Self Rising Flour

I recently came across a recipe for steam buns and I really wanted to try them. However they called for something called "Self Raising Flour".

I had no idea what that was, so I went to the supermarket to get some. I couldn't actually find a flour that was called "Self Raising". I did, however, find a flour called "Pastry Flour" which claimed it would be best for lighter and fluffier cakes and pastries. 

I'm sure you can see where my logic train went. It must be the same thing.

It wasn't; not even a little bit.

The attempt at steam buns with Pastry Flour sank. Like a brick. Literally.

The buns turned out to be gel-like bricks with a very heavy, chewy consistency. 

Not to be discouraged. I had my mom get the right kind of flour. One that actually said "Self Raising", so we could give it another bash.

And it worked. Beautifully!!!  Just one problem; self raising flour is ridiculously expensive. Without giving actual numbers, I could buy the buns from the Asian market near my house for less than it cost me to make them. Which kinda defeats the purpose.

So I hopped online and found that I could MAKE my own self rising flour. The recipe that I used can be found here.

And it's AWESOME! I cannot even begin to tell you how utterly well this worked. The buns turned out light and fluffy. And because the batch was more than I could handle in one sitting, I simply bagged the remaining buns and they taste just like scones the next day.

Brilliant.

For those of you that don't really feel like clicking the link above, the recipe (which is not mine, just to be clear) is as follows:

Sift together:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt (I use sea salt because table salt doesn't get to come into my house)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Then just use it as the recipe calls for.