Tuesday's Tips: Cake Flour?! I don't have any cake flour!

Yesterday, the boys and I decided to make Blueberry Muffins for breakfast. They specifically asked if Alton had a recipe, and sure’ nuff, he did. But as I glanced down the recipe list, I realized that I’d used all of my cake flour last week making Blueberry Buckle for our anniversary. I didn’t have any left! I also knew that I couldn’t use a different recipe for the muffins because my 10-year-old would’ve seen the recipe sheet. So..I had to go swagging to see what alternatives I could use (think of it as googling but with rewards!).

But could I make my own cake flour? Why would I even want to? Cake flours give cakes and pastries a lighter, fluffier texture.  That’s the big difference.  Well, there’s a few less calories in cake flour, but if you are making a cake..who is counting calories at that point?

So I found out that cake flour can be made by replacing 2 TB of flour, per cup, with 2 TB of corn starch. Then you need to sift the  heck out of it. A lot. Not only do you want the cornstarch to be full incorporated into your flour,  you want the flour to be fully aerated in the process. I used my grandmother’s old crank sifter..and sifted through the batch 4 or 5 times (I lost count).  We had light and fluffy blueberry muffins that were perfect for breakfast, and we tossed the extras into the freezer after flash freezing them so we’d have breakfast ready for us down the road.

BTW..if you make AB’s muffin recipe, try adding a little cinnamon to the mix Perfection!

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