A Guide to Baking with Ancient Grains

Understanding Protein (And Why It Matters for Cake)

If you've ever tried swapping whole wheat flour into a cake recipe and ended up with a hockey puck, you've met the protein problem.

Here's the deal: flour isn't just flour. Different grains have different protein levels, and protein determines texture. More protein means more gluten development, which is great for chewy bread but terrible for tender cake.

Protein percentages, decoded:

• Cake flour: 7-9% protein (soft, delicate crumb)
• All-purpose flour: 10-12% protein (the middle ground)
• Bread flour: 12-14% protein (strong, chewy structure)
• Ancient grains: 12-18% protein (depends on the grain)

Ancient grains like einkorn or spelt clock in around 15-18% protein. That's bread flour territory. So if you just dump spelt flour into a cake recipe, you're going to get a dense, tough cake. The gluten network will be too strong, and your crumb will be tight and chewy instead of light and fluffy.

How to work with high-protein ancient grains:

The trick is to dilute the protein content by mixing flours strategically. Professional bakers do this all the time—they blend high-protein flours with low-protein starches to hit the sweet spot for whatever they're making.

Here's the formula for mimicking cake flour texture with ancient grains:

Start with a base of ancient grain flour (spelt, whole wheat, rye—whatever you're working with). Then cut it with a starch like tapioca starch, potato starch, or cornstarch. The starch brings the overall protein percentage down without adding gluten, which keeps your cake tender.

A basic ratio to try:

• Swap cake flour for 10% ancient grain flour

This will bring a pop of flavor and nutritional density without the hassle of calculating the protein of the rest of your base. 

Other tricks for tender ancient grain cakes:

Don't overmix. High-protein flours develop gluten fast. Mix just until combined, then stop.

Add an acid. A little vinegar, lemon juice, or buttermilk weakens gluten bonds and tenderizes the crumb.

Let the batter rest. Give the flour time to hydrate before baking. This helps distribute moisture evenly and relaxes the gluten.

Consider sifting. Stone-milled flour has larger, coarser particles than roller-milled. Sifting it (or using a finer grind) can improve texture in delicate cakes.

The math is annoying (we know):

If you want to calculate exact protein percentages when blending flours, you need to know the protein content of each ingredient, then do weighted averages based on how much of each you're using. It's not hard math, but it's tedious, and most home bakers don't want to pull out a calculator every time they bake a cake.

Which is exactly why we created Ollin.

Or just use Ollin:

We've already done the baker's math. Our cake mixes blend only heritage and ancient grains without the starch, in ratios designed to give you tender, bakery-quality crumb without any protein calculations, trial and error, or dense, disappointing cakes.

Golden Hour and Anyday are formulated to deliver the flavor and nutrition of ancient grains with the texture of modern cakes. You get the best of both worlds—complex flavor, robust nutrition, and that melt-in-your-mouth tenderness you actually want in cake.

So if you're into experimenting with ancient grain baking, go for it. It's rewarding (and delicious) when you get it right. But if you just want great cake without the math? We've got you.