This is an easy white sour cream cake with a great vanilla flavor. It’s moist, super quick to mix up and comes out perfect every time. This is a cake you can easily make over and over and one your family will love.
Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including a section about updates to this recipe, which may answer any questions you might have. Enjoy!
This recipe is an oldie, but goodie. If you’ve ever heard of the WASC cake, this is it, but with my spin on it.
It’s super easy to mix together and bakes up the same every time. It starts with a box mix, but you add other ingredients, which really makes the difference.
If you are hesitant to use a box mix, don’t be. They are so predictable and really an easy way to get started baking cakes.
I find many times when people are just starting to get into baking cakes, a scratch cake seems really intimidating. These doctored cake mix cakes are a great way to get your feet wet in the cake baking world, and they come out moist and tasty pretty much every single time.
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I will admit, when I was taking cake orders, I used a scratch cake recipe. It was truly an awesome recipe, but I will tell you no matter how good you are, sometimes a scratch cake just doesn’t turn out the same every single time. That’s just the nature of a scratch cake.
This cake is a ‘no-worries’ cake and I use it as the base for my other doctored cake mix flavors now. Try it out! I think you’ll love it. Oh, and it’s also great as cupcakes.
(And if you’re feeling adventurous and want to try your hand at scratch cake baking, you’ll want to check out my Favorite Vanilla Bean Cake Recipe. It really is amazing.)
So here’s my spin on the WASC cake (which is what it’s called in the caking circles). Instead of plain vanilla extract, I use vanilla bean paste. Yes, it really makes a difference.
The next spin is that I use a tiny bit of almond emulsion. You’ll notice I didn’t say almond ‘extract’. There is a huge difference to me. I personally don’t care for almond extract, but using a tiny bit of almond emulsion combined with the vanilla extract will knock your socks off.
I know you’re probably saying, but I don’t like almond flavor! Well, it doesn’t taste like almond flavor. It’s hard to explain, but the small amount I add to the cake batter, just brings out the vanilla flavor even more.
I’ve had people ask me what kind of illegal drug did I put into my cakes that makes them unable to stop eating it. Just try it once and I promise I’ll get off your back about it 😉
Update on this recipe:
Lately, some of you (as well as I) have noticed this cake isn’t baking up the way it used to. (Ex. the middles were sinking slightly and it just didn’t have as much bounce.) I initially thought it was because they lowered the amount of cake mix in each box.
I did a little research online and it appears this is a problem a lot of people are having now with doctored box cake mixes. It appears that the cake mix companies have changed not only the amount included in the boxes, but the ingredients and that’s causing what was once a favorite recipe, to come out differently.
I decided I’d do some experimenting and came up with something I think gets you closer to the original WASC recipe. The recipe card below reflects those changes, but here’s a short explanation:
The first change is since there’s less mix in the box, I lowered the amount of water to only a cup. I was noticing (as well as another reader) that when I made this with whole eggs, it came out much better, so instead of 4 egg-whites, I’ve changed it to three eggs. Although, it won’t be a bright white cake, it now bakes up much better, since the cake mix formula was changed.
I hope you try it out and let me know how it goes. I’ve also found that this same recipe works wonderfully with other flavors. I just recently tried it with a Red Velvet cake mix and it was amazing.
Need an icing recipe? Try this cake with these buttercream recipes:
You also might want to check out my post about freezing cakes and cupcakes. There are lots of tips there to help you freeze them successfully.
Now onto the recipe!
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe
Easy White Sour Cream Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box white cake mix Make sure it’s a mix of at least 15 oz. Pillsbury works best
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla paste (you can use vanilla extract if you don't have vanilla paste)
- ½ teaspoon almond emulsion (this is optional, but gives the cake that secret ingredient taste)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease or spray your pans.
- Put the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.
- In another bowl, mix the remaining ingredients, then pour onto the dry ingredients.
- Beat on medium about two minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat for another minute.
- Pour into greased pans.
- Bake at 325 degrees for about 40 – 50 minutes. Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs on it, but no liquid batter.
- Set cake pans on wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then turn out of the pans onto the wire racks to cool completely before adding buttercream.
Notes
Nutrition
How to Share
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Patti
Hi,
Just 2 questions. What size pans and just grease the pans, no flour?
Thanks,
Patti
Kara Jane
I use two, 8″ round pans that are 2″ deep. I usually just spray them really well with Pam spray, but if you don’t have that, I’d grease the pans and then sprinkle them with a light coating of flour.
Tammy Thiessen
This is my go to white or yellow cake!! Everybody raves about it!!
I’m wondering if you have used it successfully with chocolate or lemon cake??
#thatbuttercreambakery
Kara Jane
Hi Tammy, I have not used it for lemon cake, but I do have a chocolate cake here on the blog that is very close to this. Here’s that link: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/easy-double-chocolate-sour-cream-cake/
Pat Dodd
can’t wait to try this. Thank you
Rebecca Williams
Where do you almond emulsion
Kara Jane
If you click on the word emulsion within the article, it should take you to an amazon link where you can purchase the almond emulsion that I use. I like LorAnns emulsions. You can also get them at crafts stores like Michael’s, Hobby Lobby or JoAnns. I’ve even found it at Walmart in the Wilton aisle (that’s usually in the craft area of Walmart instead of the baking aisle.) Its really amazing stuff and a little bit goes a long way.
