Matzo Cake Meal substitute

Substitutes for Matzo Cake Meal with ratios

1. 2Potato starch

   Taste and texture differ

   Use ¾ cup potato starch for every 1 cup cake meal

   The other pillar of Passover baking and Kosher for Passover in its own right.

   What changes

   It is much lighter and silkier than cake meal, almost squeaky between the fingers, so a sponge made with it is more delicate and airy but also more fragile and dries out faster. It contributes no wheaty flavour at all.

   Best for

   Passover sponge cakes and roulades, airy chiffon-style cakes, thickening fillings, gluten-free Passover baking

   Many Passover cake recipes already use a blend, so the ideal is half cake meal and half potato starch. If you only have starch, use three quarters of the weight and expect a more tender, more collapse-prone cake, so cool it upside down in the tin like an angel food cake.

2. 3Almond flour or finely ground nuts

   Taste and texture differ

   Use the same amount by weight

   Widely used in Passover baking and genuinely excellent for it.

   What changes

   Ground almonds or hazelnuts make a moister, richer, browner cake with a shorter crumb, and the nut flavour is pronounced. What they cannot do is hold up a tall airy sponge, since there is no starch network at all.

   Best for

   Passover flourless-style cakes, tortes and chocolate cakes, macaroon-type cookies, gluten-free baking

   Reduce the fat in the recipe by a tablespoon or two per cup, since nuts bring their own oil. Note that some Ashkenazi households do not eat kitniyot at Passover, and while nuts are generally not in that category, customs vary, so check what your household follows.

3. 4Cake flour or plain flour (not for Passover)

   Different taste

   Use 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon for every 1 cup cake meal

   The best-tasting swap and the one you should use if you are baking a recipe that happens to call for cake meal at any time other than Passover.

   What changes

   Wheat flour has live gluten, so the cake rises higher, holds together better and eats lighter and less dense. Cake flour is closer in fineness than plain flour.

   Best for

   year-round baking from a Passover recipe, layer cakes, sponge cakes, cookies

   Be clear about what this is: wheat flour is chametz and is not kosher for Passover under any circumstances. Use it only outside Passover. Reduce liquid slightly too, since flour absorbs less than cake meal does.

4. 5Homemade cake meal from matzo sheets

   Close match

   Use About 3 sheets of matzo for every 1 cup of cake meal

   The most economical route and useful around Passover when cake meal sells out but plain matzo is everywhere.

   What changes

   Break the sheets, blitz in batches to a fine powder, sift and regrind the coarse remainder. It is indistinguishable from the boxed product.

   Best for

   Passover baking when cake meal is sold out, small quantities, controlling the grind

   Use unsalted, unflavoured plain matzo, not egg matzo or onion matzo. A spice grinder or coffee grinder gives a much finer result than a food processor if you only need a cup or two.

5. 6Cake meal and potato starch blend

   Close match

   Use ½ cup cake meal plus ½ cup potato starch for every 1 cup cake meal

   Worth listing separately because it is what most good Passover cake recipes do, and it is better than either ingredient alone.

   What changes

   The cake meal gives body and a faintly toasted wheat flavour, the starch gives lightness, and together they produce a crumb much closer to an ordinary cake than either can manage on its own.

   Best for

   Passover sponge cake, layer cakes, cupcakes, sheet cakes

   Sift the two together twice so they are properly mixed, since potato starch clumps and will otherwise leave dry pockets. This is the blend to reach for if a recipe calls for cake meal alone and comes out heavy.