Homemade Cake Flour - Does it REALLY work the same?? Let’s test.

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Well, I wish I could give you more simple result or explanation😭 but I hope the video was helpful for you!! I think there is still a lot of room to improve for this homemade cake flour like I mentioned in the video. I’ll keep testing and give you updated!

[@mariahalcoforadopinheiro4]

Have you tried potato starch instead of corn starch? I’ve seen some bakers say is better for the substitution than corn starch

[@lisahinton9682]

Once again, you did so much work to make this video. I am so impressed, and I learned a lot today. Thanks, Aya!

[@mollybeee]

I follow a baker from New Zealand and she uses the substitute all the time because cake flour is not available there because of the way it is processed. I use her recipes all the time and they're terrific.

[@akritisharma9541]

Can you tell me the name of baker you follow

[@KNiang-px9um]

​@@akritisharma9541Probly MK bakes

[@KNiang-px9um]

She takes out 2tablespoons of ap flour and adds 2tablespoons of cornstarch

[@elf7355]

Thank you so much Aya for this detailed explanation! I've been trying to figure out how to calculate the ratio and your video has been super helpful!!

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Awesome!😊❤️ I’m glad it was helpful.

[@Scotty2-rescue]

​@@PastryLivingwithAya I've never baked 1 thing in my entire life and I'm 59. But I L O V E & eat mounds of Cake from different places & I have concluded I will try and make what each are missing... 1 place has such a thin layer of cake& Loads of Butter Cream....Which I love the taste of their buttercream but it's not enuff cake to balance it. & They are expensive but not worth it. The other the cake is light airy & moist and the buttercream is horrible it's made with granulated sugar & greasy frosting made w shortening....uggg good cake ruined by grease. So I want to try and make what I love to eat...... 😂😂😂 I ordered cake pans and utensils so I'm waiting on those before I embark on my journey I was worried about my pan choices I don't like aluminum so I got 2. stainkess steel 2 carbon steel something or other & 2 aluminum. No spring pans I'm not ready for that...any suggestions besides not to eat all the cake?

[@jamesoliver6625]

Aya...I did my own tests using biscuits as my test. My original recipe required a blend of 50% AP and 50% store cake flour, cut with both butter and shortening to give me the biscuit structure I desired. Many advised that to get the best biscuit I had to use 100% White Lily Brand flour and when I did the structure was way too soft. White Lily is 100% "Soft Red Winter wheat" (an actual agronomic variety) with the lowest protein level as it grows. Summarizing, I find that mixing 50:50 Store AP with Store cake flour OR 50:50 Store AP with White Lily branded gives me the identical structure/softness compromise I'm looking for and so when cake flour is desired, I use White Lily brand flour.

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Thanks for sharing! Is the whiteLily brand cake flour? Do you know the protein content?

[@jamesoliver6625]

@@PastryLivingwithAya White Lily is just a high quality utility brand of flour sold mostly here in the South and Texas where I am. It is made exclusively from "soft red winter" wheat which as a specie of wheat is known to be in the 6-7.5% range. They don't sell it as cake flour specifically, just as AP, or SR in my store.My store AP flour is 10%. The White Lily is 6.3%. My son also keeps King Arthur AP because he makes a lot of breads and it runs around 13%. It depends on the specie of wheat. Pasta wheat, "Durham", is different as well.

[@annchovy6]

@@jamesoliver6625 White Lily is specifically pastry flour though it’s marketed as all-purpose flour. That is a specific type of flour, though it’s not something that people who don’t work in food service tend to be familiar with, as most places only sell all-purpose, cake, and bread flour. It is lower gluten than all-purpose flour, but higher than cake flour. I prefer biscuits made only with all-purpose flour as I think flour like White Lily lacks enough gluten to produce a really good biscuit. But of course which all-purpose flour you use matters. A lot of people use King Arthur all-purpose flour not realizing that it’s basically a bread flour. The type of wheat (red/white, spring/winter) that goes into AP flour affects both protein content and just as important and ignored, starch content. I’m not sure where you’re getting that White Lily is that low gluten, because it’s in the 8-9% range, as pastry flours typically are, whereas cake flour is below 8% typically.

