What if You Don't Have Cake Flour? Make Your Own.

The Southern Living Brown Sugar Pound Cake Madeline and I wanted to bake called for three cups of cake flour. Naturally, we didn't have any in our pantry. Nor did we really know what it was. Did it matter? Could we use all-purpose flour instead? We really wanted to make this cake!

What is cake flour?

Well, according to the dictionary, cake flour is a softer flour which is higher in protein, has a higher starch content, and produces a lighter texture in baked goods than all purpose flour.

How to Make Your Own Cake Flour

Some sources suggest that one cup of cake flour is equal to one cup less two tablespoons of all-purpose flour, sifted. That solution seems to address the texture/softness issue, but what about the starch?

The subtitution that made sense to me scientifically (if I should even be using the words me and scientifically in the same sentence) was the following:

For each cup of cake flour needed, remove two tablespoons from one cup of all-purpose flour and replace it with cornstarch. Then sift four or five times for a lighter texture.

It occurs to me now that an easier way might be to put two tablespoons of cornstarch in a dry meauring cup and fill it the rest of the way up with flour.

Does it work?

I won't know how it tastes until it's cut, but the resulting Brown Sugar Pound Cake is pure baking p@rn (and smells delicious):

Look for this post to disappear tomorrow evening if this gorgeous cake tastes like sawdust! If it does, at least there's vanilla ice cream!

The rest of the menu for this Christmas-Eve-Eve dinner with our next-door-neighbors is:

Homemade Maryland-Style Crab Cakes w/ Mustard Sauce
Duchess Potatoes
Creamed Spinach
Corn Pudding
Yeast Rolls (frozen)
Plenty of wine 
and Bellinis (Prosecco and peach puree)


Lots of cream, butter, mayonnaise, sugar and other carbs with a little seafood and a few vegetables thrown in for good measure! We spare no calories for special holiday dinners. There's plenty of time to eat healthy later...

Hope you're able to enjoy your holiday meals without guilt!