Can i substitute cake flour for bread flour

If baking is a science, then your ingredients are the periodic table, and flour is the most important element. The type of flour you use in your baking can greatly affect the outcome of your cakes, cookies and pies, so it helps to know what you’re working with.

Related: A Practical Guide to Alternative Flours

Before you can understand the differences between types of flour, you need to know how they’re made. Flour is made from grinding wheat (duh). The seed head, or the part of the wheat plant that gets ground, is made up of 3 parts: the endosperm, the bran and the germ. A flour labeled “whole wheat” is made from all three parts, while a white flour is made only from the endosperm, which makes it more shelf stable and tender. It’s difficult for whole wheat flours to develop the same level of gluten as non-whole wheat, which is why baked goods made with whole wheat tend to be more dense than those made with white flour.

All-Purpose Flour

All-purpose flour is made with only the endosperm, which makes it more shelf-stable than flours made from grinding the whole seed head. It has less fiber and protein than a whole-wheat flour, but it’s great for middle-of-the-road baked goods that aren’t particularly delicate, like cookies, brownies and quick-breads.

Bread Flour

Bread flour is made out of “hard wheat” varieties, which give it a higher protein content. That protein content leads to better gluten development, which is useful in anything that is supposed to come out chewy and textural, like bread or bagels. Avoid using bread flour in anything that is supposed to be tender, like cakes and pastries.

Pastry Flour

Pastry flour is milled to a finer texture than all-purpose flour, and is made with soft wheat for a lower protein content, which helps baked goods like pie crusts and pound cake recipes produce very tender results and a fine crust. Avoid using pastry flour for anything that demands structure, like bread doughs or pastas.

Cake Flour

Cake flour is the most finely milled flour you’ll find, with a similar level of protein content to pastry flour. It is almost always bleached, which contributes to its ability to bake to a very high rise. Use it in places where a highly-risen, tender result is desired, like sponge cakes.

Bonus: Bleached vs. Unbleached

Bleached flours are treated with chemicals like chlorine or benzoyl peroxide, that damages the starch and protein content. It is generally easier to work with, absorbs more liquid, and rises better than unbleached flour. Most types of white flour are available bleached or unbleached.

All-purpose or AP flour can be used for almost everything. While the others have their own designated usage, cake flour is for cake, bread flour is for bread. But have you been curious if switching the flour will work? If you’re wondering if bread flour can be used in making cake, read on below! 

Using bread flour to make a cake will result in a chewy and dense product. Bread flour has a higher protein level compared to cake flour, so it’s going to produce more gluten. If you use it, the light and airy texture of a traditional cake will not be present without adding yeast.

What is the difference between bread flour and cake flour?

All-purpose or AP flour is the most versatile type of flour. This is mainly because its protein content is in the middle range amongst others. Other types of flour are either higher or lower than its level. 

Bread flour and cake flour mainly differ in their protein content. Proteins (glutenin and gliadin) develop gluten when it’s been mixed with water. The higher the protein content, the more gluten it’s going to produce.

Bread flour contains about 11-15% protein content, one of the highest among all types of flour. It makes it more suitable for baked goods that require more structure.

On the other hand, cake flour is on the other side which has the lowest protein content among any type of flour. It has around 7-9% protein content, which makes it suitable for baked goods that are light and airy.

Bread flours are made with hard wheat, while cake flour is made with soft wheat. Soft wheat has a lower protein content than hard wheat. That’s why it can produce cakes that have a lighter texture compared to bread.

Another difference is the fineness of the mill. Cake flour is milled finer compared to bread flour. The finer mill makes it easier for the flour to incorporate with the wet ingredients.

What will happen if I use bread flour to make cake?

Even if bread flour seems not a great fit for making cake, you can still use it. It doesn’t really mean that you would not produce a cake if you used it. It’s just that the texture and a bit of the taste are going to be different.

Using bread flour will have an end product that’s not as soft as what’s expected of cake-like treats. It will also be more dense and chewy. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, it all depends on what end product you want to achieve.

Using bread flour in an attempt to make a cake is simply going to be an experiment. You might end up with something that you wouldn’t even recognize as a cake or some sort of baked good. That said, it might turn out great!

Can I turn bread flour into cake flour

If you don’t really have a choice, bread flour can be a substitute for cake flour with the help of cornstarch. The protein content of the bread flour goes through a process of ‘diluting’ when cornstarch is added to it. It will result in less gluten development and a lighter cake that’s closer to cake flour or pastry flour.

Use the ratio of 1 cup of bread flour to 3 tbsp of cornstarch to make all-purpose flour.

The process is pretty simple. Mix the flour and cornstarch together in a bowl. Once mixed, pass through a fine-mesh strainer once or twice so all lumps are gone before making your dough. Mixing it is key: you must not overmix it to avoid building up too much gluten that will become chewy when baked.

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