply pre-rusted pipes.
If available in your area, this product is recommended, as it will save a great deal of time at the job site.

6. All pipe over 150m in length should have the words “LONG PIPE” clearly painted on each side and end, so the contractor will know it’s a long pipe.

7. Pipe over 3000m in length must also have the words “LONG PIPE” painted in the middle so the contractor will not have to walk the entire length of the pipe to determine whether it is a long or short pipe.

8. All pipes over 1.8m in diameter must have the words “LARGE PIPE” painted on it, so the contractor won’t mistake it for a small pipe.

9. Flanges can be used on pipes. Flanges must have holes for bolts, quite separate from the big holes in the middle.

10. When ordering 90 or 30 degree elbows, be sure to specify left-hand or right-hand, otherwise you will end up going the wrong way.

11. Be sure to specify to your vendor whether you want level, uphill or downhill pipe.  If you use downhill pipe for going uphill, the water will flow the wrong way.

12. All couplings should have either right-hand or left-hand threads, but do not mix the threads, otherwise, as the coupling is being screwed on to one pipe, it is being unscrewed from the other.

13. All pipes shorter than 3mm are very uneconomical in use, requiring many joints. They are generally known as washers.

14. Joints in pipes for water must be watertight.
Those pipes for compressed air, however, need only be airtight.

15. Lengths of pipes may be welded or soldered together.
This method is not recommended for concrete or earthenware pipes.

16. Other commodities are often confused with pipes. These include; Conduit, Tube, Tunnel, and Drain. Use only genuine pipes.

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Define: Dragees

dragees, mentosI love Mentos, and while having some this week, noticed the word “dragees” on the packet – obviously describing the sweets, but I had no idea what it meant. Thanx to Google I managed to find the definition :)

  • Round, edible sugar balls coated with silver or gold and used for decorative purposes.
  • Small chocolate hemispheres and silver-colored balls of sugar used to decorate cakes.
  • A dragée (IPA: , from Greek tragêmata “sweets, treats”) is a form of confectionery that is more decorative and symbolic than a substantial sweet. Dragées currently take three forms in the confectionery world.
  • More at Wikipedia

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