Deliciously golden Sour Cream Cake made from scratch. This simple tea cake is so easy to make and produces a super fluffy cake. Topped with a thick sour cream frosting, it’s soft, light and delish! It’s the best way to use up leftover sour cream.
Best ever Sour Cream Cake 💕
Introducing my all-time favourite Sour Cream Cake with a soft and tender crumb. This simple one-layer cake is topped with a luscious sour cream buttercream.
It’s quick, easy and oh-so-tasty!
I’ve been on a classic cake bender recently. Have you noticed? I think it all started with my Apple Cake – that has since become a popular reader fave.
Then there was my Coffee Cake and my Cinnamon Tea Cake. And last week I shared my Butter Cake recipe. I simply can’t get enough of quick and easy cakes that can be served for almost any occasion.
And now you and I can obsess over this sweet and simple Sour Cream Cake.
How to make Sour Cream Cake
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know it took me 5 tries to get this cake just right. I tried with different amounts and types of sugar, fats, raising agents, sour cream, milk and baking times. I soon landed on the perfect combination that results in a soft and tender Sour Cream Cake.
- This cake is very quick and easy to make. You don’t even need an electric mixer – just a bowl and spoon.
- Start by adding flour, baking powder and sugar into a large mixing bowl. We use caster sugar for this recipe – if you don’t have access to it, you can swap it 1:1 for granulated sugar.
- In a separate bowl, add oil, vanilla and egg. Whisk briefly using a fork just to break up the egg yolk.
- Add to dry ingredients, along with the sour cream. I recommend using a full fat sour cream for this recipe. You can also sub this for full fat Greek yogurt – but use sour cream if you can.
- Stir to combine all ingredients. Cake batter will be super thick as pictured below – this is ok!
- Transfer cake batter to a cake pan lined with baking or parchment paper. Bake for around 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Leave to cool for 15 minutes or so before gently lifting out and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
How to make Sour Cream Frosting
- This is a simple buttercream that’s made using sour cream instead of milk. It’s thick and creamy and the perfect pairing to the soft and fluffy cake.
- Start with room temperature butter. Beat using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Then add vanilla and icing sugar.
- Make sure you sift your icing sugar or your frosting will have little lumps in it.
- Start to mix on a low speed until frosting starts to come together. Then add sour cream. Continue to mix on a low speed just until frosting is smooth and creamy.
- Spread over the top of your cooled cake. Cut into big slices and enjoy!
How do I store Sour Cream Cake?
Since there’s fresh sour cream in the frosting, you can store this cake in the fridge. However, I tried to avoid keeping my cakes in the fridge as it can dry them out. So my preference is to store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature and only making the frosting when I’m ready to serve it.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.
Let’s Bake
Sour Cream Cake
Soft vanilla Sour Cream Cake made from scratch.
Ingredients
Sour cream cake
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 150 grams (3/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 240 ml (1 cup) full fat sour cream
Sour cream frosting
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 375 grams (3 cups) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) full fat sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and line an 8-inch round cake pan with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, add oil, vanilla and egg. Beat briefly with fork just to break up the egg yolk.
- Add to dry ingredients along with the sour cream and stir to combine. The cake batter will be very thick (see photo below) – this is ok.
- Transfer cake batter to your cake pan and gently smooth the top. Bake cake for approximately 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Leave cake to cool slightly before carefully removing from cake pan and leaving on a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the frosting, add butter to a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and sugar and beat slowly until it starts to come together. Add sour cream and continue to beat until smooth.
- Cover top of cake with sour cream frosting and serve.
Kristen says
I made this cake tonight & it was amazing! I didn’t have butter to make the frosting so I just put a dollop of sweetened sour cream on top of each slice with a few berries & it worked well. Thank you so much for the delicious recipe!
Jessica Holmes says
That sounds wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it!
Shiwa says
We cut the amount sugar to half and added 1/2 lemon extract. Did not make the toping but sprinkled a few cranberries and sweet sugar sprinkles. It tasted really good.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Kayli says
I loved how easy and simple this recipe was, I think it might’ve been how big the cake pan was that I used but there seemed to be ALOT of icing compared to the thinness of the cake, i love the way yours turned out though it looks so pretty! I made mine in a square pan and decided to cut it in half and stack them on top of each other with some of the icing (and a little lemon juice!) I covered the outside with icing too and dripped berry compote around the edges. the only other thing i would say is the sour cream is a big flavour hit and when you add the sour cream icing too it is a bit too much and 3 cups of icing sugar makes it really sweet. Thankyou so much for this recipe!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Kayli, so glad you enjoyed the cake! Yes I do like a lot of frosting on my cakes so I certainly understand cutting it back. Adding a berry compote sounds magical.
karen says
excellent recipe, I doubled the recipe for a 9 x 12 pan. even my mother in law loved it and wanted the recipe!
karen says
p.s. I didn’t make the icing as I had some cream cheese icing on hand. Next time we make this, we won’t put icing on….but slice in half and use it for strawberry shortcake, strawberries and whipping cream would go wonderfully with this cake. It is so so good…. thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Love hearing that Karen!
