Flour Substitutions for Cakes

[squidsdc]

It's that time of year again! I'll start...

I have a recipe for a "lower-fat deep chocolate bundt cake" that I've made recently, and am making for dessert for tomorrow. I just checked and do not have the 2 cups of all-purpose flour in the pantry...I do have "King Arthur Unbleached 100% Hard White Whole Wheat Flour" ...it is not designated as pastry flour as the recipe calls for, if substituting. My husband said the cake was very moist so shouldn't be a problem and to look it up on the internet. So here I am!

IF I do subsitute, am I correct in using 1 cup all-purpose and 1 cup of the white whole-wheat? I've listed the recipe below.

Substituting approximately half the total amount of white flour with whole wheat is the general rule. So, in this case, use 2 cups whole wheat and 2.25 cups bread flour.

If you use a larger amount of whole wheat, things can get tricky because of lack of gluten development which can result in a very dense bread.

Lower-Fat Deep Chocolate Bundt Cake (from "Veganomicon" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)

1 3/4 c freshly brewed coffee

2/3 c unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 1/2 c granulated sugar

1/3 c canola oil

1/3 c applesauce

1/4 c cornstarch

2 tsps vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract (I omitted this and increased the vanilla to 3 tsps)

2 c all-purpose or whole-wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp confectioners'sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease an 8 or 10" Bundt pan.

Bing coffee to a gentle simmer in a sauce pan over medium heat. Once it is simmering, turn down heat and whisk in cocoa powder, until it has dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, oil, applesauce and cornstarch until sugar and conrnstarch are dissolved, about two minutes. Mix in extracts. Once chocolate has cooled, fold into applesauce mixture.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Fold into wet ingredients, beating until relatively smooth, about one minute with a hand mixer or two minutes with a whisk.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. If pan is on smaller side, cooking time could be as long as 55 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool for about 20 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate to cool completely. Once cool, sift confectioners' sugar over top. Makes about 12 servings.

[squidsdc]

It's that time of year again! I'll start...

Well, after a search on Cook's Thesaurus, I think I may just use cake flour to make up the difference. I just measured and all totaled, the amount I'm short is only about an 1/8 of a cup. The "hard" descriptor of the whole-wheat concerns me too much.

[mktye]

Well, after a search on Cook's Thesaurus, I think I may just use cake flour to make up the difference. I just measured and all totaled, the amount I'm short is only about an 1/8 of a cup. The "hard" descriptor of the whole-wheat concerns me too much.

If it is just 1/8 of a cup out of 2 cups total flour, it probably does not matter very much if you use the KA white whole wheat or cake flour. And using 1 cup of KA white whole wheat & 1 cup of AP would most likely also work just fine.

[lperry]

If it helps, I've been using the KA white whole wheat flour in all my baking subbing out half of the usual white flour. It even worked in biscuits (half and half with White Lily) with no discernible difference in texture. So 1/8 of a cup will cause no problem at all. I'll be surprised if you can even tell a difference.

[squidsdc]

Thanks for the replies...I hadn't actually measured it to know that I was only 1/8 c shy when I first posted and thought I would have to do the 1c KA, 1c AP. As I mentioned, my main concern was the description on the bag of the KA said "hard" whole wheat, so I thought that may make a difference. But if mktye says it's OK, and lperry has had success with her baking as well, then that's good enough for me.

I'll let you know how it comes out!

[goodeats]

I'll let you know how it comes out!

Hm. Oh Squids~

:-P (This is what happens with search results.)

[squidsdc]

Hm. Oh Squids~

:-P (This is what happens with search results.)

OOPS As I recall, the cake turned out to be quite tasty. I'm glad I posted the recipe as I think I'll have to make it again!