Moist White Almond Cake with Silky Buttercream Frosting
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If you’re looking for a cake that’s soft, moist, and guaranteed to impress, this White Almond Cake is it. Made with simple pantry ingredients and plenty of almond flavor, this classic layer cake bakes up tender and fluffy every single time, then gets finished with a silky, cloud-like buttercream frosting that’s smooth, rich, and not overly sweet. This almond cake is perfect for birthdays, weddings, showers, or anytime you want a bakery-style dessert at home. Best of all, it comes together in about 45 minutes, making it just as practical as it is beautiful.
I love this cake so much that I served it at my wedding. I had it made of course. I like to bake, but left that one up to Glorious Desserts in Des Moines. Her almond cake is bad ass. My mom will order one for family celebrations and haul it 5 hours from Des Moines to Chicago for us…she’s the best.
But because I love almond cake so much, I had to have a recipe that I could make at home that I equally loved as much as Glorious Desserts.
This is it! I have made this cake plenty of times and no matter what, it’s everyone’s favorite. They actually say I don’t make it enough! My mother-in-law’s best friend made this cake for her wedding! She said it was outstanding. See! This is why I love to blog – sharing recipes and my love for almond cake inspired someone to make it for her wedding! That makes me smile. 🙂
This cake could not be any easier to make. It’s very straightforward and starts out with a cake mix that’s doctored up quite a bit. What you’re left with is a runny batter that turns into the lightest, fluffiest and moist cake that there is. The flavor is WONDERFUL. No egg yolks in this one so the cake is totally white and beautiful.
I topped it off with my favorite frosting recipe…a silky buttercream that’s made with flour. It can be slightly tricky to make, but follow the directions and you should be fine. I’ve never had an issue making it!
To give you a visual of the frosting – the flour mixture is to the left – it looks like cake batter actually and is sticky, the middle is what it looks like after it’s whipped – so fluffy! and the last is the final the product!
You can’t go wrong with this one my friends. If you need a cake, this is your recipe. You can switch it up if you don’t like almond…add lemon extract, just vanilla extract, orange extract, etc. etc. The best part of this cake is that it’s full proof and tastes amazing every time!
Wish I had a piece now!
White Almond Cake with Whipped Buttercream Frosting
This white almond cake with whipped buttercream frosting is outstanding. It's moist, has wonderful almond flavor and the frosting is so light and fluffy. The perfect cake for any celebration!
Ingredients
White Almond Cake
- 1, 15.25 ounce package white cake mix
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cups room temperature water
- 1 cup sour cream, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or refined coconut oil)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 egg whites, room temperature
Whipped Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 5 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 3, 8 inch or 9 inch round cake pans; set aside. You can also use 2 cake pans, the layers will just be thicker.
- In a stand-alone mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (Hand-held mixer would work, too), mix together the white cake mix, flour, sugar, and salt.
- Pour in the water, sour cream, vegetable oil, almond extract, vanilla extract and egg whites. Mix on low until all the ingredients are mixed and moistened but some lumps still remain, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans, and bake for 25-30 minutes. The tops should be lightly golden. Remove and let cool before frosting.
- To make the frosting, whisk 1 cup of milk with 5 tablespoons of flour in a medium sauce pan and place over medium heat until the mixture begins to sputter, whisking constantly. Continue to stir as the mixture thickens. You will know it’s done when it reaches the consistency of thick cake batter (This took only a couple of minutes for me, but it can take longer). Remove from heat and whisk in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon almond extract, and a pinch of salt, and set aside to cool completely - you can place in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.
- In a stand-alone mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (hand-held mixer would work, too), beat 2 sticks of softened room temperature butter (1 cup) with 1 1/4 cups of granulated sugar until light, fluffy, and white in color, about 3 solid minutes of beating on medium-high speed. You want the sugar to be totally incorporated and dissolved into the butter. If it’s a little gritty, don’t worry. The sugar will dissolve at the frosting sets.
- Next, add the cooled milk/flour paste to the butter/sugar mixture. Beat all ingredients for 1 minute on high-speed, scraping down the bowl halfway through. The frosting should be as light and fluffy as whipped cream. Frost the cooled cake and enjoy!
Notes
Cake will last up to 3 days in a container, or up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Unfrosted cake can be frozen for up to 3 months.