[@jamesoliver6625]

​@@annchovy6 I get my White Lily in my regular grocery store right next to the store brand AP. My son was in food service while in school (cooked something like 29,000 steaks in 6 years) but we're just DIY bakers. We keep 7 types of flour in the pantry plus 3 corn grinds, almond, 3 sugars, you know, the regulars. We just like to experiment with baked goods. Straight AP is not light enough, straight White Lily is too soft. Thats why I blend flours and use two fats. I also have a french-door type of air fryer and since I made my first batch in it as an experiment, I haven't used my oven for biscuits since. Now if we start talking cornbread, it's another story.

[@WendyS1822]

Wow! This was so interesting - you’re amazing!! Love all your videos - thank you for sharing all of your talents and knowledge with us!

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Thank you🥰🥰

[@utkbyuca89]

Good explanation. Now I must have cake flour on hand.

[@annchovy6]

A supposedly better alternative if you don’t have cake flour is to microwave AP flour because it mimics some of the bleaching process, which is a big aspect of cake flour. Stella Parks has written on why AP flour and cornstarch is a poor substitute. One of the big issues with it isn’t the protein, but the starch content and how much liquid a starchier mix will absorb. “Cornstarch may dilute the overall protein content of the flour, but it jacks up the starch in a totally different way. The result is a highly absorbent dry mix that soaks up way too much moisture, for a cake that bakes up heavy and dense.”

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

I’ve heard of baking all purpose flour to create cake flour. I need to test that next!

[@gardengalsu]

" ... is to microwave AP flour ..." for how long? I don't want to create a flour 'bomb'! LOL ...

[@gardengalsu]

@@PastryLivingwithAya Same request - - - bake for how long? I understand you can bake plain flour to get ~ what is it now ~ browned flour(?) for an altogether different purpose.

[@sunflowerhk100]

What is the science behind microwaving AP flour to make cake flour? Is that to evaporate the water? I just baked 65g of AP flour at 100 degrees celcius for 10 minutes and it came out to weigh 55g. I don't know why. Anyway I used the pre-baked flour to make a chiffon cake which has a better texture with a dome (unlike previously the center would sink)

[@sallyparsons8111]

So grateful for the work that went into this. Immediately subscribed, thank you!!

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Aww thank you🥰 and Welcome!!!🙌🏻

[@goldenjourneys1003]

Thank you Aya.Such a very good explanation and it help us to follow the right formula if ever we run out of cake flour.

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Thank you🤗

[@Stardust_4300]

Have you tried White Lily Flour? It's close to 9% protein but it's made from soft red wheat & the only substitute for it is cake flour. Even though it's an all purpose flour it's more like cake flour. Cakes & other baked goods are incredibly light & fluffy!! Thanks for all your hard work. I really appreciate ALL your recipes, tips & beautiful videos💝💝💝

[@tdhtran]

Very informative. Thank you.

[@zora2107]

Thanks, this was really helpful, amazing work!

[@dodonggoldblum2085]

homemade substitute ap+cs is probably fine when you are frying the dough like in empanadas, fried puffs, etc. I make fried curry puffs with store bought cake flour all the time but when I ran out and made the ap+cs cake flour, they came out just fine. Now I did not have the comparison w the store bought one but I'm satisfied with what I got

[@delilahboa]

Thank you Aya, so interesting, thanks for all the work you put into this tutorial and every one of your other tutorials come to think of it! Xx❤xX

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

My pleasure!❤️

[@sundaybaking]

This was really helpful! My subscribers also ask me alternative for cake flour often. I should recommend your video!

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Aww thank you! You are so sweet🥰❤️🙏🏻

[@beyummy]

Here in S.A cake flour is a household staple which almost everyone uses to bake cakes,breads I didn't know about different flours just cake flour,thank you for this video I want to share it with my mom...

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

That's great! Thank you😊

[@kaye4971]

That was alot of research, great work! We appreciate that!

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Thank you😊❤️

[@Drovi4]

Yay! More tests like this, please!

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Thank you!

[@doloresboston8571]

So don’t sea levels and humidity come into play when baking cakes also which then you’d have to take into account oven temps and times?

[@Bukky_O]

Thank you so much for this detailed work! So useful

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Glad it was helpful!!

[@oolee6862]

Very meaningful and interesting video! Thanks for doing the experiment. I could not find cake flour in my supermarkets around. Will surely try your formula. Thank you!

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

I’m glad it was helpful! If you can find pastry flour, you may want to try it too: it’s like between cake flour and all purpose flour, so it might work better with corn starch!

