Make Your Own Cake Flour

A classic yellow cake made with homemade cake flour

When I recently made classic yellow cake with chocolate buttercream  for 150 people,  I saved a lot of money by making my own cake flour for the recipe.

Homemade cake flour is so simple to make and works just as well as any cake flour you can purchase. It also saves you from having to store the leftover cake flour in your pantry because you can make just as much as you need to use.

I posted this cake flour recipe when I first started blogging in early 2012 and thought it was about time I posted it again. So here it is, along with my favorite recipe for classic yellow cake:

Cake Flour
For 1 cup of cake flour, measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour. Remove 1 tablespoon of the flour and add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Sift two times before using.

Classic Yellow Cake
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs plus 2 egg yolks, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch cake pans.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy, about 6 minutes.

Beat in the eggs plus egg yolks, one at a time, until combined. Beat in vanilla.

In another large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. With mixer on low, add a third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating to combine. Beat in 3/4 cup buttermilk, another third of the flour mixture, another 3/4 cup buttermilk, and remaining flour mixture until just combined. Scrape down the bowl as needed.

Divide the batter among the two cake pans.  Bake for 25 to 30  minutes in the 350 degree oven or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.