Samantha
Have you made cupcakes with this recipe? How long would you bake for?
Kara Jane
I have made cupcakes with these but it’s been awhile. I would bake them for about 20 minutes. Start checking them at 15 though.
Stella
I’ve made this cake for a long time and loved it, but lately when I’ve made it, it always falls in the middle after it comes out of the oven (and sometimes before). I use two oven thermometers so I know the oven is the correct temp, weigh the ingredients, use room temp ingredients, but it still falls. Any advice?
Kara Jane
Yes, I have noticed this as well, so you’re not alone. I started mixing the batter a little longer and it seemed to help a bit, but here’s what I think has happened: I think there is less cake mix in the boxes now. I have heard this from other cake forums as well. I’ve done a couple things that seem to help this.
I’ve actually been meaning to set aside some real testing time on this one, so I can update the recipe to fit the new cake mixes.
Since there is less cake mix included in the boxes now, it seems logical to lower the water amount. I would try it with only one cup instead of a cup and a third.
The next thing is that it seems to sink in the middle more if you’re using the egg white version instead of whole eggs. You can try using two whole eggs instead of the four egg whites. If you really want a white cake though and need to use egg whites, then lowering the amount of water I think will have the best results. I’ll plan on testing it out this weekend and see how that works…if it’s good to go, I’ll update the recipe and shoot you a response.
It is a little aggravating that food companies want to charge us the same amount while they provide us with less for that money. (Yeah, I can really get on a soap-box about that.) 😉
Kara Jane
Hi Stella,
I hope you got my previous reply to your comment. I went ahead and did a little more experimenting this past weekend and I’ve adjusted the recipe. I researched this a bit and it seems this is a problem with doctored cake mixes in general. They’ve not only lowered the amount of cake mix, but have also changed the formula a bit. I’ve noticed this more so on white cake mixes specifically. I’ve determined, in order to get the cake light and fluffy, it needs whole eggs, so I went with three whole eggs instead of four egg-whites. It won’t be a completely white cake, but it will come out much better. I also lowered the water to one cup. I wrote about the changes in the blog post and updated the recipe card there. I hope this helps!
Kayla
I absolutely LOVE this cake, as does my whole family AND office! I also love your site and detailed directions. I now freeze my cakes as in your instructional video, and they come out perfect every time! Thank you!
So . . . my question . . . my mom wants a lemon cake for Mother’s Day. Do you think I could make this cake into a lemon cake by simply adding lemon juice/zest? If so, any ideas on quantities? Thanks again!
Kara Jane
Hi Kayla, I’m so glad you liked the recipe and thank you so much for the compliments on my website! 😉 I’ve never tried this one as a lemon cake, so I’m not sure how it would turn out. If I did try it though, I’d actually just replace the white cake mix with a lemon cake mix. Then, if you want to get fancy, maybe replace the cup of water with 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup lemon juice. Omit the vanilla and maybe even add in the zest of a lemon. That should make it super lemony. If you try that out, I’m really curious now to see if it works…I think it will. If you want to go with a scratch lemon cake, I’ve got a recipe for that too. It’s not difficult and it’s got sour cream in it as well, so it’s really moist. It says cupcakes, but it can be made as a cake as well. Oh, and it’s got a recipe for lemon buttercream on that page as well. Here’s a link for that: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/lemon-sour-cream-cupcakes-lemon-buttercream/
Kayla
Thank you so much for your suggestions, Kara. This Mother’s Day, I think I will try your Lemon Sour Cream Cake with Lemon Buttercream. I’ll give your other recommendation a try when I’m not baking for an “event” – just in case there are any hiccups. 🙂 Thanks again.
Kara Jane
Gotcha! Ok, let me know what you think of the lemon sour cream cake! Hope everyone loves it. 😉
Kayla
Everyone LOVED your lemon sour cream cake! I told all of my family members that they need to visit your website to make delicious cakes of their own. Thank you again for all of your help!
Kara Jane
Oh yay! I’m so glad you all like it! 🙂
Donna M Sharma
Hi Kara
Love your recipes, tips and suggestions. I’ve one question for you. Do you have a recipe for an eggless cake? If you do please share with me. Thanks Donna
Kara Jane
Hi Donna, I don’t have a recipe for eggless cake, but I’ve been asked that quite a bit lately and so I’m going to put that on my list to come up with a good vanilla and a good chocolate eggless cake. The only one I’ve really made is that chocolate wacky cake. It’s made with vinegar. It’s actually pretty good and you don’t taste the vinegar. You can try it for now and hopefully I can get to experimenting on some eggless recipes here soon. Here’s a link I found to the chocolate wacky cake I’ve tried: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/7475/crazy-cake/
Angela M Morris
Can you use milk in place of the water? Thank you.
