Here’s How To Make Cake Flour At Home In A Baking Emergency-
Baking emergencies can be all too common, especially this time of year.
THE FOLLOWING WRITTEN CONTENT BY FELICIA LALOMIA
If you’re an avid baker (or just made a friend a birthday cake in the last year), then you’ve probably got cake flour in your pantry. The first time you came across the specialty flour in a dessert recipe, though, it might have thrown you for a loop or simply had you wondering: Who knew they had flour just for cakes? Here’s a look at the lovely stuff that makes so many desserts we love possible.
What is cake flour?
Cake flour is a specialty flour that is ground down to be incredibly fine. The texture is much softer than all-purpose flour, resulting in a more tender dessert.
It’s also lower in protein than other flours, and it’s the protein present in flour that helps create gluten. The more gluten developed, the chewier the end product. Consider bread: You want that to have a chewy texture, so you knead it to develop gluten, which comes from the protein. Nobody likes a chewy cake, though. And the low protein present in cake flour makes sure of that, creating an airy batter and light and fluffy crumb.
How can I make cake flour at home?
If you see that a recipe you are making calls for cake flour, it’s best to buy the real thing when you can. Unlike cooking, baking is a precise science. But we’ve all had moments where we are in a pinch and are too far into the cooking process to head back to the store. Here’s how to make your own substitution with common baking ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.
Ready for the equation? If the recipe calls for a cup of cake flour, replace it with one cup minus two tablespoons of all-purpose flour, plus two tablespoons of cornstarch. Read more from Delish.
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