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Steaming all-purpose flour for 10 minutes and turning them into homemade cake flour is an old-fashioned trick. Cooks in China used this method all the time during old days when resources were not abundant, therefore cake flour is not readily available on the market. It is plain & simple, and works like a charm. Nowadays, I have found my favorite organic all-purpose flour. I use it to make my homemade organic cake flour for cakes and pastries.

How to make Cake Flour at home using all-purpose flour quick and easy?

Step 1 is to steam the flour using bamboo steamers wrapped in cheesecloth for 10 minutes for homemade cake flour

Layer the bamboo steamer with double layered cheesecloth, organic preferred, add your favorite organic all-purpose flour. Cut the cheesecloth big enough so that you can wrap the flour over like a burrito.

I use a set of 12-inch bamboo steamer which consists of two steamers that can be stacked together like a tower.

layer bamboo steamer with double layered cheesecloth

So why bamboo steamer, why cheesecloth and why wrap & cover the flour up during the steaming? The bamboo steamer and organic cheesecloth together provides ample airflow to let the hot steam circulate thoroughly within the flour to cook the protein inside the flour.

We wrap and cover the flour with cheesecloth during the steaming so that the condensation water doesn’t drip into the flour.

Step 2 is to let it cool down and dry thoroughly

Once the steaming is done, immediately remove the bamboo steamer from the wok or steaming pot. Let them cool down a little so that you can handle with hands. Empty the steamed flour from the bamboo steamer, lay them flat on a clean surface, such as a large cutting board or clean granite kitchen countertop.

steamed all-purpose flour on the cutting board

Last but not least is to press the steamed flour blocks into granular flour using a rolling pin and store in a glass jar

During the steaming, the flour is cooked, and it turns into blocks. Once they are dry, use a rolling pin to roll, press, and break them down to the original granular flour.

Store the cooked granular flour in a large glass jar and use for your next cake or pastries making.

Homemade Cake Flour {An old fashioned trick}

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How to make Homemade Cake Flour?

Yield: 8 cups of homemade cake flour

Active Time: 10 minutes

Additional Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Steaming all-purpose flour for 10 minutes and turning them into homemade cake flour is an old-fashioned trick used ofen by cooks in China during old days. So easy, effective and efficient!

Instructions

Cut cheesecloth approximately 24x48 inch, and fold into half toward middle to get a double layered 24x24 patch. Lay it flat on the 12-inch bamboo steamer. Repeat for the other steamer.
Add 660 g or about 4 cups of organic all-purpose flour into the steamer on top of the cheesecloth. distribute evenly across the steamer. Fold the corner of the cheesecloth toward the middle to cover the flour. Repeat for the other steamer.
Add 6 cups of water into a 14-inch wok, turn the heat to medium-high and bring it to a boil. Add the steamer set to the wok and steam for 10 minutes.
Turn off the heat. Remove the bamboo steamers from the wok, unstack the two bamboo steamers, unwrap the cheesecloth to let the flour cool down.
Once it is cooled down enough to handle with hand, uload the cooked flour from the cheesecloth in the bamboo steamer and place them on a large wood cutting board. Let it cool and try thoroughly, about 4 hours.
Take a small amount of the cooked flour at a time, use a rolling pin to roll & press and break down the cooked flour block back to granular flour form. Once this small portion is done, place them in a glass jar. Repeat until you have completed all flour.
All done! Close the jar with a lid and use this for your next cake or pastry making.