Kara Jane
Hi Angela, I’m not sure. I’ve never tried it with milk instead of water. I’m sorry I’m not much help 🙁 If you try it out though, I’d love to know if it works well!
Alyssa
Is there a way to turn this cake into a red velvet cake? Like can I just add a couple tablespoons of cocoa and some vinegar?
I am asking because this recipe saves me money rather than doing it completely from scratch. Which I love the red velvet recipe you have
Kara Jane
I’d just try adding in about three tablespoons cocoa powder and then the red gel food coloring. I don’t know how the vinegar will affect the cake mix though. That’s usually just added to react with the baking soda in a scratch cake, so I wouldn’t necessarily add it here. Let me know how it works out!
Nancy Johnson
The vanilla paste is very expressive. Can I use 2 tsps of vanilla extract instead? Also, wondering why water instead of milk or buttermilk? Thank you! I’ve been looking for a good white cake recipe for ages.
Kara Jane
Hi Nancy, Yes, I’ve noticed the vanilla paste has really gotten more expensive lately. You can just use vanilla extract instead and using two teaspoons is fine. Sometimes you can find the Madagascar vanilla extract at the regular grocery store and that’s really good too and not as expensive as the paste.
So, as far as adding water goes, water is usually what cake mixes ask for and so that’s why I’ve added it here in addition to the fact that adding milk or cream instead, could perhaps make the cake a bit more dense. It might not make a huge difference though, if you wanted to try it out. If you’re looking for a scratch white cake, I’ve got one of those as well if you want to check that one out: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/moist-white-cake/
Nancy Johnson
Thank you Kara Jane! I really appreciate your response to my questions.
Kelly
I love your website and all of your baking tips and tricks! One question on this recipe, can it be converted to a strawberry cake using a strawberry box mix? If so, what alterations, if any, would you recommend?
Kara Jane
Oh thanks Kelly! Yes I think you could definitely convert this to a strawberry cake. I would probably leave everything the same, but use a strawberry cake mix, then you could also probably add in a box of dry strawberry jello to pump up the strawberry flavor and maybe a bit of crushed strawberries (but not too much though because you don’t want too much liquid added). I haven’t tested this out, but I’m thinking it should work just fine. Let me know if you try it out!
Paula Rhodes
I am so excited to try out this recipe. I also would like to do a chocolate cake version. What are your suggestions.
Thank you,
Paula
Kara Jane
Hi Paula, I really hope you like it. I do have a chocolate (doctored cake mix) recipe on the blog as well. You can find that one here: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/easy-double-chocolate-sour-cream-cake/
Paula Rhodes
Hi Kara….thank you for responding. I just read over your chocolate cake version. It sounds amazing. Just one more question. I read about your revisions to the white cake by adding less water. Do you suggest altering the amount of coffee?
Kara Jane
I haven’t made this one in a while, but I don’t remember having any issues and haven’t heard from anyone having issues. You raise a good point though and to be on the safe side, you might want to adjust the coffee down to 1 cup.
Paula Rhodes
Thank you so much for your help. I’m making several cakes next week for graduation parties, and because of work and lack of time, I really want to try these that start with a mix and then freeze over the weekend until I’m ready to assemble. Can’t wait to get started.
Kara Jane
You’re welcome! Try them out first and see how you like them. If it’s a new recipe that I’ve haven’t tried yet, I always like doing a small test cake before baking everything. And I’m one of those people that like to freeze cakes too. It just makes everything so much easier and there’s less stress to deal with. I hope everything goes well!
Portia Pennington
Hi. I made this cake tonight and it literally exploded out of the two cake pans and is dripping all over my oven. I used two 8″ cake pans–was I supposed to make four layers with this since there is so much more batter than just the cake mix alone?
Kara Jane
Hi Portia, I’m so sorry this happened to you! I really don’t know how that could have happened. I tested this recipe out multiple times and haven’t had an issue with that. I use two, 8″ round pans that are 2 inches deep, which is probably the most common pan size. I’m really not sure why it would have made so much batter.
I just want to clarify a couple things though…when you add the cake mix, you’ll add that to your bowl dry. You don’t need to add the ingredients that the box calls for in addition. Basically you’re not mixing up the cake mix first and then adding in the other ingredients…you’re just adding the dry cake mix to the bowl then adding the rest of the ingredients in the recipe. I hope that made sense. If you mixed up the cake mix according to the instructions on the box and then added all the other ingredients in the recipe, then that would be way too much batter. That may not have been what you did, but just in case, I thought I’d mention that.
You might also go back through and take another look at the ingredients and make sure that you didn’t accidentally add in too much of something. Also make sure your 8″ pans are at least 2 inches deep and that they’re not super thin pans.
And I’m sorry this happened to you. I’ve never had a problem like that with this recipe and that’s just a mystery to me, but I know how much of a pain it is to clean an oven.
Kristin
Is this cake sturdy enough to be made in 1 bundt pan?
Kara Jane
I’ve never tried it in a bundt pan. It is on the softer side though, so I’m not sure that it would work. If you do try it, I would definitely grease and flour the pan very well. Since it’s a soft cake, I have a feeling it will stick very easily to the bundt pan.