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ALL ABOUT CAKE FLOUR
- In baking, the type of flour used will drastically affect the outcome.
- Different types of flour have different percentages of protein
- Cake Flour has a lower protein content than all purpose flour
- A lower protein content will produce less gluten formation when mixed with the liquid in the recipe, yielding a softer, more tender, cake or cupcake.
- Cake flour is made from wheat
- Flour naturally compacts itself in its bag so make sure you are measuring it properly before adding it to your recipe (Click here to watch my VIDEO on How To Properly Measure Flour).
- Even a few extra ounces of flour can drastically compromise the outcome of your baked goods.
- By scooping the flour into your measuring cup, straight from the bag, the flour becomes packed into the cup and will result in too much flour in your recipe.
- Too much flour will result in a tough, dense and dry baked goods. This is one of the main factors in a recipe not coming out "right", and is a very common baking mistake made by so many at-home bakers.
- Flour helps give volume and provide support and structure in baked goods.
- Flour can also be used for dusting pans before baking and coating nuts, fruit, and mix-ins before adding to the batter to prevent them from sinking to the bottom during baking.
- When flour is mixed with the liquid in the recipe, the proteins in the flour bond together causing gluten to form, producing toughness and elasticity in your baked good. The leavening agent (usually baking powder or baking soda and sometimes yeast) then fills that gluten with air pockets. As your baked good is heated in the oven it will rise even more until the gluten sets, giving a fluffy and spongy structure to dense, wet dough.
- When the recipe simply states "flour", all-purpose flour is usually called for.
- If your recipes says "x cups flour, sifted", measure first, then sift. If your recipe says "x cups sifted flour", sift, then measure.
- If the recipe calls for a "heaping" cup/teaspoon/tablespoon, leave a small mound of ingredient overflowing on top of your measuring cup/spoon and do not level off the top.
- If the recipe calls for a "scant" cup/teaspoon/tablespoon, do not fill the cup/spoon up to the top, leaving a small gap between the ingredient and the rip of the cup/spoon.
- It is always best to weigh out your flour using a kitchen scale for accuracy!
How To Make Homemade Cake Flour Substitute
Scoop 1 cup of all-purpose flour into a bowl and remove 2 tablespoons. Then, add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Ingredients
- all-purpose flour
- cornstarch
1 cup cake flour = 1 cup, minus 2 tablespoons bleached, all-purpose flour (100g), plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch (12g)
Directions For every 1 cup of cake flour:
Scoop 1 cup of all-purpose flour into a bowl and remove 2 tablespoons. Then, add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Sift or whisk it all together.
Make as much as you need and use as directed in your recipe where cake flour is called for.
Flour Protein Content:
Cake Flour (6-8% protein content) has the lowest protein content, resulting in a more soft, tender, delicate crumb, so I like to use it for most of my cakes and cupcakes (To make your own cake flour substitute check out my video above). Cake flour is made from soft wheat and has the lowest gluten content of any wheat flour. It is typically bleached and enriched. The bleaching process makes the protein a bit stronger in the flour, allowing it to hold the structure of a baked good with a large
amount of sugar and fat without falling or collapsing in the center.
Pastry Flour (8-10% protein content) Pastry flour has a slightly higher protein content than cake flour, yet it has less gluten than all purpose flour. It is perfect for making a tender yet sturdy pie crusts. It is usually unbleached (causing more spread in baked goods than a bleached cake flour).
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (9% protein content) is made of a low-protein soft wheat with whole grains incorporated. It has a lower protein content than whole wheat flour. It can be used in by substituting some of the all-purpose flour in most recipes for a healthy alternative. It is not as commonly used as most other types of flour.
All-Purpose Flour (10-12% protein content) is a mixture of high and low gluten protein flours, used in the most diverse amount of recipes. It is the most common type of flour and can readily be found in most grocery stores. It can be found in bleached and unbleached versions (sometimes enriched), which are interchangeable. In baking, it is great for most cookies, cakes, muffins, biscuits, pancakes, and pastries. When the recipe simply states "flour", all-purpose flour is usually called for.
Self-Rising Flour is cake flour or all-purpose flour that has baking powder and salt mixed in with it. This can make a recipe more simple to be able to skip the step of sifting together the dry ingredients, however I prefer to add my own leavening agents and salt to regular cake and all-purpose flours as necessary per specific recipes, as some might require more or less than what is already premixed. This way you can adjust amount accordingly. (To make your own self-rising flour check out my video here)
Bread flour (11-14% protein content) is made exclusively from hard wheat flour. It can be found in bleached and unbleached versions (sometimes enriched). Its high gluten content gives it shape and structure, making it great for breads, pizza dough and muffins.
Whole Wheat Flour (14% protein content) is made of ground hard wheat that is high in gluten, containing all of the nutrients found in the wheat kernel, such as wheat germ, bran. It has more fiber, protein and calcium than white flour, along with fewer calories and carbs. It yields a denser baked good, perfect for bread making. Most recipes work best when you substitute up to half the whole wheat flour in the recipe for all-purpose flour or bread flour.
Flour Weight Chart:
- All-Purpose Flour:
- 1 tablespoon = 1/4 oz = 7.5g
- 1/4 cup = 1.25 oz = 30g
- 1/3 cup = 1.5 oz = 40g
- 1/2 cup = 2.5 oz = 60g
- 2/3 cup = 3.25 oz = 79.5g
- 3/4 cup = 3.5 oz = 90g
- 1 cup = 4.25 oz = 120g
- Cake flour:
- 1 tablespoon = 7g
- 1/4 cup = 1 oz = 28g
- 1/3 cup = 37g
- 1/2 cup = 2 oz = 56g
- 2/3 cup = 74g
- 3/4 cup = 3 oz = 84g
- 1 cup = 4 oz = 112g
- Bread flour:
- 1 tablespoon = 8g
- 1/4 cup = 32g
- 1/3 cup = 42.6g
- 1/2 cup = 64g
- 2/3 cup = 85.3g
- 3/4 cup = 96g
- 1 cup = 4.5oz = 128g
Conversion Chart:
- 1 dash = 1/16 teaspoon
- 1 pinch = 1/8 teaspoon
- 1/2 tablespoons = 1 1/2 teaspoons
- 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons
- 1/8 cup = 2 tablespoons
- 1/4 cup = 4 tablespoons
- 1/3 cup = 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoons
- 3/8 cup = 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
- 1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons
- 2/3 cup = 10 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
- 5/8 cup = 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons
- 3/4 cup = 12 tablespoons
- 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
- 1 cup = 16 tablespoons
