I am making a recipe that calls for cake flour not self-rising. It specifically states not self-rising. Can anyone confirm cake flour is not self-rising? Or are there different types of cake flour and I need to locate this type? The grocery store baker was unsure and no where on the King Arthur or Softasilk cake flour box does it mention not self-rising.

I'm making Sylvia Weinstock's angel food cake recipe below
Ingredients
3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter , at room temperature
2 cups sugar
6 large egg whites , at room temperature


Read more: http://www.oprah.com/food/Sylvia-Weinstocks-Angel-Food-Cake-with-Orange-Buttercreams-Recipe#ixzz1xu1n7cTX

If the package does not say it's self-rising, it's not self-rising. You can confirm by checking the ingredients, if it doesn't include a leavening agent like baking soda or baking powder it's not self-rising.

Self rising cake flour is a regional product. Some US markets do not carry it.

The King Arthur website has links to nutritional information for their products. You can download and save these for your reference (in case of allergies would be the primary reason).

For the Great White North, in Canada, pastry/cake flour is NOT self-rising.

How to Make Cake Flour



All-Purpose flour (just under one cup)
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
Preparation:

1. Place two tablespoons of cornstarch in a one-cup measure.

2. Fill the rest of the cup with all-purpose flour.

3. Use in place of the cake flour in any recipe.

The name of this cake recipe is misleading. Most angel food cake recipes have NO butter or milk in the batter.

For "classic" angel food cake the substitution of cornstarch doesn't work very well. You have to sift the flour, measure it, then sift with half the sugar 3X to get it fine enough to fold into the egg white meringue. There is NO baking powder in "classic" angel food cake.

For example: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/lemon-angel-food-cake-2174

I don't see anywhere in that recipe title, either here or on the web link that claims that this is THE "classic" angel food cake. And this post does nothing to help answer the question.

Self rising flours are usually labeled as so, right on the front of the package. If there is no leavening on the ingredient label, like another poster stated, then it isn't self rising.

In my experience self rising cake flour is quite rare to find in a grocery store, actually I've never seen it. I also don't recall ever seeing a cake recipe calling for self rising cake flour, I've seen some that called for self rising flour, but not specifically of the cake flour variety. I think that you are safe picking up a box of Softasilk or Swan's Down.

Unfortunately grocery store bakers aren't required to know how to bake from scratch, everything either comes pre-made or just needs final preperation (proofing and baking, cakes come in pre made).