White Almond Sour Cream Wedding Cake

Book Update:  I’m halfway through “The Rent Collector” by Camron Wright, and it is a really good story.  So far, I would recommend it  or try the first chapter out anyway.

Recipe Update:  This cake and cake recipe is the result of baking for almost 200 guests for my cousin’s wedding.  Half of the cupcakes were white almond sour cream cake topped with an almond vanilla buttercream frosting – a typical wedding cake.  The other half of the cupcakes were pumpkin cupcakes topped with a maple buttercream.  I know cream cheese would be a classic with pumpkin, but the cupcakes would be at room temperature longer than 2 hours and cream cheese really should be refrigerated just in case.

There are two versions of this cake.  One uses a box mix and the other does not.  It is up to you which to use.  Of course, you don’t have to wait for a wedding to have this cake.  We loved eating the trimmings!  The cake texture is a dense angel food cake.  The crumb is fine.  The cake is tender, but will hold for wedding tiers.  I would have a photo… but I kept one wedding cupcake aside to photograph and sent the other 250 cupcakes to the wedding.  When I came home, someone ate the cupcake.  

For white box mixes, I prefer Betty Crocker.  For yellow box mixes, I prefer Duncan Hines.

White Almond Sour Cream Wedding Cake
makes 30 cupcakes

1 (18.25 ounces) white cake box mix
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/3 cups water
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (use clear vanilla if you need a pure white colored cake)
1 teaspoon almond extract
4 egg whites

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and flour (or use Baker’s Joy baking spray) a 9×13 pan, or 2- 8″ or 9″ round pans, or line a muffin pan with 30 cupcakes liners.
2.  In a great big bowl, add the dry stuff:  cake mix, flour, sugar, and salt.  Mix this up in the mixer on low.
3.  Add the wet stuff:  water, sour cream, oil, extracts and egg whites.  Beat  until incorporated on low.  Now, beat for FOUR minutes.
4.  Bake cupcakes for 20 minutes.  Bake 8″ rounds for 35 minutes.  Bake 9×13 for 40 minutes.  Check to make sure a toothpick comes out clean of course. . For cupcakes, cool for 5-10 minutes and remove from the pan to cool on a wire rack.  For the rest of the cakes, place parchment side down on a wire rack to cool.  I have done it the opposite way and sometimes the cake sticks too much to the rack.  You will have to flip the cake onto a plate first, and then flip it back onto a wire rack to get it to sit on the wire rack with the parchment side down.

Recipe: adapted from one I found on Allrecipes.com but the typical WASC cake can be found in many sources

From Scratch- White Almond Sour Cream Wedding Cake
2 – 9×13 pans

5 cups cake flour
3 and 1/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup milk
1 and 1/3 cups shortening or butter (butter will make the cake a little yellow, but I like the taste better)
16 ounces sour cream
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 egg whites or 5 whole eggs

1.  Preheat oven to 350.
2.  In a great big bowl, sift the dry stuff: cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3.  Add: milk, shortening, sour cream and extracts.  Beat 2 minutes.
4.  Add egg whites and beat on high 2 minutes.
5.  Pour into prepared pans and bake.  Cupcakes about 20 minutes.  Rounds 35 minutes.  9×13 – 40 minutes.

Almond Buttercream Frosting
frosts 80 cupcakes or 40 cupcakes generously

1 lb. (4 sticks) butter, unsalted and softened
1 lb. and 8 oz. powdered sugar  (sift if you need super smooth)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon meringue powder (optional, but I use this for any paid-for cake)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (or clear vanilla)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons teaspoon almond extract
2-4 tablespoons whipping cream, half and half, or milk

1.  Beat the butter until lighter in color and fluffy.
2.  Turn mixer on low and slowly add the powdered sugar little by little.  Make sure most of the sugar is incorporated before adding more.
3.  Add salt, meringue powder, vanilla extract and almond extract.  Beat until combined.
4.  Add 2 tablespoons of cream.  Beat and see how stiff the frosting is.  For spreadable frosting that still holds a shape, I add about 3-4 tablespoons of cream.  Then, beat the frosting like crazy.  It will become almost white.
5.  Store in an airtight container until ready to use.  Keep at room temperature up to two days.  Keep in the refrigerator until the expiration on the butter expires.  Keep in the freezer up to one month.