• Home
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Archives
  • Blog
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
The Make Your Own Zone

The Make Your Own Zone

  • Food
    • Healthier WFPB
    • DIY Baking Hacks
    • Mixes & Layered Jars
    • Spice Blends
    • Breads & Sweets
    • Beverages
    • Sauces & Condiments
    • Soups & Entrees
    • Side Dishes
    • Snacks & Dips
  • Household
    • Cleaners
    • Crafts
    • Knitting
    • Laundry
    • Personal Care
    • Planners
    • Canning Jars
  • Articles
    • Advice & Info
    • Favorite Books
    • DIY For Dummies
    • Half Baked Ideas
    • Misc.
  • Recipe Index
    • Recipe Index
    • Craft Index
  • Blog

January 22, 2021 · by Beverly

DIY Cake Flour Substitute

baking

Share
Pin
Email
Print
Share

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy for more information.

Have you ever gone in search of a “made from scratch” cake recipe, and then discovered the recipe that sounds the best calls for cake flour? But you don’t have any cake flour? And you don’t want to buy cake flour? There’s a simple DIY cake flour substitute you can try instead!

Homemade cake flour in a tin cup with spoon

How To Make Your Own Cake Flour Substitute

To make your own cake flour substitute, you can use all purpose flour and cornstarch, two ingredients you probably already have in the cupboard. Because cake flour is lighter and finer than all purpose flour, the strategy is to replace a little bit of the all purpose flour with some cornstarch, thus making the all purpose flour a little bit finer and lighter.

Instructions for how to make your own cake flour

To begin you’ll measure out 1 cup of your all purpose flour. Then, you’ll remove 2 tablespoons of the all purpose flour from the cup. You won’t need these 2 Tbl of flour that you’re removing and you can toss them back into your bag or canister of flour.

Next, you’ll replace those two missing tablespoons of flour with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch instead.

Once you’ve added the cornstarch to the remaining flour, then it’s time to start sifting! Taking the time to sift your homemade cake flour mixture will ensure that the cornstarch gets thoroughly mixed into the all purpose flour. You’ll want to sift the mixture four times. For many years I used to use these old school flour sifter cups with the squeeze handle but now I much prefer something like these fine mesh strainers as a flour sifter instead. It’s so much faster, especially when you need to do it four times.

Using a sifter to make homemade cake flour

Then measure your sifted mixture again to make sure you have an accurate cup of flour.

Here ‘s a few more additional measurements if you’d like to make larger batches of your DIY cake flour substitute too:

Start with 2 Cups Flour – take away 1/4 cup – add in 1/4 cup cornstarch
Start with 3 cups Flour – take away 6 Tbl – add in 6 Tbl cornstarch
Start with 4 cups Flour – take away 1/2 cup – add in 1/2 cup cornstarch

And there you have it . . . you made your own cake flour and you didn’t even have to run out to the store. It’s a wonderful thing when you can find a homemade solution right in your own pantry. 🙂

Homemade cake flour in a cup
Homemade cake flour in a tin cup with spoon
Print Pin

DIY Cake Flour Substitute

If you need a bit of cake flour for a recipe, try this DIY substitute using all purpose flour and cornstarch instead.
Course: DIY Baking Hack
Author: Beverly

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup All Purpose Flour
  • 2 Tbl Cornstarch

Instructions:

  • Begin by removing 2 tablespoons of the all purpose flour from the 1 cup you have measured out. (You will not need these two tablespoons and you can put them back in your bag or canister of flour).
  • Next, replace those missing two tablespoons of flour by adding the two tablespoons of cornstarch to the remaining flour.
  • Sift the flour and cornstarch together four times to ensure that they are well mixed together.
  • Measure the mixture one last time to make sure your have an accurate cup of your new DIY cake flour.

Notes:

Here are some additional measurements to make larger batches of your homemade cake flour substitute:
Start with 2 Cups Flour – take away 1/4 cup – add in 1/4 cup cornstarch
Start with 3 cups Flour – take away 6 Tbl – add in 6 Tbl cornstarch
Start with 4 cups Flour – take away 1/2 cup – add in 1/2 cup cornstarch

More DIY Baking Hacks:

  • Make your own baking powder
  • How to make bread flour from all purpose flour
  • DIY Evaporated Milk
Share
Pin
Email
Print
Share
Previous Post: « Make Your Own Virtual Snowflake – No Paper Needed!
Next Post: Homemade Sanitizing Hand Wipes »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comments

  1. Erum says

    January 29, 2021 at 11:25 am

    Excellent

    Reply
  2. Judith says

    January 25, 2021 at 11:54 am

    You can make your own confectioner’s sugar in a similar way. Have you already done a post on this?

    Reply
    • Beverly says

      January 26, 2021 at 11:36 am

      I did try this method to make my own confectioner’s sugar several years ago but didn’t have much success with it. It was still very grainy.

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

Hi There!

I'm Bev, Maker of My Own Stuff

Learn More

Footer

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

Copyright © 2021 · The Make Your Own Zone · All Rights Reserved · Disclosure Policy · Privacy Policy