Cake flour

A finely milled, low-protein wheat flour that makes cakes with a soft, tender, fine crumb, especially white cakes, sponges and angel food cake.

Cake flour: A mound of fine, bright white cake flour with a sifter and a measuring cup
  • Baking ingredients and additives

Also called: soft flour

Cake flour is milled from soft wheat and usually has about 7 to 9% protein, compared with roughly 10 to 12% for all-purpose flour. Less protein means less gluten, so the cake stays tender. In the US most cake flour is bleached, which helps it hold more sugar and liquid and set with a lighter, more even texture.

A common substitute is 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 2 tablespoons removed and replaced by 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, sifted together. Cake flour is too weak for yeast breads.

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Written by VanillaGoods in our own words from these sources. Last reviewed October 15, 2026.

  1. Cake flour (Q30650470), Wikidata