Tips for Dining, Eating, and Food Shopping in Greater Chicago
Start New ThreadI took a class with an amazing German pastry chef who swears that if we chuck the all-purpose flour and use pastry flour, we will see an immediate improvement in our pastries. I'm willing to try, but I haven't found it at Jewel or Whole Foods. Can I buy this locally?
I am not looking for whole wheat pastry flour, which is readily available.
By CathleenH
on Sep 12, 2011 01:07 PM
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See this discussion:
Where to find pastry flour in Chicago or western suburbs? - www.chow.com/topics/718434
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Sicne the short answer in the attached link is no, I wonder, assuming you took the class locally, whether the chef has a recommendation on where to find it?
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No, the class was at the Vancouver Pastry Training Center.
I was very discouraged by this link so I ordered 10 lbs. online from Birkett Mills in New York, which was much cheaper than KA and other brands.
Just after ordering, I went to Whole Foods Evanston South and found a very ambiguously labeled package from Arrowhead Mills. It was labeled "pastry flour" and said that it was suitable for baking cakes and piecrusts, etc...However, running alongside the main label, in a different font and color were the words "whole grain". So it may be yet another variety of whole wheat pastry flour -- There are several brands available. Since I have 10 lbs. on the way, I didn't buy any.
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Arrowhead is definitely whole wheat. It always seems odd to me that whole wheat is the only type you can find anywhere. You'd think the demand for it would be even smaller than for regular pastry flour.
A couple of years ago, the Sunset Foods chain in the northern burbs briefly carried a very wide range of King Arthur flours, the types that you have to mail order now. I guess it didn't work out for them.
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Just updating this to mention that I saw on another food website a report that Fox and Obel carries a number of King Arthur specialty flours, including pastry flour. But I would suggest calling them to confirm before heading down there
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The Whole Foods in Schaumburg has whole wheat pastry flour in their bulk bins.
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