[@MichaelREFLECTS]

The reason one will never get real store bought cake flour is it contains special ingredients that are not required to be listed by the USFDA and are proprietary treatments on wheat starch. They furthermore contain wheat softeners on a commercial level that is simply unavailable to home bakers. It's also why its more costly than all purpose flour with some corn starch. I knew this for years. The reality is if you want the absolute best for cakes, go store-bought cake flour. If you want a weaker yet comparable cake flour, homemade can work but won't yield superior results. Glad to see someone come to the same conclusion...but I feel if you're on a journey to make 1:1 cake flour to the store...its gonna end up in defeat from a scientific perspective. Just my 2 cents :)

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Thanks for your perspective! Do you know what the special ingredients are? that are not required to be listed.

[@MichaelREFLECTS]

@@PastryLivingwithAya thats the billion dollar question. I suspect a lot of R&D went into cake flours. I know quite a few are not obtainable unless a commercial outfit notwithstanding even the super secret blend these companies use.

[@src3360]

@@PastryLivingwithAya Whatever it is, its most likely considered "proprietary" and not required to divulge, unfortunately. Like when something has "spices" in it. The owner doesnt have to list the exact spices if they register it as "proprietary" The ingredient mixture belongs to the creator of whatever product they produce. Happens in skincare as well.

[@Bukky_O]

Thanks a lot. I suspected this as well

[@meri9214]

I have used the homemade version multiple times and no one (including me) has noticed any difference in taste or texture...🤔👀🤨😏

[@lenapawlek7295]

Thanks for all your work on this one! Thats so many cakes!

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

My pleasure!🙌 Yap!😁

[@福永順子-z8b]

Amazing!! 👏 So interesting !! You`re doing a lot of research 👍 The comparison in the video was very easy to understand ✨😍 I`m looking forward to future sweets ! 🥰

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Thank you! I'm glad it was helpful🤗

[@mae6378]

What cake flour do you use pls , it’s so hard to find cake flour in the uk 😭🫶🏻

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

The link is in the description! I hope they are available worldwide!!

[@tihomirhaluzan7917]

Wow, thanx! A very interesting experiment.

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Thank you!🙌

[@laurasharp7955]

Brilliant tutorial, thanks Once again.

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

My pleasure! Thank you.

[@janem3575]

Interesting video. I don't bake. But i like to eat baked goods! I had a thought. In bread making, there's cooking flour with water / milk to make tangzou. People say it denatures some of the gluten and adds moisture. Your thoughts on this to make a cake flour equivalent?

[@christinashawgo6510]

Could the issue be that the cake flour uses “soft white wheat grains “? Regular flour is usually “Hard red wheat grain” I am told that bread flour is usually soft, white wheat.

[@Vicky-cf8ki]

If you add egg white, you can get more protein for the cake mix

[@TatineeDey]

How about using self raising flour? Will that make any difference?

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Self rising flour is basically all purpose flour with baking powder and salt. I’ve never baked genoise sponge with it, so I’m not sure if it’ll work but I assume it’ll get fluffier than just all purpose flour only.

[@annchovy6]

@@PastryLivingwithAya Self-raising flour in Europe doesn’t contain salt. American self-rising flour does, though. In general European plain and self-raising flour tends to be lower gluten than American all-purpose. It’s often also finer grind.

[@cherishwonders5802]

Interesting to know 😲 thanks for sharing Aya. 🤗

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Welcome😊 Thank you!

[@vietnamemperor123461]

Homemade cake flour is just a quick fix substitution for store bought cake flour so it was never really meant to have the same or better quality.

[@carolebunyan3122]

We have self raising flour, plain (all purpose) and cake flour is hard to find so is self raising flour the same as cake flour. I think it's just all purposexwith baking powder added, but contains no cornflour (corn starch). Is this correct?

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Self rising flour is a mixture of all purpose flour, baking powder and salt basically. So the sponge rises more than just all purpose flour but I’m not sure if it works great with genoise sponge. I’ll share if I test that too. Which country do you live? I wonder if you can find cake flour or something similar online.

