Light & Airy White Cake
I admit it. Most of the time, if I get to choose my dessert, it won't be cake. And rarely, if ever, will I choose white cake. My reasoning is generally the same for white cake as it is for vanilla ice cream – it's just not usually worth the calories and fat and stomach space. If I'm going to indulge, I want something really good! Enter: this recipe for really good white cake. The secret? Some almond extract and an electric mixer.
No one should be surprised that I'm using a recipe that calls for almond extract. I'd use it in every baked good if I could! Obviously the recipe calls for vanilla extract as well, but the almond is really what brings out more flavor and makes these just a little better than plain-jane vanilla-only cupcakes. And the secret to making them fluffy and light is beating the batter for a couple minutes with an electric mixer. It incorporates more air into the batter, so you don't end up with the usual runny cake batter. This batter gets airy and has a little more structure than other cake batters, so if you reach the end of your prep and are wondering why your cake batter can't just be ladled into the cups, fear not. You're on the right track.
Because these are being made for someone else, and will be seen by other people, I got a little more adventurous than usual with the decorating. We're now out of cake territory and talking about frosting, but I actually broke out my OXO decorating kit for the first time to do some piping! I still have a lot of learning to do, but I had fun trying a couple different designs with my first run at it. And at least I didn't go with my usual method, which is just spreading the frosting on with a knife. Sad, I know.
The good news is that the birthday ladies who will be consuming these won't really care that a frosting newbie decorated them. They'll just want them to taste good. And that, I'm not new at!
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Bake Time: 18-20 minutes
Ingredients
2¾ cups flour 1½ cups and 2 T sugar 1 T baking powder 12 T butter, softened 4 egg whites, 1 whole egg ¾ cup sour cream ¼ cup water 2½ t vanilla extract ½ t almond extract*
*If you want this to taste more like wedding cake, you can use 1½ t of each extract!
Directions Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and baking powder. Add the softened butter, and using a mixer, beat at a low speed until the butter is distributed throughout the dry ingredients. The mix will look crumbly.
Add the egg whites, a couple at a time, while mixing on low speed. Then add the full egg and continue mixing, going up to medium speed if needed.
Stir in the sour cream, water, vanilla, and almond extract, and then mix again on low-medium speed for a couple minutes until the batter is fluffy. This is important – if you have a mixer, use it!
To make cupcakes, add the batter to cupcake pans lined with papers. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes back clean. The tops will not be browned when these are done, so don't wait until you see color! When the cupcakes are done, let them rest for a couple minutes, then remove them from the cupcake pan and place on a cooling rack.
If making a sheet cake or using round cake pans, the original recipe offers these instructions: bake for 18 minutes, then check every few minutes (5 minute intervals at the most) for layer cakes, 30 minutes for a 9x13.
I frosted these with Hershey's chocolate frosting – you can find the recipe on this page! Wait until the cupcakes are completely cool to frost.
Source: https://www.aroundmyfamilytable.com/amazing-white-cake/
Happy Eating,
Natalie