The original recipe on the ny times website has the flour listed in weight. No need to convert. The website you used appears to have removed the weights. I love this recipe and usually have a batch in the freezer. Chocolate chip recipe Published: July 9, 2008 Adapted from Jacques Torres Related Perfection? Hint: It’s Warm and Has a Secret (July 9, 2008) Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour 1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt 2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar 2 large eggs 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract 1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note) Sea salt. 1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside. 2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

For the small amount of cake flour called for in this recipe, it probably won't make much difference and I wouldn't worry about it or alter the amount (more about that below). If you keep one of the Southern All-Purpose flours around for making biscuits and quick breads (White Lily, Martha White, Gladiola or Red Band which have 7.5-9.5% protein) it would make an excellent substitute (cup for cup) because it has close to the same amount of protein as cake flour (7.5-8.5%). People who make lots of quick breads and cake would get better results if they DID use a Southern All-Purpose flour instead of National Brands and Northern Brands of all-purpose flour which have more gluten/protein in them. Southern All-Purpose flours have less gluten than Northern All-purpose (Robin Hood, Hecker's and King Arthur 11-13%) and National Brands of All-purpose flour (Gold Medal & Pillsbury 10-12%). It's all about the gluten development... The more gluten there is to develop in the flour, the tougher the cake will be. But once again, there's not enough cake flour in the recipe to worry about. Hendricus gave the #1 advise when substituting all-purpose flour for cake flour - less mixing. The more you mix, the more the gluten develops into long strands. The more gluten you develop during mixing the harder it is for the leavening gases to escape. They literally have to "drill" their way through the long gluten strands. The leavening gases leave narrow holes that run from the bottom to the top of the cake (or quick bread). Tunnels are the hallmark of overmixing and over-developing the gluten. There's not enough cake flour involved in the recipe to alter the amount of the flour. The reason for reducing the amount of all-purpose flour when you use it instead of cake flour is because gluten absorbs a lot of hydration and the cake can be drier because of the added gluten found in all-purpose flour. A reduction of the amount of all-purpose when substituting it for cake flour will reduce the total amount of gluten -- a little. There's a third way to reduce gluten - add more fat. Fat coats the gluten so that it doesn't have as much contact with the hydration, so it only develops into short strands. This is a common method used when people want a more tender pastry crust and are using one of the higher-gluten (higher protein content) Northern all-purpose flours. After the flour lesson, I wouldn't worry about using all-purpose instead of cake flour. -Grainlady

Islay -- each site where I found this cake said that -- it was Irish and it was an Easter cake but if I google Irish Easter Cake that daffodil cake doesn't come up! LOL! So I don't know. But it is pretty no matter where it is from. And it does look like a spring cake!

Should be fine to use. Highly refined, low protein cake flour has a long shelf life. FWIW, I just checked the "Softasilk" box I bought last year and found that the "best used by date" is still another year out. Even beyond the "best used by date," cake flour can still be fine. For one thing, being so highly refined, cake flour has little of the oils or bran which is what can go rancid and spoil other flours. Cake flour does not have any ingredients like baking powder or soda that would lose lift with age as in self-rising flours. Also, with other flours that have more protein than cake flours (all purpose flours for example), the concern is that aging proteins do not form gluten as readily as in fresher flour. Avoiding gluten formation is the whole point of cake flour, right? Gluten would prevent you from getting the fine and tender crumb that are the hallmark of most good cakes. A further FWIW, a lot of online bakers report that cake flour apparently keeps for next to forever in a sealed-up bag or container in the freezer. One thing though, IME, cake flours' very fine grind means it can really pack down in storage. Good idea to to sift/areate it before measuring. Even a mesh strainer will work for this if you no longer have a sifter. Also, if you can, measure by weight rather than volume.