[@carolebunyan3122]

@@PastryLivingwithAya I live in Scotland and have made genoise sponge many times with great success using self raising flour. I have been able to get cake flour and used it to make the same sponge recipe with equal success. It would be interesting to have you try making a genoise with self raising flour if you can get hold of it. I bake most days, making everything from sourdough bread, cookies, celebration cakes, scones, tray bakes and other pastries. I really enjoy watching Pastry Living and am always open to learning new things even though I have been baking for over 50 years. Thank you

[@romystumpy1197]

I don't know but I'm in the UK,are you, SR flour is just plain flour with added raising agent,I go to my polish supermarket to buy my flour, they have so many types, there,if you have a shop near you have a look, you can translate on internet all the different types.

[@RyeAvenue]

Useful information 👍

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Thank you!!🙌

[@hotoliyeptho7544]

Thank you sooooo much aya this video means a lot to me 🥰❣️💞💓

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

I’m so glad😊❤️❤️

Looking very delicious süper 👍 👏👏

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Thank you so much!

[@jahjoeka]

Awesome!

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

Thanks!

[@aminakassim7741]

Wow!!! I think you should do other dessert ingredients than flour experimental videos too

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

I’d love to!🥰 Thank you.

[@beyummy]

Is it ok to bake cakes and breads with cake flour?I hear alot about all purpose flour and strong bread flour🤔Aya you keep me busy with research about baking you inspire me...thank you ❤️🤢

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

I'm glad❤️ It's amazing to keep being curious!! To bake sponge, I always use cake flour. To make breads, bread flour are often used. Sometimes all purpose flour too but it's rare to use only cake flour for breads even if it is possible. Bread flour contains the most protein and that creates more glutens. Gluten net hold the gas from yeast as they expand during the proofing process and even during the baking process to create the soft and springy texture. When people make pastry bread, a lot of people use all purpose flour or mix in cake flour to create more light, less springy texture. So depending on the texture you want to create, you can use different types of flour!

[@tanakatanie1594]

Premium content 💯

[@karencalhoun2503]

Are you answer my question you really can’t make adequate cake flour from home me personally I would just stick with buying the cake flour and let the chemist do the work of figuring out the ratio then me thank you for that information it was really informative

[@IlseBelievesInPink]

I really don't like the ap flour+cornstarch "substitute", cakes turn out dry and you can feel some sort of powdery grittiness after you chew, almost as if the cornstarch didn't cook through.

[@HonestlyHolistic]

In Germany we don't even have cake flour, now I know why all my cakes turned out dry when using american recipes

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

I'm sorry to hear that😣

[@biswajitsaha5737]

Thank you very much for sharing ❤❤❤ It is very helpful to me. As where I live low protein flour is not available, only 12% -14% protein level flour is available in the market. Can I turn this 12-14% protein level flour into AP flour 11%?

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

I’m glad it was helpful!! It is possible to do so by following the calculation but the texture won’t be exactly the same like I shared in the video. Or you might just want to use 12% protein AP flour as it is almost likely as 11 % one.

[@biswajitsaha5737]

@@PastryLivingwithAya Got it. Thank you 🙂

[@gardengalsu]

aaaaaaaaaaagh!!! Too much math I just MUST keep cake flour on hand!

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

That sounds good too!!😉

[@mavissaga7388]

Pls can u drop the recipes

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

It’s listed in the description box below!

[@hasanx8317]

You can look for wheat starch

[@mistyrose3042]

So complicated.. 🙄😳

[@lizanderson1669]

for every 1 cup of flour you remove 2 tbsp of flour and replace with 2 tbsp of cornstarch and make sure yo sift it about 3 to 4 times cake flour protein is 10 all purpose is 11.7

[@sherronleo1983]

confusing

[@lisaboban]

I never understood why people would want to do this. Corn starch isn't even close to AP flour from a chemistry basis. If the recipe calls for cake flour, use cake flour or bake something else. Plenty of delicious cakes call for AP flour.

[@PastryLivingwithAya]

I totally get that. I felt the same way until my subscribers told me there are many areas/countries where you can’t get cake flour easily. Since I use cake flour very often for my desserts, a lot of people asked how they can substitute it. I did these tests hoping to help people in that situations!

[@lisaboban]

@@PastryLivingwithAya Maybe you could do some cakes with AP flour. I know you enjoy light sponges. But there are lots of great recipes for wonderful cakes using AP flour.

[@Ummuli01]

@@PastryLivingwithAya oh yeah one can't find cake flour in Nigeria

[@carcard8033]

Maybe you can use 00 flour if you do it again.

[@jleedw]

It has a super high protein content. That is why pasta is made with it. It creates a very dense dough