You only need two common ingredients—all-purpose flour and cornstarch—to make a homemade cake flour substitute. Sifting them together is key.
As my baking experience grows, I use cake flour more and more in my baking. There’s no denying that cake flour produces the softest, most tender cakes and cupcakes. I try to keep my kitchen stocked with this crucial ingredient, but sometimes I quickly run out when I’m recipe testing. So in a pinch, I make this super easy cake flour substitute.
Let’s back up for a minute though.
What is Cake Flour?
Cake flour is a low protein flour that’s milled into a fine consistency. It contains about 7-9% protein, while all-purpose flour, a harder flour, has anywhere between 10-12%. What does this mean for baking? You see, protein content is directly related to gluten formation. Cake flour’s lower protein means less gluten is formed as you mix the batter together. Less gluten formation equates to a softer, fluffier texture.
Bread flour has a high protein content, which means more gluten forms during the mixing process. Super basic breakdown:
Cake flour = low protein = less gluten = softest texture = great for vanilla cake and vanilla cupcakes
All-purpose flour = medium protein = moderate gluten = suitable for anything, from chocolate chip cookies to pizza dough
Bread flour = high protein = more gluten formation = hardest texture = great for artisan bread and bagels
What Does That Mean for Baking?
Cake flour’s soft, tender texture directly translates into your baked good.
However, some recipes simply can’t withstand fine cake flour. Chocolate cake, for example, already has cocoa powder– which is a VERY fine dry ingredient. The combination of cake flour and cocoa powder usually results in a flimsy cake. Additionally, carrot cake and banana cake contain additional wet ingredients (the fruits or veggies), so cake flour isn’t really ideal. You need a stronger flour like all-purpose flour.
I stick to cake flour when making vanilla cake, white cake, pineapple upside-down cake, red velvet cake, and other cakes where a fluffy texture is favorable. I’ve been successful substituting cake flour for all-purpose flour to create a softer1-layer sprinkle cake. Make a 1:1 substitution with no other changes to the recipe.
How to Make a Homemade Cake Flour Substitute
Step 1: Sift 14 Tablespoons (110g) all-purpose flour and 2 Tablespoons (16g) cornstarch together two times.
Step 2: Measure () 1 cup from this mixture. You’ll have about 1 cup anyway, but sometimes sifting can produce more volume since it’s adding air.
Step 3: Now you have 1 cup of cake flour that you can use in most recipes requiring cake flour. If the recipe requires more than 1 cup cake flour, you can do this process in bulk, but I find it’s better to make each cup of cake flour separately.
Note that delicate baked goods meant to have an extraordinary light texture like angel food cake and white cake should ideally use real cake flour. If you’re in a pinch and don’t have cake flour for other recipes, use this substitute!
PS: Here’s the flour canister pictured above. I use these for my flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and confectioners’ sugar. They’re awesome!
If you’re purchasing cake flour, though, I’m happy to share my favorite brands. I love Swans Down and Softasilk. (Not working with either, just a genuine fan!) I use unbleached when I can find it, otherwise I just stick with bleached. Both brands provide quality results for a good price. You can find cake flour in the baking aisle next to the all-purpose flour.
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Homemade Cake Flour Substitute
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You only need two common ingredients—all-purpose flour and cornstarch—to make a homemade cake flour substitute. Sifting them together is key. Delicate baked goods meant to have an extraordinary light texture like angel food cake and white cake should ideally use real cake flour. If you’re in a pinch and don’t have cake flour for other recipes, use this substitute.
Sift flour and cornstarch together in a large bowl. Repeat so the mixture is sifted twice. Sifting not only mixes the two ingredients together appropriately, it aerates the mixture so the consistency is similar to real cake flour.
Measure () 1 cup from this mixture. You’ll have about 1 cup anyway, but sometimes sifting can produce more volume since it’s adding air.
Now you have 1 cup of cake flour that you can use in any recipes requiring cake flour. If the recipe requires more than 1 cup cake flour, you can do this process in bulk, but I find it’s better to make each cup of cake flour separately.
Notes
You need 14 Tablespoons (3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons; 110g) of spoon & leveled all-purpose flour. Sometimes it’s easier to measure 1 cup (16 Tablespoons) then remove 2 Tablespoons than to individually measure 14 Tablespoons. Alternatively, you could measure 3/4 cup flour then add 2 Tablespoons.
Cornstarch is extra fine and lowers the gluten formation in the all-purpose flour, similar to cake flour. In the UK, cornstarch is referred to as corn flour. Make sure you are not using cornmeal. They are completely different ingredients.
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.
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.
To substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour use 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour for every cup of all-purpose flour. Make your own - one cup sifted cake flour can be substituted with 3/4 cup (84 grams) sifted bleached all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (15 grams) cornstarch.
For starters, cake flour is low-protein (typically 5–8% protein as compared to 10–13% for AP), and that's because it's milled from low-protein (a.k.a. soft) wheat. This means it does not produce as much gluten as regular AP flour and can yield more light, tender results.
Use cake flour in recipes where you want an extra-light, extra-fluffy texture, like Angel Food Cake, Cream Cheese Pound Cake, or Buttermilk-Chocolate Cake. You can also use cake flour to bring a more tender crumb to other sweets, like Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.
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.
Because all-purpose flour is designed to work for every type of bake, its gluten content is moderate, at around 10 to 13%. Cake flour, however, has one of the lowest gluten contents, at around 7 to 9%, which makes a much softer, lighter crumb. Another important difference is grain size.
As McGee writes, "High-protein flours absorb substantially more water than low-protein flours, and so will produce stiffer doughs with the same proportion of water." That's why cake flour, which has a lower protein content, is better for cake recipes, where you want the dough to be soft and pliable and moist.
No it doesn't. Cake flour doesn't contain any raising agents. So when using it, you will need to use baking powder or baking soda into your cake. When making your own homemade cake flour just note that cornstarch is not a raising agent.
Any baked good — especially cake —with too much flour will be dry, hard, crumbly … take your unhappy pick. For best results, please weigh your flour (and other ingredients).
Cakes with very fine crumbs or that rely on eggs or egg whites for lift, such as sponge or angel food cakes, benefit from sifted flour. You eliminate the risk of clumps and ensure that the flour can be stirred into the batter quicker and easier without knocking all the air out of your beaten eggs.
The bleached cake flour (6.9% protein) was the tallest of the layers, with a very fine crumb. It was moist without being dense. The unbleached cake flour blend (9.4%) wasn't as tall, but the crumb was even and fine. The cake was a little more dense, moist, and tasty.
Cakes: For light, delicate cakes like yellow cake, angel food cake, and chiffon cake, use bleached flour, especially when the recipe calls for cake flour. For sturdier cakes like carrot cake, pumpkin loaves, quick breads, and muffins that can tolerate a denser texture, use either bleached or unbleached.
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.
If you opt for all cake flour cookies, less gluten is formed when you mix the cookie dough. The resulting cookie consistency post-baking is delicate, softer, fluffier, and, well, more cake-like. The color may end up paler, and the edges might not be as crispy. But the flavor should still deliver.
Flours with a high protein content create more gluten than flours with a low protein content. Although gluten is important for the structure of all bakes, too much of it will create a chewy, tough texture. So, when baking cakes, cookies, pastry and slices choose a flour that is low in protein – the lower the better.
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.
If you need to substitute cornstarch to thicken liquid in a recipe that calls for ¼ cup (four tablespoons) flour, you only need two tablespoons cornstarch. If you're substituting flour for cornstarch to thicken the sauce in your recipe, substitute two tablespoons all-purpose flour for every one tablespoon cornstarch.
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.
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