How to Change All-purpose Flour to Cake Flour

You can easily make cake flour from all-purpose flour.

Home cooks usually have all-purpose flour on hand. Cake flour, though, is not often found on the pantry shelves because it is rarely called for in recipes. Different types of flour contain different amounts of protein, and protein affects the texture and elasticity of the finished product. All-purpose flour, made from a combination of hard and soft flour, is approximately 10- to 12-percent protein. Cake flour is made from soft wheat flour and contains only 6- to 8-percent protein. Cake flour has a more delicate texture than all-purpose flour and is good for making cakes, cookies and pastries.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring cup
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Sieve or flour sifter
• 2 bowls
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch

Instructions

1. Sift the all-purpose flour, using a sieve or flour sifter, into a bowl.

2. Measure 3/4 cup of flour from the all-purpose flour you just sifted, and pour it in a new bowl. A cup of sifted flour will weigh less than a cup of unsifted flour because sifting creates more volume, so if you scoop sifted flour, you are scooping less of it. Therefore, it is a good idea to sift more all-purpose flour than you might need.

3. Add the cornstarch to the bowl containing 3/4 cup of sifted all-purpose flour.

4. Sift the cornstarch and flour together. This provides aeration to the mixture.

Tips & Warnings

• Three-quarter cup of all-purpose flour is equivalent to 1 cup of cake flour.

References

• Joy of Baking: Flour
• The Cook's Thesaurus: Wheat Flours

Resources

• Cook's Illustrated: Measuring 101: Techniques & Shortcuts