Put that way, you take the measured ingredients and sift them. Often it's a good idea to sift several times to combine the ingredients well.

If you measured after sifting the ingredients together you'd throw off the measurements. Don't really know how you could measure it after sifting together anyway so it's pretty clear you take the ingredients together and sift.

Some recipes are not too clear and can be confusing. If it says 1 cup of flour, sifted, you'd measure first. If it says 1 cup of sifted flour, you would sift it first.

Cynic is right. It will depend on what your recipe calls for.

One cup of sifted flour is different than one cup of flour sifted.

In the first you sift into your cup, and in the second, you sift after you measure out a cup of flour.

~Ann

cynic, cracking up..feel so silly - how can I ever measure those ingredients after sifting. Didn't think it out very well.

Thanks everyone for answering even though now it seems like a ridiculous question.

Off to make the cake.

And that's why in cooking school the measurement for EVERYTHING is given in weights, even egg whites lol.

I never thought that sifting the dry ingredients mixed them up very well. I always use a whisk in addition to sifting, just to make sure the dry ingredients are well mixed.

Sally

I just don't sift, LOL. I use a whisk and stir together dry ingredients, sometimes. Sometimes I just dump 'em all in the bowl and mix, depending on what I'm making.

If it something that should not be overmixed, like muffins, I make sure to whisk them together well, even if I sift first, so I don't overbeat my batter, trying to make sure it's all combined.

I never weigh anything, too much of my baking depends on things like the size of eggs (which could be anything since I have my own chickens), the brand of butter (some have more liquid added than others), the age of flour (some require more hydration). So, I go by the way batters and doughs look and feel instead.

Annie

Believe me, I've had my share of what I thought after were ridiculous questions, but when you're in the middle of something and get confused or frustrated, it's not ridiculous to ask. I kind of figured you were flustered and just not thinking straight. Happens to the best of them, and the worst... including me! :)

I'm finicky about mixing things well. For things where it doesn't matter much, I'll use the whisk to mix things. I am one though who takes that thar measuring spoon of stuff and sprinkles it all over rather than dump it in in one big lump. It's a quirk of mine. With eggs for meatloaf or something I always want to mix the egg a bit before combining it in, even if I just crack the egg(s) to the side, stir it a bit and then continue mixing. But for things where I'm making something for someone else or trying to impress, I'll mix the flour and dry ingredients with the whisk and then sift it in. I'm also a big o/c about things like bugs and stuff in there!