Cake flour in French bread dough

[bakingmad]

Has anyone used cake flour along with all-purpose for French bread? What kind of crumb did you get?

Does it make a tender, delicate crumb?

 

[Gretchen]

French bread is all about a "pully" texture, not "crumb", in my opinion. I think it is the entirely wrong flour. Bread flour is needed to build up the gluten.

 

[jennyema]

I agree with Gretchen. Cake flour would be the opposite of what you'd want to use. You want more protein in french bread, not less. Some people fortify their AP flour with a higher protein flour to get a nice chewy texture.

 

[ChefJune]

American cake flour is nothing like the flour used in France for what we here is US call "French Bread." The inside is supposed to be soft, but cake flour will not help you attain that texture. I have good luck with plain old King Arthur flour. You do need to make sure you give the bread steam when it's first in the oven, to get the crisp crust you want.