How to Substitute Cake Flour

There are two good reasons why you should substitute cake flour carefully when your recipe calls for it. Firstly, cake flour has far less protein in it than all-purpose flour. For this reason cake flour yields velvety soft cakes.

The second reason to substitute cake flour with care is that, if you substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour, or even for self-rising cake flour, your measurements will be off and the recipe will be less successful.

Martha Stewart recommends that you substitute cake flour with all-purpose flour and cornstarch. For 1 cup of cake flour use 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour and 2 tbsp. of cornstarch. The corn starch has no gluten (protein) and will, therefore, create a good substitute for cake flour.

In addition, it is best to sift the substitute cake flour 3 to 5 times until it is finely separated and airy. The reduction of gluten levels and the sifting will allow you to substitute cake flour fairly well, although you should keep in mind that real cake flour will always have a lower protein content (and consequently gluten content) and will therefore yield the lightest cakes.

Finally, remember never to substitute cake flour with bread flour, which has the highest gluten content-the very opposite dough texture that you want for cakes.

More Baking Inspiration:

Super Easy Cookies

10 Snowy Coconut-Cake-Recipes

Tips for Baking Bakery-Quality Bread at Home

10 Secrets to the Best Fruit Tart Crust and Filling

How to Bake Bread Dinner Rolls from Scratch

Reference:

Martha Stewart, Living Magazine: "Ask Martha", November, 2009, pp. 134-136. Issue # 192.