White Almond Sour Cream Cake

Name: White Almond Sour Cream Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 80 min
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)); 1/3 c milk ((73g)); 1 cup sour cream ((242g)); 2 1/2 c cake flour ((285g)); 1 1/2 c granulated sugar ((300g)); 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder ((12g)); 1/2 teaspoon salt ((3g)); 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened

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!

First, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8 x 2 inch pans.

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.

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.

Divide the cake batter between the prepared cake pans.

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.

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)!

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!

4.43 from 57 votes (57 ratings without comment)

317 Comments

BeBe says:

August 25, 2015 at 5:25 pm

Hi Michelle, Another option would be to cover the cake in buttercream, put into a bakery box, wrap the box with plastic wrap and freeze. Thaw the day before the party and cover in fondant. You could also freeze the completed fondant covered cake in a wrapped bakery box, thaw completely, allow the condensation to evaporate without touching the fondant. I think a week is too long to leave a cake at room temperature. Buttercream can begin to have an "off" taste after 3 days.

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Nikki Donaldson says:

November 9, 2015 at 11:00 am

Love this cake! I was just wondering if you think it would taste good with a chocolate buttercream instead of vanilla? Would the almond flavoring of the cake pair well with chocolate?

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melissa-diamond says:

November 9, 2015 at 11:25 am

Hi Nikki-- Yes, it would taste great! The almond flavor is very subtle. However, if you don't want to use almond, you could leave it out!

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Marlene jones says:

November 19, 2015 at 4:14 pm

Just made this cake in a bundt pan. It didn't get as tall as it should be of course since I didn't increase the amount of batter. But it's so pretty anyway. I must say the flavor of this cake is just scrumpdillyiscious . I could eat half of it right now. I never used cake flour before this cake and always had trouble with the texture of my cakes. This cake is perfect. I could have baked it maybe four or five more minutes but did not. I took it out of the oven after thirty minutes and it was still a bit wet, not a lot but I felt it needed another few minutes so let it bake another four minutes. It's so very moist and good. I have an electric stove and don't know if the temp is correct. I know I need an oven thermometer and plan on getting one soon. I will make this cake again and again. But it's not really a white cake is it? Mines yellow and beautiful. Thanks for this recipe. It's a real winner.

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BeBe says:

November 19, 2015 at 9:23 pm

Hi Marlene, Thank you so much for posting your nice review of this recipe. Melissa and I made this today when making a video demonstrating the reverse creaming method. We kept cutting slices of cake, eating way too much......should have just cut a large slice to begin with. I'm happy you like the recipe!!

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Rachelle Monchik says:

December 31, 2015 at 8:43 am

This cake looks delicious. I would like to use a peach buttercream inside and out. Do you suggest I omit almond flavor or would it be a good combination to keep it in? Happy New Year

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BeBe says:

December 31, 2015 at 9:42 am

Hi Rachelle, I would leave out the almond flavor, I think it might overpower the peach.

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Rachelle Monchik says:

December 31, 2015 at 9:58 am

Thank you

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Jenni Gallegos says:

January 7, 2016 at 2:11 pm

If I made a baviarian cream filling do you think that would go well with this cake?

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Rachelle Monchik says:

January 7, 2016 at 5:30 pm

What do I have to do crumb coat the cake if I am putting those large roses on like you did? Also I made the cake and found it to be very dense. I think I'm going to try it again. Would you know what I might be doing wrong? It took much longer to bake then the recipe had stated.

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BeBe says:

January 7, 2016 at 5:31 pm

Hi Jenni, I think bavarian cream would be fine to use as a filling with this recipe. If you are not a fan of almond flavor, you could use only 1/2 teaspoon or leave it out for a vanilla cake

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BeBe says:

January 7, 2016 at 10:36 pm

Hi Rachelle, We did crumb coat the cake, but you don't necessarily need to on this style of cake. It is important to moisten the dry ingredients with the softened butter. After you have added 1/2 of the liquid mixture, be sure to beat for 1 1/2 minutes, the batter will increase in size and become fluffy. When using cake flour, this recipe will have a melt in your mouth quality. I am not sure why yours took longer to bake, was it baked in two 8 inch pans? You might need to buy an oven thermometer to see if your oven is baking correctly. Melissa is going to be making a video soon on the Reverse Creaming Method.

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