What happens if I use cake flour instead of all-purpose?

A cake with all-purpose flour substituted for cake flour is more likely to have a slightly coarser crumb , while a cake made with cake flour will have a finer, more even crumb and enhanced tenderness.

Is it better to bake with cake flour or all-purpose flour?

Super basic breakdown: Cake flour = low protein = less gluten = softest texture = great for vanilla cake and vanilla cupcakes. All-purpose flour = medium protein = moderate gluten = suitable for anything, from chocolate chip cookies to pizza dough.

Is it OK to use regular flour instead of cake flour?

You can use straight-up all-purpose flour instead of cake flour, but the texture of your baked goods won't be the same—they won't turn out nearly as tender and delicate.

What's the best flour for cakes?

Use cake flour in recipes where you want an extra-light, extra-fluffy texture, like Angel Food Cake, Cream Cheese Pound Cake, or Buttermilk-Chocolate Cake. You can also use cake flour to bring a more tender crumb to other sweets, like Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.

Does sifting flour make a difference?

Cakes with very fine crumbs or that rely on eggs or egg whites for lift, such as sponge or angel food cakes, benefit from sifted flour . You eliminate the risk of clumps and ensure that the flour can be stirred into the batter quicker and easier without knocking all the air out of your beaten eggs.

What is the best flour for baking?

All-purpose flour Like its name, this flour can pretty much do it all, from cakes to bread, muffins, pastries, and pizza. All-purpose flour is blended with both hard and soft wheat, which means it has a medium level of protein in it; more than cake flour but less than bread flour.

Does cake flour make a difference?

For starters, cake flour is low-protein (typically 5–8% protein as compared to 10–13% for AP), and that's because it's milled from low-protein (a.k.a. soft) wheat. This means it does not produce as much gluten as regular AP flour and can yield more light, tender results.

What happens if you use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour in cookies?

Admittedly, cookies made with cake flour are different in texture than your classic chewy-on-the-inside, crunchy-on-the-outside homemade chocolate chip cookies. But you won't sacrifice at all on the flavor front if you make cake flour cookies . And if you adore super-soft cookies, you might even enjoy the results more.

Can I use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour for muffins?

Yes, you can substitute all-purpose flour for cake flour in muffin recipes, but there may be a slight difference in texture. Cake flour has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour, which results in a softer and more tender baked good.

How do I substitute cake flour?

Making a cake flour substitute is easy with the following two ingredients: all-purpose flour and either cornstarch or arrowroot powder . Start with one level cup of AP flour, remove two tablespoons of the flour, and add two tablespoons of cornstarch or arrowroot powder back in.

Spanish Bar Cake. A real old fashioned market bakery fave! Rock Recipes (2024)

Spanish Bar Cake. A real old fashioned treat! A supermarket favourite from years ago, this simple raisin spice cake is easy to make, moist and utterly delicious.

Spanish Bar Cake

Originally published December 2018.

A few weeks ago, I got a request from a reader for a recipe for Spanish Bar Cake. I had never heard of it before.

She explained that it was a cake made by a supermarket bakery that she loved many years ago. I set off to do a little research on this cake.

Spanish Bar Cake starts with boiled raisins

Spanish Bar Cake was a very simple bar shaped raisin spice cake with an unfussy vanilla frosting. Being a fan of old time recipes, I certainly became quite interested in finding a recipe.

Turns out this cake was made by Jane Parker Bakery and sold through the A&P supermarket chain in the US & Canada. The reader who sent me the request grew up in Ottawa.

I have since heard that it was available in Toronto when a friend was growing up there 20 or so years ago.

Spanish Bar Cake made with everyday ingredients

There were a few recipes I found on a few websites but none of them definitively said they were the original recipe.

I finally came across an old entry in an online food forum which claimed to have been gotten from Jane Parker Bakery.

Spanish Bar Cake, the result.

I cannot say with any certainty that this was the original recipe. The reader who tried it called it a “very good raisin spice cake” but not quite the flavour she remembered.

Spanish Bar Cake just out of the oven

Memory is a funny thing though. We sometimes like to imagine things better than they actually were.

Then again, with such a widespread production of this cake, there may have been subtle differences in the recipe used regionally.

She noted that a tablespoon of cocoa, which some recipes add, would make it the darker colour she remembered. She also said the flavour was not so intense as she remembered.

The intenseness of flavour in this recipe would really have to come from the spices. My suggestion would be to add 1 tablespoon of cocoa to the dry ingredients and to up the amount of spices by half, if you want a more deeply flavoured cake.

So, for my taste, and Spouse’s, who loves spice cake, this was a really delicious, easy to make cake.

Sultana Raisins are great in this recipe but you can use any kind you like.

We brought it to a friends house for dinner and it got rave reviews. Next time I will try it with the adjustments I mentioned, but I would be more than content to enjoy it again, just as we made it.

Looking for more holiday baking inspiration?

If you love old fashioned cake recipes you may want to check out this collection with some everyday recipes like Cherry Pound Cake too.Favourite Newfoundland Christmas Cakes here.

Like this Spanish Bar Cake recipe?

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Spanish Bar Cake

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Yield: 12 or more servings

Spanish Bar Cake

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Additional Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 55 minutes

Spanish Bar Cake. A real old fashioned treat! A supermarket favourite from years ago, this simple raisin spice cake is easy to make, moist and utterly delicious.

Ingredients

2 cups water
1 cups raisins
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, or butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, (optional)

For the Frosting

2 1/4 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla
1 to 2 tablespoons milk, more if needed

Instructions

Heat the oven to 325 degrees.Grease a 9x13 baking pan and line it with parchment paper.
Add the water and raisins to a saucepan.Bring to a gentle boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the shortening to the boiled mixture. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
Sift together the sugar, soda, flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt.
Add the sifted ingredients to the cooled raisin mixture, along with the beaten egg and the nuts, if you are adding them.
Fold gently until the flour is just incorporated into the batter. Do not over mix.
Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan and Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool completely and ice with frosting if you like

To prepare the frosting

Beat together the icing sugar, butter, vanilla and a tablespoon of milk until smooth.
If necessary, add more milk until the frosting is a good spreadable consistency.
Cut the cake in half, frost the first layer then top with the second layer and frost again. To get the characteristic lines on top, run the back of a fork over the top frosting in straight lines.
This recipe also makes about a dozen cupcakes if you prefer.

Notes

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

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Spanish Bar Cake. A real old fashioned market bakery fave! Rock Recipes (2024)

Spanish Bar Cake. A real old fashioned treat! A supermarket favourite from years ago, this simple raisin spice cake is easy to make, moist and utterly delicious.

Spanish Bar Cake, the result.

Looking for more holiday baking inspiration?

Like this Spanish Bar Cake recipe?

Spanish Bar Cake

Ingredients

For the Frosting

Instructions

To prepare the frosting

Notes

Recommended Products

Nutrition Information

Yield

Serving Size

Did you like this recipe?

FAQs

What happens if I use cake flour instead of all-purpose? ›

References