White Almond Sour Cream Wedding Cake

I made my daughter's wedding cake using this recipe. It turned out fantastic. The texture is just perfect for a wedding cake -- not too fluffy so it breaks from the weight, but also not overly dense. The flavor, texture and moistness were just right. I made two batches of the batter for a three-tiered wedding cake using 14", 10" and 6" pans that were 3-inches deep. I had enough extra batter for a 9" layer (not a deep pan). This recipe was originally created by Rebecca Sutterby.

• Ready In: 55 mins
• Serves: 40-50

Ingredients

• 2 (18 ounce) boxes  white cake mix (Betty Crocker or Pillsbury)
• 2  cups all-purpose flour
• 2  cups granulated sugar
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
• 2 2⁄3 cups water
• 1⁄4 cup  vegetable oil
• 2  teaspoons real vanilla
• 2  teaspoons  almond extract
• 2  cups sour cream
• 8  large  egg whites

Directions

1. Place all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir together with a wire whisk.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
3. Pour into greased and floured cake pans, filling each pan a little over half full.
4. Lightly tap cake pans on counter to bring air bubbles to top.
5. Bake in preheated 325° F oven until cake tests done.
6. Baking time varies according to the size and depth of pans being used.
7. I used Wilton's Bake Even Strips on my cake pans to ensure a level-topped cake which required absolutely no trimming-- I highly recommend these, or good quality professional baking pans.
8. In 2" deep pans, this recipe makes:
9. One 14" round and one 6" round.
10. or One 16" round.
11. or One 12" round and one 10" round.
12. or One 12 X 18" sheet cake.
13. or One 12" round and one 8" round and one 6" round.
14. or Two 9" squares.
15. or 5 dozen cupcakes.
16. Half the recipe makes:
17. Two 7" rounds.
18. or Two 6" rounds and 6 cupcakes.
19. For chocolate cake: use chocolate mixes and substitute 6 whole eggs for the egg whites.
20. For liqueur flavors: substitute alcohol (such as champagne or Kahlua) for about 1 cup of the water in the recipe.
21. For berry flavors: use frozen berries, thaw reserving the juice. Substitute the berry juice for part of the water in the recipe, and stir the berries in at the end.
22. For lemon cake: substitute lemon juice for about 1 cup of the water in the recipe, use 6 whole eggs instead of the whites, stir in 1 Tblsp lemon zest, and use 1 tsp of a good lemon extract in place of the almond.
23. For white chocolate: melt 8oz white baking chocolate & cool slightly. use 6 whole eggs in the recipe instead of the whites, temper the chocolate by stirring in a small amount of the batter, then add the white chocolate to the entire batter and stir well. Doesn't bake up quite as high as the original, so add a pinch more batter to the pans.