Substitute for Pastry Flour from Limited Traditional and Alternative Flours I have a recipe for sponge cake that calls for either all white pastry flour or an equal mix with whole wheat pastry flour.  Unfortunately, the only pastry flour I have is whole wheat.  The recipe specifically warns against All-Purpose, which it claims will dry the cake out.
These are the flours I have...is there any hope?


Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
Unbleached White Whole Wheat Flour
Unbleached White Flour
Whole Wheat Flour
Garbanzo Bean Flour
Tapioca Flour
Spelt Flour
Buckwheat Flour


I also have traditional powders like xantham gum, baking soda, cornstarch, etc.

About.Com suggests "two tablespoons corn starch, combined with enough all-purpose flour to make a cup," but warns that the extra protein content will increase toughness.

Thank you!
You can sift the whole flour to make it white flour.

Originally, millers used stones to grind the grains. The whole grain was completely ground, and all of its parts were mixed in the process. Wealthier people could sift the flour to discard the husks. Poor people ate whole flour bread.

Nowadays, flour is gotten from roller mills, where first the husk is removed, then the germ, and then the endosperm is ground. When you get whole flour (unless the miller says it's stone milled), they've put together the outer part and the endosperm. You can sift it to separate them.

So, in both cases, sifting the whole wheat pastry flour will make you get white pastry flour.