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A slice of vanilla cake beside two small bowls of flour on a pale kitchen surface.

Homemade Cake Flour Substitute (1 Cup)

A quick all-purpose flour and cornstarch blend to approximate cake flour when a recipe allows a substitute.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour spooned and leveled (remove 2 tablespoons)
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Equipment

  • 1 Dry measuring cup Spoon flour in lightly and level it; do not pack
  • 1 Tablespoon measure Remove 2 tablespoons of flour and measure the cornstarch
  • 1 Mixing bowl Whisk and sift the dry ingredients
  • 1 Fine mesh sieve Sift the blend twice
  • 1 Whisk, Distribute the cornstarch through the flour

Method
 

  1. Measure 1 level cup of all-purpose flour using the spoon-and-level method. Do not pack the flour into the cup.
  2. Remove 2 level tablespoons of the flour and set them aside for another use.
  3. Add 2 tablespoons cornstarch to the remaining flour.
  4. Whisk the flour and cornstarch together, then sift the mixture twice into a bowl.
  5. Use by volume in place of 1 cup cake flour when the recipe allows this substitution. For a recipe written in grams, follow that recipe’s own weight-based substitution because flour weights vary by brand and method.

Notes

This is a common cake-flour substitution method, not a finished cake recipe. The formula has not been independently tested in the TotalTastes kitchen.
The mixture makes about 1 U.S. cup. For a recipe written by volume, use the amount specified by that recipe and treat this as an approximation. Cake-flour brands and recipes differ, so results may not be identical.
For recipes written in grams, use the recipe’s own weight-based substitution if it provides one. Cup-to-gram conversions vary with flour brand and measuring method.
The card uses 8 servings of 2 tablespoons each to match the site’s standard servings field. Advanced Servings remains blank. Estimated Cost is set to 3 per site convention and has not been independently priced. Prep time is an estimate, not a TotalTastes test result.