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Cake Flour is milled from soft (lower protein) white flour. It has a lower gluten content than pastry flour, and a far lower gluten content than bread flour. Cakes need to be light and fluffy and have a very fine texture, thus you don't want a lot of gluten developing in the batter. The flour has a pale beige or yellowish colour which is lightened with bleaching. The bleaching, apparently, also strengthens the flour, allowing it to support better the weight of the sugar and fat in the cake. The flower is usually pre-sifted (several times) before packaging, and sometimes, cornstarch is added.

Cake flour is usually sold in smaller quantities than other flour is.

Some people say that using cake flour instead of all-purpose flour tends to keep cookies from spreading on cookie sheets (its lower protein content ties up less moisture making it available for steam production. Steam lifts the batter in the oven producing a fluffy, cake-like batter.) Other people say cake flour is usually too tender for cookies. Use all-purpose flour or plain flour unless otherwise instructed.

Substitutes
Pastry flour, cake & pastry flour, all-purpose flour (Canada); or per cup of cake flour two tablespoons of corn starch plus 7/8 cup of American all-purpose flour or British plain flour.

Equivalents
1 pound (450g) cake flour = 4 1/2 cups

History
Flour marked as "Cake Flour" was sold in the United States as early as the 1920's.

See Also:

Self-Rising Cake Flour

Other entries for: Wheat Flour

All-Purpose Flour, Baker's Flour, Bread Flour, Cake Flour, Farina, Farine de Froment, Gluten Flour, Graham Flour, Instant Flour, Pastry Flour, Plain Flour, Self-Rising Cake Flour, Self-Rising Flour, Semolina, Stone-Ground Whole Wheat Flour, Wheat Flour, Whole Wheat Flour

Other entries for:

Flour
Ash Content of Flour, Bean Flours, Black Millet Flour, Bromated Flour, Chapati Flour, Corn Flours, Durum Flour, Flax Flour, Flour Grades, French Flours, German Flours, Italian Flours, Malanga Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Matzo Meal, Millet Flour, Nut Flours, Oat Flour, Okonomiyaki Flour, Potato Flour, Quinoa Flour, Rice Flour, Rye Flour, Seasoned Flour, Sorghum Flour, Spelt Flour, Stone Ground Flour, Water Chestnut Flour, Whole Durum Flour