Substitutions / cake flour
What to use instead of cake flour
Use all-purpose flour at 1 cup minus 2 tbsp / 1 cup. Remove 2 tbsp per cup and sift well; slightly more protein means a marginally less tender crumb.
Every option, best first
| Use instead | How much | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 1 cup minus 2 tbsp / 1 cup | Remove 2 tbsp per cup and sift well; slightly more protein means a marginally less tender crumb. |
| Cornstarch blend | ¾ cup AP + 2 tbsp cornstarch / 1 cup | Mimics the low protein of cake flour closely, but requires mixing two ingredients each time. |
| Self-rising flour | 1:1 | Works in a pinch, but contains baking powder and salt, so you'll need to reduce or omit those from your recipe. |
How much is a cup of cake flour?
Substituting by volume and weighing are different problems, and the second one has an exact answer. Weigh cake flour in grams →
A word on how to read these
A substitution is a trade, not an equivalence. The ratio gets the quantity right; the third column is the part worth reading, because it tells you what you are giving up. In a stew, most of these are invisible. In a cake — where flour, liquid, fat and leavening are in a fixed relationship — the same swap can change the crumb.
Why baking notices and stew doesn't →
Where these came from
These substitutions were written by Gather's own kitchen model — the same one the app uses when you tap an ingredient and ask what else would work — then checked and saved as a fixed list in July 2026. Nothing on this page is generated while you read it. They are a good starting point and not a substitute for tasting as you go.