Help, Sub. For Cake Flour!

Baking By Flirtatious Updated 18 Dec 2009 , 7:34am by JanH

Flirtatious Posted 18 Dec 2009 , 1:25am

I have a lot of thing to do tonight and dont have time to run back to the store ! im all out of cake flour can i sub with all purpose flour

7 replies

indydebi Posted 18 Dec 2009 , 1:35am

post #2 of 8

I'm not a scratch baker so I dont' know. But try reposting this with a more specific subject line or changing this subject line, if you can, such as "Can I sub AP flour for cake flour?" and you'll get more hits from folks who know. Especially since you're on a tight time frame.

FromScratch Posted 18 Dec 2009 , 1:49am

post #3 of 8

You can... the results will be a little different, but it will turn out. In general use 1 cup of AP four minus 2 TBSP for each cup of cake flour. Some will add 2 TBSP of corn starch per adjusted cup of AP flour when making the substitution.

prterrell Posted 18 Dec 2009 , 4:01am

post #4 of 8

Yes, you can use regular AP. As the PP stated, subtract 2 tablespoons of AP flour from each cup. The results won't be exactly the same, but it will be close.

aundrea Posted 18 Dec 2009 , 4:14am

post #5 of 8

just curious- if i make the cake extender receipe, what would be the difference in both taste and texture from using AP flour and cake flour? or is there a difference. and would there be an adjustment in measurements?
it calls for 1 cup flour.
---good luck with your cake. and i dont mean to highjack your post, but never thought about a difference in the flour so this is really interesting to me too.

FromScratch Posted 18 Dec 2009 , 5:02am

post #6 of 8

AP flour has more protein in it than cake flour (10-12% in AP vs. 6-8% in cake flour) so there is a difference in texture when using one or the other. Cake flour is also bleached to breakdown the proteins even more, so there is a different taste with the chlorination. I can taste the difference in baked goods made with bleached vs. unbleached flours. Bleached flour has a smell that is very different than unbleached.

The lower protein content of cake flour makes for a more tender cake. I'm not sure if you would notice it in a doctored mix as much as you would in a scratch recipe, but I imagine it would be a little different and side by side you might be able to tell the difference. Bread flour has even more protein (12-14%) than AP flour which gives that wonderful chewy texture you want with bread, but wouldn't want with cakes. There is also pastry flour which is similar to cake flour at 8-10% protein but is unbleached.