Faz says
Just made this cake an hour ago and it’s gone!! Absolutely amazing cake, soft and buttery tasting even though no butter in here. Must be th3 sour cream. 10/10 for this recipe. Thank you for sharing
Jessica Holmes says
Yes love hearing that!
Janice Wilson says
I needed to use a tub of sour cream before it was out of date so I opted for making this cake it turned out perfect and when I icened it it was delious 10/10 next time I’ll buy sour cream just to make again Thankyou for a great recipe ❤️
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Janice!
C Darnell says
You’re right! This is the best homemade cake I’ve made! It’s light and moist and holds it shape very well. It’s good enough to eat without the frosting and it’s only one layer and is perfect for one or two people. You could make two if you have a bigger family. It’s plenty sturdy to hold up a second layer. I’m impressed!
Jessica Holmes says
Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed it!
C Darnell says
I totally agree! I’m glad I had the extra sour cream or I’d never have found this recipe!
Lily says
Absolutely delicious. I took Jessica’s advice and turned this into a lemon blueberry cake and I think it was definitely the right move.
1-2 lemons zested into the sugar separately and rub it together. Fold in about a cup of blueberries into the batter (toss with flour if your so inclined).
Add another zest of lemon into the frosting with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. I’m docking 1 point off the rating because the frosting is too sweet as written I think. I would start with 1/2-1 cup of sugar and keep adding more to your taste.
I made a quick blueberry compote and dropped dollops of it onto the frosting and swirled it around for decoration on top.
The sour cream and oil keeps this cake super moist for days! We kept it in the fridge and took our individual slices fo come to room temp on the counter before eating.
Jessica Holmes says
Appreciate your kind feedback Lily! A lemon blueberry version sounds wonderful.
Anne says
Hi Jess can you use a loaf tin to make this cake Anne
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Anne, yes you can if you like! You may need to cover the top of the cake towards the end of baking, as I imagine the top may brown before the middle is fully cooked.
Thea Gaudette says
I made this today and dressed it up with blueberries and a crumb topping. So good. Thanks for sharing this recipe
Jessica Holmes says
That sounds amazing Thea!
Lily says
Any recommendations to make this a lemon blueberry cake?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Lily, yes! Add the zest or 1-2 lemons into the cake batter and fold through some fresh or frozen blueberries just before baking. Add zest of 1 lemon to the frosting and replace the vanilla with lemon juice (add to taste).
MC says
I came across this recipe because I had sour cream that was going to expire soon and I also needed a recipe that does not require butter because I’m nearly out of it. I’m so glad I read Lily’s question and your response, I had just finished mixing the batter, I was waiting for my son to finish with the oven so while I was waiting the few minutes for the oven I read through the comments and with this I decided to grate lemon zest just before it went into the oven! The cake is delicious. I didn’t make the frosting because I just don’t eat sweet things, mildly sweet is perfect which is what this cake is. I Love it!! Soon I will bake this cake again and also make the frosting to give to someone. I love to bake and I almost always give the goods away, soon there will be a very happy person!! 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Love hearing that! Thanks for your lovely feedback.
Rachael says
Just made this today, cooking time was accurate and it is a great cake. Will definitely make again with a cream cheese topping. Thanks
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Rachael!
Dorothy says
First time for everything … this was in oven for over an hour and the center never baked. Oven temp fine, 8 inch pan fine, all AOK. Cake went into compostable bin. Sad household tonight.
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so sorry to hear that Dorothy, that definitely doesn’t sound right. Happy to troubleshoot with you further, if you want to send me a photo? My email is jessica@sweetestmenu.com
Kate says
Happy again with your recipe! This is delicious cake, so sweet and moist. Thank you Jessica!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Love that Kate!
Diana says
How would cream cheese icing work on this cake?
Jessica Holmes says
That would work really well!
Astrid says
Used coconut oil and oh my….. devine! No frosting needed.
Jessica Holmes says
Ooh love hearing that!
angela.40 says
I used your recipe and baked this cake today. I was happy that the frosting was enough for a 13X9 pan. I did find that the frosting is a little on the sweet side for my taste.
Jessica Holmes says
Thanks for the feedback Angela.
Shirley says
This cake is delicious! It is dense, moist and flavorful. So easy to make! The frosting is perfect for this cake. I will definitely make this many more times. Thank you for this recipe
Jessica Holmes says
Aw I’m so pleased to hear that Shirley!