Ever been baffled by the word “cake flour” in your next “a-must” recipe. Well fret no more amigos because here’s how you can make your very own cake flour in a matter of minutes 🙂 Turn your all-purpose flour into Cake flour.

Cakeflour has a 6-8% protein content and is made from soft wheat flour. It is chlorinated to further break down the strength of the gluten and is smooth and velvety in texture. Good for making cakes (especially white cakes and biscuits) and cookies where a tender and delicate texture is desired.

What you need

For 1 cup cake flour

Flour———————– 84 g
Corn flour—————— 15 g

Sift together 5 times and you have your cake flour.

And if you don’t have a weighing machine or a scale, here’s what you can do for 1 cup cake flour.

Take 1 measuring cup of regular all-purpose flour or Maida, and take out two leveled tablespoons out of it and replace it with two tablespoons of Corn flour, sift fives times and you have your cake flour ready in a matter of minutes. Sifting flour this much gives it a very light, airy, fluffy yet moist texture, secret behind the light texture everyone craves for.

Now the question arises…

Why is it important to sift flour?

In earlier days, sifting flour served several purposes.  When flour was milled using stone wheels, as opposed to modern steel rollers, sifting removed bits of the millstone and other impurities that might be found in the flour.  With modern milling equipment, tighter food regulations and higher quality control, the need to sift to remove impurities is greatly reduced.

Sifting also breaks up clumps, adds air to the flour which helps produce lighter cakes and pastries, and makes measurement more uniform.

As flour sits, it slowly settles, becoming more compacted.  A cup of sifted flour may weigh 20% – 25% less than a cup of flour that has settled.  This difference can significantly affect the results, making breads and cakes more dense.

Courtesy: Joy of baking

Courtesy: Kitchen Savvy