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White Almond Sour Cream Cake

Last Updated On: February 18, 2024 | Published: October 24, 2014 by Melissa Diamond | 317 Comments
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We LOVE this White Almond Sour Cream Cake! It is so moist and delicious with a velvety soft texture and fine crumb.

This cake has been one of our most popular cake recipes from scratch over the years, and is definitely one of my favorites! We have a cake mix version (WASC Cake) as well!

Delicious Scratch White Almond Sour Cream Cake Recipe by MyCakeSchool.com

How to Make White Almond Sour Cream Cake

This delicious scratch White Almond Sour Cream Cake is a creamy and flavorful cake, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture.

This is thanks in part to the Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing, which calls ingredients to be added in a different order than the traditional creaming method. The result is a slightly dense, velvety soft cake (as with our chocolate cake from scratch and orange dreamsicle cake).

You can find the full white almond sour cream cake recipe below, but here is a quick look at our steps!

  1. First, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8 x 2 inch pans.
  2. In a small bowl, combine eggs, vanilla, almond extract, milk, & sour cream. Whisk until blended & set aside.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Next, slowly add approx. half 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 two pourings, scraping the bowl and beating for 20 seconds after each addition.
  6. Divide the cake batter between the prepared cake pans.
  7. Finally, bake the cake layers at 350 degrees F 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

Recipe FAQs

You will notice in the photo that the white almond sour cream 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 the cake a soft yellow shade. The egg yolks and butter add richness and flavor to the recipe, and so we do not mind the yellow crumb.

If you'd like to try a cake that is lighter in color, don't miss our delicious White Velvet Cake! It contains cream cheese which adds richness and seems to lighten the color as well! Our scratch White Cake is another great option too!

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! You can substitute additional vanilla for the almond extract if you'd like!

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 and Glazes category of our Recipes section. Here are a few more ideas:

Yes! Just as with most of our cake recipes, from orange cake to lemon cake, pound cake, and more, these white almond sour cream layers freeze beautifully. Make life easier and work well in advance! They will stay fresh in the freezer for up to three months.

Once your cake layers have cooled (or almost cooled completely), wrap each layer individually in plastic wrap followed by foil. For more stability, we often freeze each layer on a foil-wrapped cardboard cake circle before wrapping. Into the freezer they go!

To Thaw: Move the wrapped layers from the freezer to the kitchen counter. Allow to sit, still wrapped, on the counter for 30-45 minutes before unwrapping. Thaw to desired amount for assembling the cake. (Some bakers like to assemble their cake layers while still partially frozen as they are less fragile.).

Sour cream adds a wonderful richness to cakes and it also enhances the texture. The boost of acidity softens strands of gluten in the cake batter, making for a more tender cake.

Some of our other favorite cakes that call for sour cream are: Chocolate Bundt Cake, Orange Dreamsicle Cake, Chocolate Cake from Scratch, and Pumpkin Spice Cake!

Amazing White Almond Sour Cream Cake Recipe from Scratch! Super moist and delicious! My Cake School Cake Recipes, Cake Tutorials, and More!

More Cakes with Almond Flavor

We've made several almond cakes over the years! While this White Almond Sour Cream Cake has a light almond flavor, others like our popular Almond Cake recipe have a rich almond flavor.

We also have an a great Almond Cream Cake, Almond Coconut Cake, Lemon Almond Cake, and many more!

Thanks so much for stopping by! We hope that you enjoy this recipe. Make sure to check out our full collection of Vanilla Cakes (which also includes yellow cakes and white cakes)!

Our Vanilla Velvet Cake and Vanilla Buttermilk Cake are two more popular options!

Keep this White Almond Sour Cream cake in mind the next time you need a birthday cake recipe, potluck dessert, bridal or baby shower cake, holiday cake recipe, and more.

We have hundreds more cake recipes and free cake decorating tutorials to share with you!

Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!

Amazing White Almond Sour Cream Cake Recipe from Scratch! Super moist and delicious! My Cake School Cake Recipes, Cake Tutorials, and More!

White Almond Sour Cream Cake

BY Melissa and Bebe
This super moist and delicious scratch White Almond Sour Cream Cake is rich with a velvety soft texture. Perfect when paired fruity frostings, chocolate frostings, vanilla buttercream, and more.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Course: Dessert
Servings: 0
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Ingredients

  • 3 Large eggs, room temperature (If in a hurry, place in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.)
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract (8g)
  • 1 tsp. almond extract (4g)
  • ⅓ c milk (73g)
  • 1 cup sour cream (242g)
  • 2 ½ c cake flour (285g)
  • 1 ½ c granulated sugar (300g)
  • 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder (12g)
  • ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
  • 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened (170g) unsalted butter, slightly softened (Do not soften in microwave). It shouldn't be overly soft, but soft enough to easily dent when pressed.

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees Grease and flour two 8 x 2 inch pans.
  • This recipe uses the reverse creaming method of mixing- the order of ingredients is a bit different than the traditional method.
  • In a small bowl, combine eggs, vanilla extract, 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. ½ 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
4.43 from 57 votes (57 ratings without comment)

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317 Comments

  1. Hi Michelle, You are right, this recipe should rise higher than 1 inch. I am not sure from your post if you used the reverse creaming method or the conventional method. When using the reverse creaming method, if the dry ingredients are not mixed until it looks like coarse sand or if when mixing the batter is mixed at too high a speed (do not mix over medium speed) or over mixed, it can cause the cake to not reach full height. When using the conventional mixing method over or under mixing can cause a problem.

    Reply

  2. loooooooove this cake recipe. I was hesitant because I've been disappointed in the past when it came to a bakery style cake. But this recipe lived up to its name. And while I've made the doctored version and it was very good and of course quick, this cake right here is it for me. My search is complete when it comes to vanilla cake.Thank you so micj

    Reply

  4. Which cake do oh ink old taste nest with a butter cream and cherry filling...the white scratch or wasc scratch?

    Does one rise higher than the other?

    Thanks, Teresa

    Reply

  5. I used this recipe as a test cake for my granddaughters birthday. I have never used a reverse creaming method and the cake was perfect. She loved it and I will be making it for her birthday in September. Love this recipe it has made it to my recipe file.

    Reply

  6. Hi Teresa, Both recipes would work well with a buttercream and cherry filling. The WASC has 1 cup more batter than the White scratch recipe so it would be a bit higher.

    Hi Kim, Yay!! I'm so happy you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for giving it a try and posting your review.

    Reply

  8. Hi Tisha, I am not sure of the outcome if you substitute all of the butter with oil. I think you could reduce the butter by 1/4 cup, and add 1/4 cup oil. Add the oil to the other liquid ingredients.

    Reply

  9. Hello! My cake did not turn out, it was very dense and the bottom layer was very gelatinous. I followed the recipe exactly with doing the reverse cream method. Also I have a confection oven and baked it in a 10 inch springform pan had to bake it about 18 minutes longer. Any tips for me? Thanks!

    Reply

  10. Hi Kim, I'm sorry you had a problem with your cake. When you have a gelatinous streak in your cake it is because the batter was beaten at a speed that was too high or it was mixed too long. It will take longer for the batter to bake in a 10 inch springform pan. The cake bakes from the outside in and all the batter is in one large and deep pan. You could bake at 25 degree lower temperature for a longer time so the sides of the cake would not over bake. Also, you could use a heating core or 2 or 3 rose nails placed in the center of the pan will help distribute the heat so the cake will bake more evenly. Hope this helps.

    Reply