How To Make Your Own Cake Flour

Learn how to make your own cake flour in just a few easy steps!

Hey everyone! It’s Monday…again…Ugh. I know. Right? However, I have to admit something. I am actually starting to look forward to Mondays now because it means I get to share another Baking Basics post with you! I’m totally loving writing these posts for you in this weekly series. I love sharing with you all my baking bits of knowledge.

If you haven’t been following along, here is what you’ve missed so far! We have covered how to make your own buttermilk, how to soften your butter quickly (3 different ways!) and 10 common baking substitutions.

The last one comes with a free printable cheatsheet that you can get right here….

This week, I’ve decide to show you how easy it to make your own cake flour! As a baker, I could potentially have an entire cupboard devoted to flours. I really don’t want to waste that kind of kitchen space and I am assuming you don’t either!

The only flours I do keep on hand:

All Purpose Flour (This is the warhorse of flours and I use a lot of it obviously in pretty much everything. I like to use an unbleached flour)
Bread Flour (this has a higher protein content and is great when making pizza dough and I use this in my chocolate chip cookies too!)
Gluten Free Flour Blend (I do like making some gluten free cookies once in a while so having this on hand is great)
Almond Flour (meal)- this is a must for macarons!
Whole Wheat Flour (I like using half whole wheat and half all purpose in my recipes)

The one flour I do not keep on hand is cake flour! But I use it in a lot of recipes! So am I lying to you by saying I use it. Heck no. Never. I simply just make my own! And you will be surprised how easy it is!

What is Cake Flour?

Cake flour is the “softest” of all the flours on your shelf. Meaning, the cake flour has the lowest protein content (about 8-9 % ) which means when used in cakes and cupcakes will result in light and tender layers and cupcakes.

Why use cake flour vs. other flours?

When you do want those light and fluffy cakes and tender cupcakes reach for cake flour. Cake flour doesn’t hold up as the other flours so doesn’t provide the structure in your baked goods. Which is great for cakes, but not so much for pizza.

Can I substitute cake flour with another flour?

If a recipe called for cake flour, I would only substitute with all purpose flour. To make this substitution, you need to bust out that kitchen scale! If you haven’t invested in one yet, what are you waiting for?! The kitchen scale is something I absolutely could not live without in my kitchen. I use mine all the time. Because these flours don’t weigh the same, you can’t just simply use your dry measuring cups (which are based on volume) and not weight so it can be inaccurate.

Let’s make this simple:

1 cup of all purpose flour = 4.5 ounces

So if you need to replace with cake flour, measure out the cake flour on your kitchen scale until you reach the 4.5 ounces.

How do you make cake flour?

Alright, you’re ready?

Start by measuring out your flour. Here I have measured out a cup of flour into a mesh sieve set over my mixing bowl.

Then I remove one tablespoon of the flour.

I replace that tablespoon of flour with one tablespoon of cornstarch.

Then I simply sift!

Now you could make up a batch and keep it in an airtight container. Or just simply make some each time you need some. Just adjust your recipe if needed. For example, if you want to make my perfect vanilla cupcakes, the recipe calls for 3 cups cake flour. So you would measure out the 3 cups of flour, remove 3 tablespoon, and replace with 3 Tablespoons of corn starch. Just don’t forget to sift!

There you go! I hope you find this post and all the baking basics posts helpful! If there is a topic you would love for me to cover let me know, I’m all ears