QUESTION: What is the difference between wheat, self-rising, and all-purpose flours?Can I make self-rising flour out of all-purpose flour, and if so - how? Also, do you have a favorite recipe using self-rising flour?I love your column and look forward to hearing from you.ANSWER: It sounds like you're getting into baking or trying to make a living as a flour saleswoman. For your sake, I hope it's not the latter.Before we get to the different flours, let's start with the wheat kernels these flours are made from. Wheat kernels have three parts - the bran (the outer covering of the grain), the germ (in the center), and the endosperm (which is in the center and is the part of the kernel that makes flour white). During milling, the three parts are separated.I'll start with "wheat flour." There are many different kinds of wheat flour, but the one that is used most is whole-wheat flour.This is classified as Hard Red Winter. Basically the harder the wheat, the harder the protein (gluten) in the flour, which is better for making bread because it gives it structure - especially traditional loaf wheat breads.However, if you ever try to use whole-wheat or rye flour without cutting it with bleached or unbleached bread flour, the bread will be extremely dense and won't seem to bake thoroughly.Another type is all-purpose flour. All-purpose flour is a blend of a high-gluten flour (like a bread flour) and a low gluten flour (like a pastry or cake flour), and is used for everyday cooking.This type of flour is sold bleached or unbleached (which ever so slightly changes the gluten levels in the flour).Unbleached flour has a slightly higher gluten level, which makes it better for baking, especially when structure is needed.Self-rising flour is generally all-purpose flour that has had leavening added to it.You can find all-purpose, self-rising flour - which is not to be confused with self-rising cake flour. If you want to make your own self-rising cake flour, just mix 1 cup of cake flour with 1½ teaspoons of baking powder and a pinch of salt. Use this for more delicate cakes or pastries.For denser items like bread, biscuits, or non-yeast breads, mix the baking powder and salt with all-purpose flour.When I went to culinary school a million years ago, I was taught that all-purpose flour was made up of 60 percent bread flour and 40 percent pastry flour. So you could use this formula if you wanted to make your own all-purpose flour ... not exactly a necessity in 2005 A.D.---COLLEEN'S FLOUR-POWER SCONES3 cups self-rising flour, sifted1/4 cup oatmeal1/4 cup slivered almonds1/2 cup butter, melted1/3 cup sugar1 teaspoon baking powder2 eggs1/3 cup currants2 tablespoons finely chopped candied gingerUp to 3/8 cup milkCream or beaten egg white for brushingPreheat oven to 400 degrees. Pulse the oatmeal and almonds in a food processor until it has the consistency of fine flour. Cut the butter into the flour using your fingers until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Place oatmeal mixture in a bowl and stir in the sugar, baking powder, beaten eggs, currants and ginger. Add enough milk to form a sticky dough, turn out onto a lightly floured board, and knead approximately 10 turns - not too much or the scones will be tough. Flatten to a circular shape about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut into wedge-shaped pieces. Arrange wedges 1 inch apart in a circle on a lightly greased pan. Brush tops with cream or beaten egg white and bake about 15 minutes, or until golden.Chef Jim Coleman and his wife, writer Candace Hagan, who contributed to this column, answer your food questions. He is the executive chef at the Rittenhouse Hotel, Philadelphia, the author of three cookbooks and the host of two nationally syndicated cooking shows - "A Chef's Table" on NPR, and "Flavors of America" on PBS.)By KRT News Service