Can someone PLEASE explain to me the difference in cake flour & AP flour? . . . and if I don't have cake flour, how do you substitute a recipe with AP or Self-rising?

I have only recently weaned myself off cake mixes . . . but the 'cake flour' racket is about to get to me!!

Thanks, Diane

The difference is the protein content. All purpose flour is made from a blend of both soft and hard wheat flour, while cake flour is soft wheat flour.

The protein content determines the amount of gluten that develops during the mixing process. The more protein a flour has, the more gluten produced, the tougher the texture of the final baked good. Gluten provides the structure in a baked good.

Self rising flour has baking powder ( and salt, I think?) I never use it. it's not worth the math required to figure out the proportion of leavener.

You can substitute AP for cake flour and vise versa. 1 cup AP minus 2 Tablespoons equals 1 cup cake flour, although I prefer the actual cake flour texture.

HTH!

Yep, just what SugarplumStudio said.

List of substitutions for common baking ingredients:

http://www.joyofbaking.com/IngredientSubstitution.html

I add two Tbsp. of cornstarch to the AP flour when substituting for cake flour to maintain the proportion of dry ingredients.

Different types of flours explained:

http://tinyurl.com/2xubmq

HTH

Hello everyone I have also been wondering about this. If you use cake flour and the recipe calls for baking soda or baking powder can you still add?

Thanks
Cheryl C

I see references to the butter and not having to refrig, but what about the milk???
I just use the old basic recipe with water, but would like to try the dream whip and milk..sound yummy

clc404, all of my recipes have been converted from AP flour to cake flour, and I use the same amount of baking powder and / or baking soda that was stated in the recipe

Sorry, post on wrong forum..

Thanks Stacy