German flour

I'm having a bit of baking trouble. can anyone help?

I've read all the information about ash content etc (too technical) and all the info on cooking sites such as nigella.com etc - btw there's a lot of 'e-hugging' going on there at the moment so I'm steering clear for the time being and sticking to good old TT tongue lashings

But back to the point.. My attempts at Yorkshire pudding, cheese sauce and cakes using 405 flour, the supposed equivalent to plain flour are turning out gluey and heavy..

Is there a lighter one or methods of baking with it I just don't know about? I don't want to have to give in and start ordering kilos of plain and self raising from Britstore to save my reputation as a cook!

Donald Duck's lesser known Scottish nephews.

I'm sorry, it's an affliction

Okay, I'll ask the obvious one and then leave it for more experienced voices to chime in.

Are you sifting the flour first?

Have a crack at Wiener Griessler type 405. Its like powder.

Are you using this brand? You can see a photo.

http://www.rosenmehl.de/outputFileData/143...tart_visual.jpg

Showen is right you really have to mix it first. Also, for sauces do you mix the flour up in a cup with a little bit of the milk etc before you add it to the rest of the sauce? this usually works. I usually use a cornflour for sauces though. Imported as a German equiv has not yet jumped out at me in the shop!

I am sifting and sifting but it doesn't make any difference. could the water affect it as well? I've tried several different brands but not the Weiner Griessler.. will write that down.

Sifting is one thing - but to get a really decent finish on a yorkshire pudding batter, or a bechamel based sauce like the cheese sauces you are making, you want to sieve the sauce itself after cooking. This will remove any lumps, and make the sauce smoother.
For yorkshire pud batter, sieve it, leave it 24 hours in the fridge, then whisk again. You'll get a really silky finish

I'm a Rosenmehl 405 fan too, double sieving is a fine thing and as for Yorkshire Puddings I don't even bother as cb4ch (or however he spells it) makes the best one I have ever eaten and so there is no point in me competing there.
Wiener Griessler is the flour used for Strudel. It's very elastic and so with a baking agent will rise or stretch more so possibly worth a try if 405 isn't working for you. However, although it takes on liquid very evenly, you might have to mix for longer as the higher absorption takes time so don't panic when you use it.
For sauces, Instant-Mehl (from Rosenmehl amongst others) dissolves very quickly and might be just the thing (I use the 405 myself though).
Cooking for Engineers

Cornflour is called "Spiesestärke" here. The stuff I found came in a rectangular box with a picture of a cake on the front; I think it was in the cake ingredients part of the supermarket. Hope that helps.

Gustin and Mondamin Speisestärke:

pictures of cakes on everything don't really help do they? I'd have thought both those were icing sugar. you live and you learn.

No.
It's the German obsession with making cakes for that bloody coffee and cake ritual that always involves some shitty in-laws that you really would prefer never to see ever again, unless perhaps it was down the barrel of a 12-Guage Mossberg.

In my experience, the best way to get something similar to what we'd call "all-purpose flour" in the States is to mix 405 and 550. The difference between the two is that 550 has lots of gluten (for rising) and 405 has very little. All-purpose is somewhere in between. Try starting by replacing 1/4 of your 405 with 550 and increase bit by bit until you find a suitable mixture.

If you want UK cornflour the Asian shop in Hauptbahnhof stocks it (at the back, in the wire rack, near the fridge, bottom shelf).