Dear diary, I’m in love with an ingredient. That’s right. It’s sour cream and I am finding it life-changing.
I used to think sour cream was just for nachos or a baked potato topping. But, like, the opposite of just a topping. It is actually the secret weapon for the most velvety, tender, stay-fresh-for-days cakes you will ever eat.
Because of its fat and moisture content, it makes an excellent butter substitute. And I promise there is something on here for everyone.
1. The Best Texas Sheet Cake
Is it just me, or did we all think these were just lighter brownies when we were kids? It makes total sense that I thought this was a frosted brownie since I now know that sour cream makes for a richer cake.
Texas sheet cake is a total classic that calls in the sour cream and gets baked in a larger pan so you can feed a crowd. Also, that chocolate frosting is absolutely mandatory for topping this Southern staple.
2. Chocolate Sour Cream Cake
I am a total sucker for chocolate cake. And chances are, if you make this cake, you are going to be one too.
This is honestly the best birthday cake recipe, especially if you need to make the cake a couple of days ahead of time. The layers will not dry out, and everyone is going to rave about your delectable chocolate cake!
3. Rhubarb Sour Cream Cake
Who even needs rhubarb pie when we can have rhubarb cake? But seriously, this rustic and tart cake is such a delicious summertime treat.
This cake is much less sweet than other cakes because of that acidity from the rhubarb. It pairs really well with a ginger milk custard or vanilla bean.
4. Easy Salted Caramel Cheesecake
I have a really hard time turning down anything that involves salted caramel. This cheesecake recipe shows exactly how deliciously tangy sour cream is when you swap it for heavy cream in cheesecake recipes.
Just note that this cheesecake needs to be baked and fully cooled before you serve it. In fact, it is best if you leave it to cool overnight. And yes, you can freeze sour cream cheesecake! So you should probably make double.
5. Strawberry Sour Cream Cake
I was so incredibly surprised by the gentle sweetness of this cake. It is just a wonderful summertime sweet cake.
This recipe is built with a sour cream bundt cake base, raised with fresh strawberries, and then drizzled with a simple powdered sugar glaze. Yum!
6. White Cake Recipe
If you have plans to bake a child’s birthday cake, you need to go ahead and bookmark this recipe right now! This white cake recipe is absolutely perfect for coloring layers and customizing your cake.
The kids are going to love how creatively you can decorate a white cake, and the adult guests will love how delicious the cake itself tastes!
7. Passion Fruit Drizzle Cake
This is a beautiful gifting cake if you are looking to bake something for your friends and family. It is so simple, beautiful, and balanced in flavor and texture.
After you bake the sour cream loaf cake, you poke it and drizzle a delicious, sweet, and tart passion fruit glaze that just saturates the cake.
8. Banana Sour Cream Cake W/ Cream Cheese Glaze
Holy banana bundt cake, Batman! I am not really sure I will ever be able to look at banana bread the same way again.
Sure, it is fine, but why would we settle for fine when we can have banana cake?
9. Pecan Sour Cream Coffee Cake
This is an easy recipe for a classic pecan coffee cake. We are talking simple layers of pecan streusel and thick sour cream coffee cake batter.
You can easily modify the ingredients of the streusel to fit whatever your tastes are at home!
10. Sour Cream Mocha Cake
Words cannot espresso how delicious this cake is—oops I mean express! The mocha flavor of this cake is so gentle, so the bittersweet chocolate and espresso are able to work in harmony with the rich texture from the sour cream.
If you happen to be looking for a richer or sweeter cake to serve, you could replace the bittersweet with milk chocolate, or make a chocolate espresso ganache for the drizzle.
11. Poppy Seed Cake with Dulce de Leche Buttercream
Poppy seed cake is quite popular in European countries, and after trying this out, I can totally see why. I was blown away by how sophisticated this cake tasted and looked.
The layers, flavors, and textures were impressive alone and combined. The walnuts and poppy seeds in this recipe create a lovely texture paired with the rich, soft sour cream cake batter.
The dulce de leche and chocolate ganache add an undeniably delicious sweetness to the cake.
12. Cherry Sour Cream Cake
Don’t judge a book by its cover. This recipe is actually an almond sour cream cake with frosting and cherry filling.
The sour cream cake is incredibly delectable, and I enjoyed it without any filling or frosting. I imagine this would be delicious with mixed berry filling as well!
13. Red Velvet Cake
Red velvet cake is actually quite simple to make from scratch. You are going to be blown away by how easily you can whip together a fabulous, homemade red velvet cake.
This recipe encourages you to use sour cream and cake flour, which makes for incredibly moist and light cake layers. Those layers are perfectly balanced with rich and sweet cream cheese frosting.
14. Norwegian Gold Cake with Sour Cream Ganache
I am throwing you a curveball on this one. Rather than the cake itself featuring sour cream, the chocolate ganache does.
The sour cream ganache is perfectly smooth and rich, and it is a delicious switch on traditional frostings for your cupcakes.
15. Fresh Fig Cake with Crumb Topping
Don’t be deceived, this cake tastes nothing like Fig Newtons. Figs are a delicious fall fruit that are sweet, juicy, and have an earthy berry-like flavor.
This cake has figs layered into the cake batter, so they will really saturate the cake layers.
16. Honey Vanilla Cake
If you are looking for a more naturally flavored, less sweet cake batter, you have found it.
Once the cupcakes were assembled and frosted, this recipe reminded me of warm milk and honey, and they were absolutely divine.
You will love how gently flavored these are with natural ingredients.
17. Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Do you ever sneak a bite of dessert at breakfast and feel a bit guilty? Well, how about you just make dessert for breakfast and call it even?
This apple coffee cake is heavenly. It has all the flavor of apple spice cake, and all of the richness and moisture of a sour cream cake. Do yourself a favor and make two so you can freeze one.
18. Glazed Sour Cream Gem Cakes
These gems are beautiful blossoms of the baked breakfast goods world. These are stunning personal cakes that are perfect to serve at any get-together, from breakfast to dinner.
They are a bit more tedious than other cakes, simply because of the ingredients list, but the glazes are stunning and well worth the effort.
19. Sour Cream Blueberry Bundt Cake
Brunch is the best with a delicious blueberry bundt cake. Even better if that bundt cake is rich in flavor, light in texture, and filling.
Despite a longer ingredient list, this recipe is seriously so simple. You will be throwing together sour cream bundt cakes on the regular after your first time making this recipe.
20. Easy Cranberry Upside Down Cake
Can we make a pact to bring this cake to holiday feasts?
I am not a fan of cranberry sauce on my turkey, but I can definitely enjoy a delicious slice of this moist, tangy, cranberry upside-down cake after a big plate of potatoes, stuffing, and gravy.
