The Easy Way to Make Cake Flour Substitute (2024)

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The Easy Way to Make Cake Flour Substitute? ›

You can make cake flour at home with just two ingredients: all-purpose flour and cornstarch! To do so, measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour into a bowl. Then, scoop out 2 Tablespoons of the flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch. You can also scale the recipe up and down accordingly.

How to make cake flour: Whisk together 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (105g) all-purpose flour and 2 tablespoons (14g) cornstarch. Use in place of cake flour in a recipe, substituting by equal weight or volume.

To make two cups of cake-and-pastry flour (cake flour), combine 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour with 1/4 cup cornstarch; proceed with your recipe. The easiest way to do this substitution is to put 2 tbsp of cornstarch in the bottom of a 1-cup measuring cup, then fill the cup as usual with all-purpose flour and level top.

Use: All-Purpose Flour and Cornstarch

To get the right ratio, measure out 1 cup of flour, then remove 2 tablespoons. Add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and sift together several times to ensure it's well mixed. Repeat this process for as many cups as you need, or to make a large batch and save for later use.

It's a great question—but first things first, let's talk about what cake flour even is. Turns out it's a finely milled version of all-purpose flour that's lightened with cornstarch. It contains the least amount of protein of all the wheat flours on the market—about eight percent (compared to all-purpose's 11 percent).

Cake flour is milled from soft wheat and contains the lowest amount of protein when compared to other flours, around 5 to 8%. For comparison's sake, all purpose flour is usually 10 to 13% protein, which can produce good results for almost any recipe.

Using cornstarch in place of flour as a thickener in any recipe is an easy swap: If a recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of flour, you need 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.

Then combine about 70 grams of bread flour with about 60 grams of cake flour. That will produce the middle-of-the-road compromise of all-purpose flour. Professional bakers don't measure flour in cups but instead measure the flour by weight for more accuracy.

How to make cake flour in bulk? ›

Baking powder will be labeled "double acting" or "triple acting." In a recipe, the correct amount of baking powder is 1 teaspoon per cup of flour (at the maximum 1-1/4 teaspoons); for baking soda it's 1/4 teaspoon per cup of flour. Get the leavening right and you'll have lighter, finer textured cakes.

We tried using bread flour in several baked good recipes, including yellow cake and sugar cookies, but didn't have success. The cake had a dense, gummy texture and the cookies lacked crispness. There are important differences between wheat flours related to the proteins that form gluten when combined with water.

Making a cake flour substitute is easy with the following two ingredients: all-purpose flour and either cornstarch or arrowroot powder. Start with one level cup of AP flour, remove two tablespoons of the flour, and add two tablespoons of cornstarch or arrowroot powder back in.

You can make cake flour at home with just two ingredients: all-purpose flour and cornstarch! To do so, measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour into a bowl. Then, scoop out 2 Tablespoons of the flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch. You can also scale the recipe up and down accordingly.

Cake Flour vs Self-Raising Flour: Cake flour is finely ground wheat flour with low protein and gluten levels but is bleached for health reasons. Self-raising flour, on the other hand, is not as finely grounded but has more protein and gluten content, with additional ingredients like salt and baking powder.

Because plain flour contains no extra ingredients, including rising agents, your cakes and pastries won't rise if you use this type of flour as it is. You'll need to add a rising agent, such as yeast or baking powder, into the plain flour if you want your baked goods to rise and become appetisingly fluffy.

Some of my favorite brands are Swan's Down, King Arthur Flour, and Softasilk. They are all great products and will yield excellent results. But, if you find yourself in a pinch (or in Europe where it is more difficult to find) – don't panic! You CAN use all purpose flour as a substitute with a little doctoring.