into the fat or eggs. Because they’re filled
with bubbles in the mixing process, cake
recipes usually call either for no chemical
leavening, or for less than other batter recipes
do.
Flours, Starches, Cocoa Cake bakers use low-
protein pastry or cake flours to minimize the
toughening that comes with gluten formation.
They’re not really interchangeable; cake
flours are both chlorinated and milled into
very small particles to produce a fine, velvety
texture. Cooks who prefer not to use cake
flours can approximate their protein content
and increase fineness by adding starch to all-
purpose or pastry flours. Corn starch is the
most commonly available starch in the United
States; potato and arrowroot starches lack
cornstarch’s cereal flavor and gelate at lower
temperatures, which can reduce cooking times
and produce a moister cake. Some cakes are
made with pure starch or starchy chestnut