All-Purpose Flour
6.7Use 1 cup minus 2 tbsp AP flour per cup cake flour; sift twice for lighter texture in delicate cakes
Dressings call for cake flour only as a cooked-out thickener in boiled-style versions like old-fashioned coleslaw dressing, where 1 tbsp per cup of vinegar-water sets a pourable coating around 65-72°F serving temp. The flour must be cooked past 195°F first to kill its raw taste, then chilled. A substitute must hold emulsion at fridge temperature, coat leafy surfaces without pooling, and taste clean as-served rather than pasty on the tongue.
Use 1 cup minus 2 tbsp AP flour per cup cake flour; sift twice for lighter texture in delicate cakes
Use 7/8 cup AP per cup of cake flour in cooked-style boiled dressings. Cook the slurry above 195°F for 3-5 minutes to gelatinize starch and mute raw taste, then chill rapidly. Coats leafy greens at 65-72°F serving temp without clumping or pasty residue on the tongue.
Blend 2 tbsp arrowroot with 14 tbsp all-purpose flour as a gluten-free cake flour substitute
Use 1 tbsp arrowroot per 2 tbsp cake flour. Arrowroot gels translucent at 175°F and holds emulsion when chilled to 40°F refrigerator temp, where wheat thickeners weep. Coats leafy greens cleanly at 65-72°F without the pasty mouthfeel that flour-based dressings can leave.
Gluten-free with fine crumb; best blended with other flours for structure
Swap 1:1 for gluten-free boiled dressing. Cook the slurry above 195°F for 4 minutes to fully gelatinize, then chill. Rice flour holds emulsion at fridge 40°F without syneresis and coats greens clean at 65-72°F serving temp without the gummy residue cassava can produce.
Blend 2 tbsp cornstarch with 14 tbsp all-purpose flour to mimic 1 cup cake flour
Use 1 tbsp cornstarch per 2 tbsp cake flour as a cooked-out thickener. Slurry first in cold liquid, then whisk in at 180°F until viscosity sets in 30 seconds. Chill rapidly; the coating stays glossy on greens at 65-72°F and resists pooling on leafy surfaces.
Gluten-free 1:1 swap with neutral flavor; texture is slightly gummier
Swap 1:1 for gluten-free boiled dressing. Cook above 195°F for 3-4 minutes to fully gelatinize. Cassava sets a slightly gummier coating than rice flour — thin with 1 extra tbsp vinegar per cup before chilling so the dressing pours cleanly at 65-72°F serving temp.