Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a baking project, only to realize you don’t have any cake flour on hand? Don’t worry! There is a simple and cost-effective way to make cake flour from all-purpose flour right in your own kitchen. 

By gently sifting and measuring all-purpose flour and adding a small amount of cornstarch, you can create a DIY version of cake flour that can be used in any recipe.

What is cake flour and why is it important in baking?

Cake flour is a finely milled, low-protein flour that is commonly used in baking delicate cakes, pastries, and other tender baked goods. It has a lower protein content compared to all-purpose flour or bread flour. 

Using cake flour can make a significant difference in the texture and quality of your baked goods. The low protein content in cake flour results in a lighter, more tender texture.

The difference between cake flour and all-purpose flour

Additional Benefits of Using Cake Flour in Baking

Improved Moisture Retention: The lower protein content and finer texture of cake flour allow it to absorb liquids more evenly and retain moisture better during baking. This helps prevent dryness and ensures that baked goods stay moist and tender, even after storage.

Enhanced Flavor: Cake flour has a neutral flavor profile, allowing other ingredients, such as vanilla, chocolate, fruits, or spices, to shine through in baked goods. It provides a clean canvas for flavorings and helps create a more balanced and enjoyable taste experience.

How to make cake flour from all-purpose flour

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Instructions:

1. Measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour and remove 2 tablespoons of the flour from the cup. You can do this by lightly spooning the flour into the measuring cup and then leveling it off with a straight edge.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to the cup of all-purpose flour.

3. Sift the mixture together using a fine mesh sieve or a flour sifter. This step is important to evenly distribute the cornstarch throughout the flour and to remove any lumps.

Storage for future use

1.Place it in an airtight Container. A glass or plastic container with a tight seal will help prevent moisture, air, and pests from getting into the flour.

2. Store the airtight container of cake flour in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight and heat sources. Excessive heat and humidity can cause the flour to spoil more quickly and may lead to clumping or mold growth.

3. Label the Container with the date you made the cake flour. This will help you keep track of how long the flour has been stored and ensure that you use it before it loses its freshness.

4. (Optional) Consider adding silica gel packs to the container to help absorb any excess moisture and keep the flour dry. 

At room temperature, the cake flour is fine for up to 8 months. If you don’t expect to use it within 8 months, place it in the freezer and it will last up to 2 years.

Try these recipes

• Mango Mousse Cake
• Blueberry Mousse Cake
• Matcha Roll Cake with Mochi

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Baking Cookies

I baked shortbread cookies with these adorable cookie cutters. The cookie recipe was adopted from Sweet & Spicy Living.

Ingredient

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter – softened at room temperature
• 1/4 cup Confectioners /Icing sugar (Sifted – Sift first before measuring)
• 1 cup + ⅛ cup  All-Purpose Flour
• 1/8 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

I’ve used this cookie recipe before and love how buttery these cookies are, but for this Hello Kitty version, I added an extra ⅛ cup of flour. These cookie cutters are only about an inch, and the small details are too hard to cut out if the cookie dough is too soft. ⅛ cup was fine to add without making the dough too floury.

Instruction

1. Mix Butter and Sugar in a large bowl and cream together using a hand mixer or stand mixer.
2. Add vanilla extract and mix until combined.
3. Add salt and flour and continue to mix until mixture forms a soft dough.
4. Flatten the cookie dough between two sheets of saran wrap to about 3/8-inch thickness. Then, keep the flat dough wrapped up with the plastic wrap.
5. Put the flat dough in the freezer for at least a few hours. This way, you can prevent the dough from getting too warm while working. Warm dough is extremely hard to work with…

3. Cut the dough into shapes by using the Hello Kitty Cookie cutters. Use the cookie cutter for outlining first. While the outlining cookie cutter is still sitting, place the cookie cutters with facial details inside. Push it in hard enough to leave indentations, but do not push it through the dough.

If at any moment, the dough starts to stick to the cookie cutters, flatten the dough and put it in the freezer until the dough firms up.

4. Preheat oven to 350F. Place the raw cookies on the silicone mat or the baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

• I highly recommend chilling the shaped cookies while preheating the oven. When the cookies are warm, they tend to spread and ruin the shapes that you worked really hard for.

5. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edge of the cookies starts to turn golden brown and the center is still pale and soft. Check on the 10-minute mark to avoid overbaking. Let cool on the baking sheet. Store baked cookies in a resealable container or plastic bag until icing.

Icing

Ingredient

• 3/4 tbsp Meringue Powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp Warm Water NOT hot
• 1/4 tbsp Light Corn Syrup
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Gel food coloring of your choice

The icing recipe is adopted from Cakewhiz. I looked around different icing recipes online and found out lots of them use meringue powder as an ingredient.

What is meringue powder?

Meringue powder is an egg white substitute that’s frequently used in baking and cake decorating. The powder is primarily made of dehydrated egg whites, though it can also have stabilizers, sweeteners and flavoring added to make it a little bit easier to use straight out of the container. ^[1]

Instruction

1. In a deep bowl, add meringue powder and warm water.
2. Beat this for about 1 minute until you have a white and frothy mixture.
3. Add powdered sugar, corn syrup and vanilla extract and start mixing at medium to medium-high speed.
4. Continue mixing until your icing becomes thick and peaks start forming.
5. Color your icing with gel colors. Use a toothpick to add gel colors into your icing.
6. Mix with a spoon until the color is fully blended into your icing.
   • Once all icing ingredients were mixed, I added ¼ teaspoon of water at a time to get to the consistency I wanted. My icing was about “flood consistency.” More detailed explanations of icing consistency can be found here.

Meringue powder was a real game changer. By adding some meringue powder, the icing turned out sturdier and easier to handle. The color was better too. The icing was pure opaque white and the food coloring turned out more saturated.

This icing dries very quickly if exposed to air. Once the icing is made, I moved it to an airtight container, covered the icing with saran warp and closed the lid. I opened the lid and saran wrap off as needed when I was making more icing.

There will be a left-over icing. Icing with meringue powder can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.^[2]

Decorating

My original plan was to fill in Hello Kitty’s face with white icing then draw facial features, but the cookies were so small I kept filling anything and everything on the cookies (T_T). After struggling for some time, I decided to fill in the existing indentations following the bow, eyes, whiskers, and nose. The indentations made it so much easier to decorate.

Summary

Overall I love how these cookies turned out! Once I got a hang of dealing with the soft cookie dough and the consistency of the icing, the decorating process went smoothly. I’m so glad that I got these Hello Kitty cookie cutters. They made it possible for a novice cookie decorator like me to make such cute cookies.

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