All-purpose Flour Vs. Cake Flour

All you culinary enthusiasts have sometime or the other, been a part of the legendary all-purpose vs. cake flour discussion. Some support the former while others the latter, while on the other hand we have, people who wonder what is the difference between all-purpose flour and cake flour. I'm going to add my two bits to this discussion and also help the first timers understand the difference.

Let's start with all-purpose flour, which is also known as plain flour, and is the main ingredient in breads. Cake flour is mainly used to make cakes, muffins and pastries. One can get bleached flour as well; bleached flour is nothing different, but it is whiter than other flour types. For a clearer picture about which one is the winner, we'll first take a look at the difference between the two and then at some nutrition facts about the two.

Difference Between All-purpose Flour and Cake Flour

Hopefully, the difference between the two will help us tilt the balance towards one of them, in the famous all-purpose flour vs. cake flour debate. Although it is very difficult to pick the winner, as their goodness and value varies according to how one intends to use the two kinds of flour. For example, if all-purpose flour is used for baking a cake, the result will be very different from a cake baked from cake flour, and to know why read on...

	All-purpose Flour	Cake Flour
Uses	Like the name suggests, all-purpose flour can be used for baking a variety of things like bread, cakes and biscuits. When self rising flour vs. all-purpose flour is considered, the only difference is that former is all-purpose flour which has a little baking powder or a raising agent premixed in it.	Cake flour is specifically made to bake cakes and pastries. This flour ensures that the cakes and pastries are softer and have the right texture.
Texture	All-purpose flour or plain flour as it is often referred to, is hard flour as it is not as finely ground as cake flour. All-purpose flour also has a combination of other flour milled into it, for instance, barn and wheat or bread flour, which makes its coarser compared to cake flour. All-purpose flour vs. bread flour is also much talked about, here again the two are different.	On the other hand, for cake flour, bran and germ are removed and special wheat like Rosella is used. This give it a smooth texture, which ensures the same for the dishes made out of it.
Protein Content	Bread is tougher compared to cakes, this happens because of the amount of gluten, which is produced according to the protein content. Gluten contributes to the stickiness in the dough, and this makes the bread or cake soft or hard. So high protein means, more gluten which means that the bread will be harder.	The first difference that comes into mind is the variation in the texture of the products made from the two. Cake flour has less protein therefore less gluten, which means products baked in cake flour will be softer.

All-purpose Flour or Cake Flour

It is difficult to say which one is better because this depends on how one intends to use the flour. People often ask whether they can substitute all-purpose flour for cake flour, while making desserts. The thing is that cake flour is chlorinated and also bleached at times, as a result of which, you get softer cakes, on the other hand, a sponge cake baked with all-purpose flour will not be as soft as it is meant to be. So, if you want good results, use the flour that the recipe asks for. If one looks at the nutrition facts, all-purpose flour is high in protein, low in sodium, cholesterol and saturated fats. Cake flour is a good source of thiamine and iron, and cake flour also has less calories compared to all-purpose flour. So, I guess, if you are on a diet and really want to eat a cake, you should use cake flour. To substitute one for another, you will have to use slightly less than two cups of all-purpose flour, to use it in a cake recipe. So now you see why this debate is a tricky situation! Some all-purpose flour and cake flour nutrition facts are almost similar, but the difference lies in the calories and the protein content.

There is no end to this discussion, but writing about this is making me crave for a good chocolate cake. So, while I try my hand at some chocolate cake recipes, you can try to figure out how this discussion should end!