How to Bake a Cake Without Self-Raising Flour: Simple Substitutes and Techniques

If you’re out of self-raising flour, no worries—you can bake a cake anyway. Just mix baking powder into plain flour: about 3 teaspoons of baking powder for every cup of plain flour works well.

Some recipes toss in a pinch of salt or baking soda along with the baking powder. That little tweak can help your cake’s texture and give it a better rise.

If you know how to adjust these basics, you can experiment with all sorts of cake recipes—even when self-raising flour is missing from your pantry.

You’ll find it’s pretty easy once you get the hang of the right measurements. If you want more details, check out recipes like the one on the Base Funfetti Cake Recipe page.

Creating a Cake Without Self-Raising Flour

You can totally bake a cake without self-raising flour by using plain flour and the right leavening agents. Knowing what to combine and how to mix them makes all the difference.

Essential Ingredients for Substituting Self-Raising Flour

To swap in for 1 cup of self-raising flour, use 1 cup of plain flour, 1½ teaspoons of baking powder, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Baking powder lifts the cake, while salt brings out the flavor.

If your recipe calls for something acidic like buttermilk or yogurt, add about ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. That reacts with the acid and gives your cake some lovely lightness.

Measure everything with care. Too much baking powder? The cake tastes bitter. Too little? It turns out dense.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Sift the plain flour, baking powder, and salt together first. This spreads the leavening evenly and adds a bit of air, which helps the cake rise.

Cream your butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, and then fold in the dry ingredients gently. Don’t overmix—nobody wants a tough cake.

If you’re using acidic liquids, toss the baking soda in with the dry mix or stir it into the liquids before combining. That way, it gets activated at the right time.

Bake at the temperature your recipe says. Check for doneness with a toothpick—it should come out clean when the cake’s ready.

Tips for Achieving the Best Texture

Use fresh baking powder. If it’s old, your cake just won’t rise like you want.

Stick to the original flour amount. Adding extra flour can mess with the moisture and throw off your cake’s texture.

Let ingredients come to room temperature unless your recipe says otherwise. This helps them blend better and makes the cake more even.

Keep an eye on your cake near the end of baking time. Overbaking dries it out fast. For more ideas, take a look at this plain flour cake recipes guide.

Choosing and Measuring Leavening Agents

Getting the right rise without self-raising flour comes down to your leavening agents—and how you measure them. Baking powder and baking soda do different things, so understanding when to use each one is pretty important.

You might need to tweak the amounts depending on the cake you’re making.

How to Use Baking Powder and Baking Soda

Baking powder has both acid and base inside, so it starts working as soon as it gets wet, then again with heat. That’s why it’s a go-to if your recipe doesn’t have anything acidic.

Baking soda, on the other hand, needs acid to activate. If you’re adding buttermilk, lemon juice, or yogurt, baking soda is your friend. Without acid, baking soda just sits there—and can leave a weird taste.

Here’s a quick guide:

• Use about 1 teaspoon of baking powder for every 130 grams (1 cup) of plain flour.
• If your recipe includes an acid, use 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda for each cup of flour.

Be careful with those measurements. Too much leavening makes the cake puff up fast and then collapse—never fun.

Adjusting Recipes for Different Cake Types

Different cakes call for their own mix of leavening agents. Light and fluffy cakes—think sponge cakes—usually need extra baking powder to get that airy texture.

Dense cakes, like pound cakes, go the other way. They use less leavening so the crumb doesn’t end up too open or fall apart. Sometimes you just let eggs do the heavy lifting.

Got acidic ingredients in your recipe? You’ll want to balance the baking soda, or you’ll risk a weird, soapy taste. If there’s nothing acidic, just stick with baking powder for a nice, even rise.

Want to make self-raising flour at home? Just mix 1.5 teaspoons baking powder and a quarter teaspoon salt into every 130 grams of plain flour. Swapping this in for plain flour works well in most traditional recipes. If you’re curious, check out choosing leavening agents for baking.