Flour

All the recipes were tested using King Arthur brand all-purpose flour and Swans Down cake flour. After years of playing with different flours, I’ve found that King Arthur brand, which is fairly high in gluten, will absorb more liquid I than softer flours, especially those from the South. If your favorite all-purpose flour is a softer (and thus less absorbent) one, you may not need to use cake flour when it’s called for in the recipe—instead, go ahead and use your softer all-purpose flour on its own.