Ingredient Weight Converter · flour
Cake Flour: cups to grams
1 cup of cake flour weighs 114 grams. Use the converter below for any other amount, or check the quick-reference table.
By Andrew Flores, Editor and publisher, Nathan Management. Last reviewed .
Density source: USDA FoodData Central, cross-checked against the King Arthur Baking weight chart. How these figures are derived and corrected is documented in our editorial standards.
Cake Flour baseline: 1 cup = 114 g.
Common amounts
| Cups | Tablespoons | Grams | Ounces (weight) | Milliliters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/4 cup | 4.0 | 29 g | 1.01 oz | 59 mL |
| 1/3 cup | 5.3 | 38 g | 1.34 oz | 79 mL |
| 1/2 cup | 8.0 | 57 g | 2.01 oz | 118 mL |
| 2/3 cup | 10.7 | 76 g | 2.68 oz | 158 mL |
| 3/4 cup | 12.0 | 86 g | 3.02 oz | 177 mL |
| 1 cup | 16.0 | 114 g | 4.02 oz | 237 mL |
| 1.5 cups | 24.0 | 171 g | 6.03 oz | 355 mL |
| 2 cups | 32.0 | 228 g | 8.04 oz | 473 mL |
| 3 cups | 48.0 | 342 g | 12.06 oz | 710 mL |
| 4 cups | 64.0 | 456 g | 16.08 oz | 946 mL |
Spoon weights
Derived from the same 114 g per cup — a US tablespoon is 1/16 of a cup and a teaspoon is 1/48.
| Amount | Grams |
|---|---|
| 1 tablespoon | 7.1 g |
| 1 teaspoon | 2.4 g |
| 1/2 teaspoon | 1.2 g |
| 1/4 teaspoon | 0.59 g |
Cake Flour at a glance
- Protein
- 7–9%
- Why it is bleached
- Chlorination weakens gluten and lets the starch absorb more sugar and liquid, which is what holds up a high-ratio cake
- 2 lb box yields
- about 8 cups (907 g ÷ 114 g)
What a cup of cake flour actually weighs
The published 114 g assumes one specific way of filling the cup. Here is what the same cup weighs under the other common handling methods and product forms, and how far off the recipe you end up.
| How it was measured | Grams per cup | vs. published | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spooned into the cup, leveled | 114 g | published figure | The published figure. Cake flour is fine enough that it clumps in the box — break the clumps before spooning. |
| Scooped straight through the box | ~140 g | +23% | The finer the mill, the more the flour compacts under the cup's rim. |
| Sifted, then spooned | ~100 g | -12% | Sifting fluffs the finest flours the most. Recipes for chiffon and angel food usually assume sifted. |
A tilde (~) marks a working estimate rather than a published figure — it varies with brand, grind, or how hard the cup was packed.
Why measuring cake flour by cup goes wrong
Cake flour is finely milled and usually bleached, with 7–9 percent protein. It absorbs less liquid and produces a softer, finer crumb than AP. The lower protein and finer mill mean a cup weighs noticeably less (114 grams vs. 120 for AP) — even though it feels feather-light in the hand, it's not that the volume is wrong, it's that the particles pack more loosely.
Practical tips for working with cake flour
If you have AP but the recipe demands cake flour, the standard workaround is to measure one cup of AP, remove two tablespoons, and replace those two tablespoons with cornstarch. Sift the mixture three times before using. It's not perfect — the chlorine bleaching in commercial cake flour changes how starch grabs water and lets a high-sugar batter set instead of sinking — but for everyday layer cakes it's close enough that most tasters won't notice.
Note from this ingredient's record: Finely milled and lower in protein. If a recipe calls for cake flour and you only have AP, swap two tablespoons of every cup for cornstarch.
Substitutions that work — and what they cost you
Make it from AP flour
Ratio: 1 cup AP minus 2 tablespoons, plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch; sift three times
Trade-off: Matches the protein but not the bleaching. Fine for butter layer cakes; very sweet white cakes can still sink in the middle.
All-purpose flour straight
Ratio: 1 cup cake flour = 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons AP
Trade-off: Tougher, coarser crumb. Acceptable in a spiced or chocolate cake where the crumb is dense anyway, wrong for angel food.
When cake flour ruins the recipe
| What you see | What went wrong | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Cake domes, then collapses in the middle | Cake flour swapped into a recipe built for AP without cutting the liquid — the weaker structure cannot hold the rise. | Reduce liquid about 1 tablespoon per cup of flour, and stop opening the oven before the center sets. |
| Angel food or chiffon comes out coarse and heavy | AP flour used in place of cake flour, so the batter is too strong to stay aerated. | Use real cake flour, or the AP-plus-cornstarch substitute, and sift it three times. |
Storing cake flour
Airtight; cake flour clumps more readily than AP because the particles are so fine. Break up or sift after long storage or the clumps bake in as pale streaks.
Other ingredients
Browse every ingredient on the site, or jump to a related one: