We LOVE this White Almond Sour Cream Cake recipe from scratch. It is delicious, moist, and it holds up perfectly to fondant.
This “WASC” cake has been one of our most popular scratch recipes on My Cake School over the years, and is definitely one of my favorites!
Not Quite White…
You will notice in the photo that the cake itself is not stark white, due to the fact that we use the whole eggs (rather than just the egg whites), and butter instead of shortening.
This gives us a soft yellow shade, but for me the additional flavor and richness from the whole eggs and butter is more important than having a truly white cake.
Not a Fan of Almond? Omit for a White Sour Cream Layer Cake
I just love the balance of vanilla with a hint of almond in this flavorful recipe. However, as subtle as the almond flavoring is, if you are truly not a fan of almond, you are going to notice it. No worries! Simply leave out the almond flavoring and you will have an amazingly moist and flavorful White Sour Cream Cake!
What Frostings Pair Well With White Almond Sour Cream Cake?
This White Almond Sour Cream Cake is amazing with so many different fillings and frostings. It is hard to pick a favorite! In the photo, we have frosted our cake with our Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting recipe.
You can find a listing of our favorite frostings in the Frostings category of our Recipes section, there are so many that would pair perfectly with this wonderful cake! Here are a few more ideas:
….and so many. more!
The Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing
The mixing method used in this cake recipe is known as the Reverse Creaming Method. You will notice that the order that the ingredients are added is different than the traditional method of mixing.
We have several cake recipes in our Recipes section that call for the Reverse Creaming Method. (We first read about this method in Rose Levy-Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible, and have been experimenting with incorporating it into many of our favorite cake recipes ever since).
This method results in cakes that are slightly denser and have a velvety texture. For more information on the Reverse Creaming Method, you can find a link to our free cake video tutorial on the method at the bottom of this post!
*If you prefer a fluffier texture to your cakes, you can find this same delicious White Almond Sour Cream Cake Recipe using the conventional method of mixing. This is also the recipe/mixing method that I use when making White Almond Sour Cream Cupcakes because they come out fluffier!: White Almond Sour Cream Cake Recipe (conventional method).
We hope that you enjoy this amazing recipe! Please let us know if you have any questions!
White Almond Sour Cream Cake~ A Scratch Recipe
This super moist and delicious scratch White Almond Sour Cream Cake recipe is SO good!
Ingredients
- 3 Large eggs
- 2 tsp. (8g) vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. (4g) almond extract
- 1/3 c (73g) milk
- 1 cup (242g) sour cream
- 2 1/2 c (285g) cake flour
- 1 1/2 c (300g) granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons (12g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
- 1 1/2 sticks (12 T) (170g) unsalted butter, slightly softened (Do not soften in microwave). I cut the butter into 1/2 inch slices onto waxed paper and leave on the countertop 8 to 10 minutes. It will be soft enough to make a fingerprint in the butter and added to the dry ingredients a few pieces at a time.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Grease and flour two 8 x 2 inch pans *I USE THE REVERSE CREAMING METHOD FOR THIS RECIPE
- In a small bowl, combine eggs, vanilla, almond extract, milk, & sour cream. Whisk until blended & set aside.
- Mix the dry ingredients (cake flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt) in the mixer for 30 seconds so the baking powder and salt will be well incorporated into the flour and sugar.
- Slowly add the pieces of butter a few at a time while the mixer is on medium speed. Beat for approximately 1 minute or until the dry ingredients are crumbly and moistened by the butter, giving it the look of coarse sand. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl.
- It is important to SLOWLY add approx. 1/2 of the egg mixture with the mixer on very low speed then increasing to medium speed for 1½ minutes -- the batter will be thick and fluffy. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl. Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings, scraping the bowl and beating for 20 seconds after each addition. It is now ready to pour into pans.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pans 10 minutes then turn out. Makes 7 cups batter
Here’s the Chocolate Layer Cake Version!
Did you know that we also have a Chocolate Sour Cream Cake recipe? It is decadent, ultra moist, and has a wonderfully soft texture. You can find it here!: Chocolate Sour Cream Cake Recipe from Scratch
If you prefer to work with cake mixes, here is a great doctored cake mix version of White Almond Sour Cream Cake!: White Almond Sour Cream Cake (Doctored Cake Mix Version)
For more information on the Reverse Creaming Method of mixing as used in this recipe, find our free video tutorial here!: Reverse Creaming Method
You may also like our White Cake Recipe from scratch! It’s another popular choice from our Recipes section! Super moist and slightly lighter in color due to the egg whites in the recipe. We love them both!
Thanks for stopping by My Cake School! We hope you’ll visit again soon.
LOVE the flavor of this cake. I used the recipe to make cake pops and everyone loved the subtle almond taste. I plan to make this again for my mom’s birthday but wanted to make this as a three layer cake. How would I go about this? Make a recipe and a half?
Hi Melissa,
Which cake would you recommend for a vanilla cake to be covered in fondant, this one or the yellow cake. The client wants a moist vanilla cake.
Thanks in advance,
Urooj
This is amazing!! This taste just like Publix bakery cake!!! What other recipes of yours use this cake as a base?? I LOVE it!!
Thanks so much!,
Kim
Can this be used to make cupcakes? I tried halving the recipe and used 2 eggs and they all sunk :( any tips?
Hi Malory, Yes, the recipe can be used to make cupcakes. The cupcakes will bake up with just a slight dome. This is true of most scratch recipes. For standard size cupcakes, bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. I am sorry that your cupcakes sank. The most common cause of cakes or cupcakes sinking is because they were under baked. You made 1/2 the recipe, the full recipe has 3 eggs so you should have used 1 1/2 eggs instead of 2. To get 1/2 egg. Crack an egg, throughly mix the yolk and white of the egg. Two Tablespoons of this will give you 1/2 egg.
Hi i never tried this but i noticed you use it for most of your cakes, going to try it cant wait!
I’m going to try this for mom’s birthday this weekend. How many people does one recipe serve?
Hi Christina, Depending of the size of your servings, you should be able to get 14 – 15 serving with this 2 layer cake
Hi, if I don’t have cake flour can I use all purpose flour instead?…would I have the same result?… or can I make my own by a substitution of several tablespoons of flour with cornstarch?… Thank you and best regards from Monterrey, México. ☺️
Hi Mayra, Yes, you can make your own cake flour. For this recipe, measure out 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour. Remove 5 Tablespoons and replace with 5 Tablespoons cornstarch. Whisk to blend. Hope you will enjoy the recipe.
When you said to replace 12 egg whites with 2/3 cup boxed were you referring to dry egg whites for frozen egg whites?
Hi Rosalind, I’m sorry that was not clear in the recipe. Which recipe were you referring to with 12 egg whites, the White Almond Cake recipe does not have that many? The boxed egg whites I mentioned are pasteurized egg whites found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. I’ll add this information to the ingredient list. Thanks for posting.
Hi I wanted to know have you ever substituted the milk for buttermilk and if so, did you achieve the same results? Also, should I mix this batter on low or medium and for long? Thanks in advance!
Hi Monique, This recipe uses sour cream and only 1/3 cup milk. The use of sour cream adds moisture to the cake without making the batter thinner. We have a Vanilla Buttermilk in our recipe section if you would like to try that. We don’t mix our cake batter above medium speed. Also, this White Almond Sour Cream recipe uses the Reverse Creaming Method of mixing. If you have never used this method, it would be helpful to watch the video (link below) on this mixing method.
https://www.mycakeschool.com/blog/reverse-creaming-method-of-mixing-a-cake-video-tutorial/