In a cake, can I substitute cake flour for all purpose flour?

[Dora]

:shrug:

[The empressof all]

1. I believe so

It's my understanding that using cake flour will result in a finer crumb.

If you are saying that you want to use cake flour instead of all purpose, I think it will be fine.

[Dora]

2. That is correct.

I have extra cake flour on hand, and I'm making a cake that calls for all-purpose flour.

Thanks for the tip.

[Warpy]

3. The difference between cake flour and all purpose/bread flour

is the gluten content. Pastry flour is much, much lower in gluten and therefore can take a whole lot more abuse during mixing than high gluten flours can. That's why cake flours produce a much finer crumb: there is little gluten to develop and make the whole thing coarse and chewy.

As far as I know, it's a one to one substitution. You can use all purpose/bread flour in recipes that call for cake/pastry flour, but you have to have an extremely light hand when you assemble the batter, and mix it only enough that the ingredients are barely combined. Otherwise you'll end up with very sweet quick bread.

[Dora]

4. I'm not sure, but I think these cakes are bust.

I followed the recipe to the letter - but the batter was far too runny for my tastes. It's not leaking from my two round springforms, but it's leaking from the springform/tube pan.

The flour issue may be moot. I suspect there was far too much liquid called for: 1 C milk, 1 C water.

[The empressof all]

5. Post the recipe Dora

I'm not much of a baker but I think something is wrong with the measurements. That sounds like far too much liquid for two cakes.

[Dora]

6. One Bowl Chocolate Cake III, from allrecipes.com

OK, the only other time I used a recipe from that site it was a dismal failure. I've learned my lesson, I think. This is also the same recipe from the Hershey's Cocoa can.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups white sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch round pans.
In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center and add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes at medium speed. Stir in boiling water.
Pour into two 9 inch pans. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and continue cooling.


WHERE I STRAYED FROM THE PATH:

1) I used hot coffee instead of boiling water.
2) I doubled the recipe. I am confident that all my measurements were correct.
3) I used butter instead of oil (this may be my problem?)
4) When I thought the batter seemed too much like soup, I sifted in more cake flour, approx 1/2-1 C.

The result was two nine-inch discs and one forlorn tire from a tube pan, all are an inch thick, and the consistency of an art gum eraser. Very chocolatey. If I can get my mother to stop shaving off bits, ("It's goood, really."), I will sail these doorstops into my compost heap.

[yellowdogintexas]

9. that just seems like too much liquid.

I bake a chocolate pound cake that calls for 1 cup of milk and 5 eggs
for approximately the same amount of dry ingredients.

Your recipe has 1 cup each of milk and hot water and 2 eggs, plus it uses oil, which provides more liquid than butter. Using coffee should NOT have made a difference. Liquid is liquid.

For reasons I do not fully understand, sometimes doubling a recipe makes all the proportions go weird.


I vote for an error in the recipe.

[Dora]

10. That's good to hear....

I was thinking the same thing, but I'm not a cake expert at all so I was really just guessing. I'm relieved that someone else shares my judgement.

Now, I still have to make a chocolate chocolate chocolate cake of some kind, and I'm seeking a recipe/s.... I guess it's time for a new post!

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Cake flour ........

..... makes the best fresh macaroni. Italians use 00 flour, but that's not available here in the US. It is a bit coarser and has a bit more gluten than our cake flour. If you mix about 80% cake flour with 20% all purpose you get a pretty close approximation.

The semolina used for macaroni is mainly for the dried stuff.

[Dora]

8. Now that's a good tip, thanks! n/t