Self Rising Cake Flour

Asked by JesC. Answered on 14th January 2015

Full question

I am going to make Nigella's Victoria Sponge recipe (I am in the U.S.). The recipe calls for "self-rising cake flour", which I could not find. How can I make regular cake flour into self-rising cake flour? Thank you!

Our answer

Nigella's Victoria Sponge recipe (from Domestic Goddess) uses self-raising flour in the UK, however self-rising cake flour was specified for the US regular US self-rising flour contains added salt which would not be suitable for this recipe (US self-rising flour in the US is mostly used for biscuits and sometimes pancakes). Cake flour is a good option for a sponge cake as it has a low protien content and gives a light, tender cake.

It is fairly easy to convert the regular cake flour to a self-rising version. For each cup of cake flour use 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder. Whisk or sift the flour and baking powder together before using. If using all-purpose flour in recipes then convert to a UK version of self-rising by adding 2 teaspoons baking powder per cup of flour.