This recipe can be made into cupcakes. Bake for 15 minutes then check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center. It it comes out clean, they're done. If not, add a few additional minutes and try again. Frosting makes just enough for the cake. If you want a lot of frosting, I suggest doubling the recipe. Refrigerate cake if not eating right away then bring to room temperature before eating. It's delicious cold, but room temperature is ideal.
Cake Recipe: allrecipes.com Frosting: Can you stay for dinner?
I making a two tier wedding cake with a (x2)8 inch top and (x2)10 bottom. Is this a good recipe to double and how many times should I double it. Just wondering.
Hi Rachelle – how fun! This is a wonderful wedding cake. Unfortunately I have never baked it the way you are so I am not 100% confident in answering your questions. As far as doubling or tripling the recipe that all depends on how much you need to feed as well. I do think you can double it and it would be fine. My best suggestion would be to double it and give it a trial run to see how it worked out for you. Good luck!!
Could you use buttermilk in place of the sour cream?
Hi Tammy – I haven’t tried substituting any of the ingredients so I can’t give you a 100% guarantee that it will work. With that said, I don’t think it would make that much of a difference. If you do try it, let me know!
Is this recipe good for square pans for a 3 tier wedding cake? I noticed you use round pans
Yes, it should be fine!
This cake is awesome! I did make 1 + 1/2 of the icing because my family loves lots of icing and really you do need more than this recipe calls for. It came out perfect, I brought it to a meeting and everyone raved over it. My husband has already asked me to make one for his office party.
I’m so excited to try this cake for my mom’s birthday. She craves almond “wedding cake” so this looks perfect. Have you tried this with a gluten free cake mix and almond flour? My sister in law is gluten free so I’d like to accommodate her while continuing to offer the strong almond flavor.
Cheers!
It’s a really really good cake – everyone loves it! I have not tried it with gluten free cake mix, but perhaps you could do a test run to see if you like it? Good luck and enjoy!
Hello! I know your comment is, like, a year old and you may not see this, but I just found this recipe and I was wondering if you ever got to try this with the gluten free mix + almond flour? If so, how did it turn out?
is it okay to add blueberries to this cake
Hi Lorna! I have never added fruit but I don’t see why you couldn’t. I would suggest tossing the blueberries in a little flour before adding to the batter and gently fold them in so they get evenly distributed. Let me know how it turns out!
I know this is an old post but I noticed that in the directions for the frosting you wrote granulated sugar, which is white sugar. Did you mean powdered, also called confectioners, sugar?
Hi Tonya! Nope! The recipes actually calls for granulated sugar. The sugar eventually dissolves because it’s whipped so much. It might be a little grainy at first but as it sets, it becomes very smooth and silky!.
Okay, thanks!
Yes, I was worried that it tasted grainy at first but I whipped it up extra and put it in the fridge overnight. When we finally got to taste it the icing was smooth and creamy. The icing is just right – not to sleep.
Glad you liked it! I love this icing recipe, too!
Hi Jessica! I was wondering if the frosting would be good for decorating?
Hi Kelly! I haven’t tried decorating with it but I can tell you it’s a very fluffy silky frosting so it may not be the best. A buttercream would hold up better.
Thanks so much for the reply. I made a batch, delish!! But I did notice that it wouldnt be ideal for decorating, so I used it for filling between my layers and decorated with buttercream. I used your cake recipe and I will definitely use it again, came out amazing! I would post pictures if I could of how the layers came out. The 3 tier wedding cake was a total hit. Thanks!
Hi! Do you know how many ounces the cake mix should be? Apparently some are a little over 15 oz and some are 18 oz. Thank you!
I’m making a fancy cake for a tea my moms group is having next month. I’m planning to make this cake, add some raspberry filling, and coat with almond buttercream. I can’t wait! ??
Hi Aimee – it’s a 15.25 ounce box. So fun! I love the addition of the raspberry filling – let me know how it turns out!
Jessica I used the egg yolks an it did not change color… Ohhh it was so delicious thank you !!
Glad to hear it!
Hey there can you used the egg yolks as well?
Hi Becky – if you use the egg yolks, it will change the color of the cake and make it a yellow cake. I suggest keeping only the egg whites.