"Farine avec levure" help

[Rehovot]

Hello, Francophile eGers... I'm working on a cookbook translated from French to English and have run into something puzzling. Some of the recipes in the French version refer to "farine avec levure," which was translated as "flour with yeast."

First, is "levure" really "yeast," here? Or is it baking powder? (In which case, is farine avec levure really self-rising flour?)

If farine avec levure really is flour with yeast, is this unique to France, or have you seen it elsewhere? (I can't remember seeing it when I lived in France, but that was ten years ago.)

Many thanks for your help.

Edited April 11, 2008 by Rehovot (log)

[olivier]

Hello, Francophile eGers... I'm working on a cookbook translated from French to English and have run into something puzzling. Some of the recipes in the French version refer to "farine avec levure," which was translated as "flour with yeast."

First, is "levure" really "yeast," here? Or is it baking powder? (In which case, is farine avec levure really self-rising flour?)

If farine avec levure really is flour with yeast, is this unique to France, or have you seen it elsewhere? (I can't remember seeing it when I lived in France, but that was ten years ago.)

Many thanks for your help.

←

In France, "levure" can mean either yeast or baking powder. More precisely, "levure chimique" is baking powder, and "levure de boulanger" would be yeast.

I never used "farine avec levure", but, as far as I know, I'm pretty sure that it's flour with baking powder. Just look at the ingredients, if you see "levure chimique" or "bicarbonate de soude", you'll know it's baking powder.

Just checked on the Francine website, it definately is baking powder:

http://www.francine.com/gamme1.php

and click on "farine à gâteaux".

[mkayahara]

I've never encountered it so named before, but my guess would be that it's self-rising flour, which contains baking powder.

[Rehovot]

Great; thank you both for your help.

[Ptipois]

It is self-rising flour, you may also encounter it under the name "farine à gâteaux". It contains a small proportion of "levure chimique" (baking powder).

But if you are translating the recipes, be careful: French self-rising flour contains less baking powder than American or British self-rising flour and a small quantity of extra baking powder should be added whenever this ingredient is found.