Gluten-Free Cake Flour Blend
A gluten-free cake flour blend that works flawlessly to make cakes and quick bread recipes airy, fluffy, and light!
Post Celiac Diagnosis
After my diagnosis with Celiac disease, I’ve needed to change many family cake-based recipes to eliminate the gluten in the wheat-based flour. I found that switching out cup-for-cup gluten-free flour replacements in many recipes resulted in poor results – and my compost bin filling up with less-than-perfect baked batches.
The textures ranged from gooey messes to grainy. Many of my experiments even produced an almost sand-like feel when eaten.
Yuck!
That being the case, they were nothing I cared to eat myself or, for that matter, to share with anyone.
I knew there had to be a way to find the right balance between gluten-free flour and gluten-free starch that would produce a lower protein flour blend that could substitute for a traditional cake flour... I Experimented again, and again, until I finally found success!
Sometimes You Can't Do Without A Gluten-Free Cake Flour!
Sometimes, a recipe is made best by using a lower-protein gluten-free flour. One blended for making cakes and baked goods. My gluten-free cake flour blend is the best for doing it!
This cake flour blend came about after searching forever for a manufactured gluten-free cake flour substitute. I needed a gluten-free fill-in for my grandma’s traditional wheat-based cake flour.
Along the way, these discoveries paved the way for this recipe.
- #1 – Cake flour is a fine-milled, delicate flour.
- #2 – Wheat-based cake flour has a low protein content.
So, milling the flour finer, lighter, and softer makes baked goods light and airy. Then, using low protein flours results in cakes with a fine crumb, a good rise, and a super-tender texture.
Knowing these two things was the key to making all the difference.
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The Properties of a Cake Flour Blend
Digging deeper into how to make a gluten-free cake flour blend, I began looking at traditional wheat-based cake flour and how to mill it and make it.
Wheat-based cake flour is milled from soft wheat and contains the lowest amount of protein (5 to 8 percent) compared to other all-purpose wheat-based flour blends (10 to 13 percent).
There are two major soft wheat types:
The soft red winter type has a low protein content and is used as a blend in multipurpose flour for cakes, cookies, donuts, delicate pastries, crackers, and flatbreads.
Soft white, the second type, is low-protein wheat with high yields and produces lighter flour for cakes, cookies, crackers, and pastries. It is also used in many Middle-Eastern-style flatbreads.
Knowing more about these types of flour gave me more clues…
Gluten-Free Flour Trials...
After playing around with many gluten-free flours and starches, here’s what I discovered:
- Sweet white rice flour and brown rice flour needed to be blended in equal amounts.
- Then, low protein gluten-free tapioca and potato starches were best for their (starchy) gelling properties.
- The gelling noticeably affects how air bubbles are trapped in the starch during baking.
- Using starches works well with the gum to balance and improve the batter’s consistency during mixing.
- Starchy flours increase the crumb’s softness and control how the starch gels during baking.
PRO-TIP
You’ll want to sift the gluten-free cake flour blend three times before adding it to the wet ingredients, which helps to ensure that the cake bakes light and fluffy.
Why this gluten-free cake flour blend works...
The higher starch content helps prevent gluten-free baked cakes and quick bread from having that grainy texture you may notice in some recipes.
Finally, this blend’s low protein flour and high starch combination provide a perfect balance. They make gluten-free cakes, coffee cakes, muffins, quick bread, and cookies that are perfectly airy, fluffy, and light with a fine crumb and soft, tender texture.
The Result
A suitable cake flour replacement – and a gluten-free blend that works flawlessly to make many cakes and quick bread recipes similar in taste and texture to favorite cakes and other recipes you’ll remember from childhood.
Gluten-Free Cake Flour Blend
EQUIPMENT
- Large bowl
- whisk
- 12 cup airtight storage container
INGREDIENTS
- 1 Part Sweet White Rice Flour
- 1 Part Brown Rice Flour
- 1 Part Potato Starch NOT Potato Flour
- 1 Part Tapioca Starch also called tapioca flour, they are the same
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
- Whisk until combined.
- Store in an air-tight container in a cool, dry cupboard until needed.
KITCHEN NOTES
A good rule of thumb I follow is, to begin with, 1/2 teaspoon Xanthan gum for each 1 Cup of Gluten-Free Cake Flour Blend. Record your notes, then adjust your recipe when you make it the next time.
Nutrition
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(Nutritional values are an approximation. Actual nutritional values may vary due to preparation techniques, variations related to suppliers, regional and seasonal differences, or rounding.)
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Found this GF cake flour blend.❤️
Do you have a white/vanilla cake recipe ?
Hello Jane,
While I do not currently have a favorite white/vanilla cake recipe on the blog, I’ll put your idea in my post calendar for including in the near future.
Thanks for asking!
Kymberley
I want to convert a brownie recipe to gf. It calls for both regular and cake flours. What is your recommendation on how to do this?
Hello GF Newbie! Great question. Because different gluten-free and alternative flours provide different functions. You often have to use more than 1 gluten-free flour in a recipe to achieve a similar result when converting a recipe using a wheat-based all-purpose flour, cake flour or a combination of both. Keep in mind that all gluten-free flours have a different taste, texture, and nutrient composition. So it might take some fussying around with the flour(s) used in your recipe to achieve the success you’re looking for. With that in mind, your first experiment in converting your brownie recipe might be to simply… Read more »
Thanks!
I’m trying to access all the reviews, but all I see are about 10 questions…
These are the questions and reviews to date.
If i am measuring by cups, what would the ratio here be?
Thanks for your question, Ella. You will use equal parts (or equal cup amounts) of each flour when making this flour blend.
Hello! I’m not able to use potato starch, because our family has a nightshade intolerance. Do you have a suggestion to substitute? Double the tapioca flour? Sub Arrowroot flour?
Great question. Thanks for asking. Although I’ve not directly substituted arrowroot powder in place of the potato starch (one for the other) in my gluten-free cake flour blend, I would experiment with it. Arrowroot flour yields a great soft texture in gluten-free baked goods that is very similar to gluten-filled flour, and it’s a versatile flour that mixes well with almond, coconut, or tapioca flours for bread and dessert recipes. So with that in mind, it should work well here too. Looking back through recipe notes for several quick bread recipes I’ve made with success, I would begin using the… Read more »
In regards to this substitution of arrowroot for potato starch, what would the ratio be for adding the Xanthan gum?
Thanks for asking. Because every recipe has unique binding and structure requirements that depend on the other ingredients, I find that adding (then adjusting, if necessary) the xanthan gum to the recipe rather than adding it to the flour blend produces the best success. A good rule of thumb I follow is, to add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of Xanthan gum for each 1 Cup of the Gluten-Free Cake Flour Blend, record what you did on a sticky note about your results along with the recipe, then make adjustments as necessary when you make it the next time.
For this recipe are you measuring out the same amount of grams for each flour? Thanks!
Thanks for asking. Yes, no matter if you’re using cups or weighing out the volume in grams or ounces, you will be using the same measurement amounts for each flour.
have you ever made these ahead and frozen with success?
Thanks for the great question. I have frozen many gluten-free flours in the freezer (including this gluten-free-cake flour blend) sealed in freezer-safe plastic containers or zipper freezer bags to keep them fresher for a longer period of time. You’ll want whatever containers you choose to be air-tight. Jars should have some silicone or rubber seal. Although I don’t recommend using metal containers – from my experience, they don’t keep their seal very well, and depending on the metal used, it can give your flour an off-taste:( A couple more notes about storing flours: You might find that flours high in… Read more »