Nonnie's Sour Cream Cake

If you ever find yourself with half a dozen eggs, half a pound of butter, and bundt pan that's been feeling a little neglected, I highly recommend that you make this cake. Not only will you free up some space in the fridge and make your bundt pan feel loved, you'll make your taste buds very, very happy. When I was eight or so, my mom gave me a choice of two recipes for my birthday cake: sour cream cake or strawberry sparkle cake. Being eight years old and not caring much for sour cream, strawberry sparkle cake was the obvious choice, but my mom strongly suggested that I opt for sour cream cake instead (why she even gave me a choice, I'm not sure, but that's beside the point). I did, and liked it so much that I've still never had strawberry sparkle cake.

Anyway, his recipe comes courtesy of my maternal grandmother, whom we call Nonnie due to my inability to pronounce "Grandma" when I was very small. (Inexplicably, my paternal grandmother, who actually lives closer to us and whom I presumably saw more frequently when I was that age, escaped without my giving her a nickname.) I'm not entirely sure where she got it--it might be a family recipe, it might come from a book or a magazine--so in the absence of additional source information, it's Nonnie's Sour Cream Cake. ETA: Last night I asked my mom about this cake. Apparently it is a family recipe from Nonnie's mother, who by all accounts was a fantastically good baker. 

I recommend eating it plain or, if you must adorn it, accompanied by fresh berries. The recipe is rather terse and I post it here as written, so if you would like more explanation of any steps, just let me know. 

Sour Cream Cake

3 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

6 eggs, separated

2 (1/2 pound) sticks butter (there is a note saying "no substitutions," so I guess whoever wrote it means business!)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Cream butter and sugar until very creamy.

2. Add egg yolks one at a time, and beat well after each addition.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together baking soda and sour cream.

4. Sift flour three times; add flour and sour cream alternately to the butter-sugar-egg mixture, blending well after each addition.

5. Add almond extract and vanilla.

6. Beat egg whites to form stiff peaks, then fold into batter.

7. Pour into well greased, lightly floured tube pan; bake 1 1/2 hours at 300F.