Cake Flour: How to Make It

Part of my Baking Fundamentals series: What if you don’t have cake flour? You will very shortly! To manufacture your own, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and a few minutes are required.

If you’ve ever come across a recipe that asked for cake flour and worried because you didn’t have any, don’t worry!

This article discussed the many kinds of flour and how to use them, but this post is entirely about cake flour, complete with step-by-step photographs and directions for producing your own. Just two items and a few minutes are required.

What is cake flour?

Cake flour has the lowest protein concentration of any flour, making it ideal for softer, more delicate baked items.

It is extremely fine and is usually bleached to weaken the gluten proteins. This means it absorbs more moisture and sugar than all-purpose flour, resulting in a more moist cake with a greater rise.

Thus, to summarize: cake flour is soft, which implies your baked goods will be soft as well.

How to make your own cake flour

It’s actually fairly easy; just make sure you measure your ingredients correctly for the best results and use the correct flour-to-cornstarch ratio.

Step 1: Place 1 cup all-purpose flour in a medium mixing basin. Remove 2 tablespoons of the flour and place it back into your all-purpose flour container.

Step 2: Measure out 2 tablespoons cornstarch and stir it into the flour.

Step 3: Sift the mixture into a separate bowl using an amesh sieve (aff link), then repeat the procedure. The combination should be good.

Tada! You now have finely sifted cake flour, which you may use in your favorite recipes.

How to use cake flour

It works best in cakes, particularly angel food cake, since it is so light, fluffy, and delicate. It’s also fantastic for sponge cakes, cookies, muffins, and scones.

Cupcakes with Cannoli
Shortcakes with strawberries
Christmas Log Cake
Scones with Cranberries and Vanilla Beans

Since it is softer and finer than all-purpose flour, it cannot always be used in place of all-purpose flour. If your recipe calls for a lot of moist ingredients, such as banana bread, hummingbird cupcakes, or triple chocolate banana bread, use all-purpose flour.

While keeping your newly created cake flour, keep it in an airtight container. I use these and adore them.

If you’re using the combination you just prepared for a recipe right away, measure out the quantity required since it will be more than 1 cup at this stage because you’ve added extra air. Look at the image below to understand what I mean:

I hope this was helpful! Is there anything more I should have spoken regarding this topic? Please let me know in the comments section below.

How to Make Cake Flour

Pin Print

Prep Time: 5mins

Total Time: 5mins

Servings: cup

Description

Don’t have cake flour? You will soon! All you need are all purpose flour, cornstarch, and a few minutes to make your own.

Equipment

Cups for measuring
Scoop or spoon
utensil with a straight edge
a medium-sized bowl
Tablespoon (measuring spoon) (measuring spoon)
strainer
Sieve mesh
Food Storage Containers by OXO

Ingredients

1 cup of all-purpose flour
2tablespoonscornstarch

Instructions

In a medium mixing bowl, combine 1 cup flour. Take out 2 tablespoons (just place it back in with the rest of your flour).
Mix in 2 tablespoons cornstarch.
Sift the ingredients into a separate basin using a mesh sieve. Perform this procedure once more.
If you’re using the combination right away, measure out the quantity required since you’ve added extra air and it’ll be more than 1 cup at this point.
Keep it in an airtight container. I use them and like them.

Notes

Measuring Flour: To properly measure flour, use a spoon to fluff up the flour in its container, then use a spoon to scoop it into a dry measuring cup. Use a knife or other straight-edged utensil to level the flour across the top of the measuring cup.

More Baking Basics

How to Measure Ingredients Correctly

The Importance of Room Temperature Butter

5 Baking Steps You Should Never Skip

Common Baking Ingredients’ Shelf Life

FAQs

How do you make regular flour into cake flour?

4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (105g) and 2 teaspoons cornstarch (14g). In a recipe, use in lieu of cake flour, replacing by equal weight or volume. To produce cake flour, follow these steps: 3 beaten eggs

How do you substitute all-purpose flour for cake flour?

To match the amount in 1 cup of all-purpose flour, add an additional 2 tablespoons per cup of cake flour. If you’re using all-purpose flour instead of cake flour, reverse the following ratios: Reduce the amount of AP flour by 2 tablespoons each cup of cake flour, and increase the amount of corn starch by 2 tablespoons per cup.

How to make 2 1 2 cups of cake flour?

Scoop 1 cup all-purpose flour into a mixing dish and set aside 2 teaspoons. Then stir in 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Sift or whisk everything together. Prepare as much as you need and use where cake flour is asked for in your recipes.

What are the ingredients in cake flour?

1 cup cake flour is made by combining 14 tablespoons all-purpose flour and 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Sift at least once after whisking the two together. We find that starting with one cup of all-purpose flour and then removing two teaspoons of it and substituting them with two tablespoons of cornstarch is simpler.

Is cake flour just all-purpose flour?

What exactly is Cake Flour? Cake flour is a low protein flour that has been finely ground. It has 7-9% protein, while all-purpose flour, a tougher wheat, has ranging from 10-12%.

Why use cake flour?

While cake flour has less protein, it also contains more carbohydrate. Overall, as compared to a higher protein flour product, using cake flour in a recipe will inhibit gluten production. Reduced gluten levels mean increased softness and tenderness in baked goods.

Does cake flour make a difference?

Cake flour is extra-finely crushed, resulting in a lighter, loosely-structured crumb with a fluffy texture. Due to its low gluten level, cake flour is great for baked items with a soft texture, making it simpler to produce lighter, tender textures when baking delicate sponges, cupcakes, muffins, and pastries.

Does cake flour need baking powder?

Cake flour has no rising agents. As a result, while using it, you must include baking powder or baking soda into your cake. While producing your own cake flour, keep in mind that cornstarch is not a rising agent. It’s what softens your wheat and cakes.

How do I substitute all-purpose flour for cake flour without cornstarch?

What exactly is this? Instead of 14 cup cornstarch and 1 34 cup all purpose flour, use 14 cup arrowroot powder. The arrowroot powder will also assist your baked products remain soft by preventing gluten from developing while they bake.

How many cups of cake flour in 2 cups of all-purpose flour?

To replace all-purpose flour with cake flour, use 1 cup + 2 tablespoons cake flour for every cup of all-purpose flour.