This is my go-to white cake recipe for making a decorated cake or cupcakes. This cake works especially well if you need to stack several layers. It’s a dense cake and holds together well. I used this recipe for a family 90th birthday celebration, and it was versatile enough to use in mini-cupcakes, regular cupcakes, mini-loaves, and a three layer cake. My family prefers this cake over bakery cake or cupcakes.
This recipe has been around since the days when cake mixes came in 18 ounce boxes. The smaller boxes short-change recipes like this, so an extra cake mix has to be used to supply the missing ounces. I keep a box of cake mix in the freezer to use as a supplement for such recipes.
Quite some time ago I did a post about these shrinking cake mixes. Check your box to determine the current number of ounces in a mix and measure accordingly.
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White Sour Cream Cake
1 (18 ounce) box white cake mix (cake mix no longer comes in an 18 oz. box, so you will need to measure enough of a second cake mix to make up the difference)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups water
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup sour cream
4 large egg whites
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare pans with cooking spray or by greasing and flouring. Use paper liners if making cupcakes.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix, flour, sugar, and salt; whisk together. Add water, oil, extracts, sour cream, and egg whites to dry mixture. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into prepared pans, filling each one a little over half full. Bake until cake tests done. Cooking time varies according to type of pan used. The times on the cake mix box can be used as a general guide.
I remember you writing about keeping an extra box of cake mix, Anita, but keeping it in the freezer makes great sense. Your 90th birthday cake looks stunningly beautiful. Thanks for sharing your family's favorite cake. I always love your recipe!