Made With Love – Sour Cream Cake

Earlier this week I returned home from a week long trip with my oldest daughter, Sara, and granddaughter, Sadie.  When we arrived home from the airport there was a sweet surprise awaiting us…Sour Cream Cake 🙂  My 9 year old granddaughter, Savannah, wanted to surprise us and welcome us all home with a yummy treat “in case we were hungry” after our long flight.  So she had gone through some of my cookbooks in search of a recipe that sounded good and was simple enough for her to make herself.  She landed on a recipe for an easy and moist single layer cake that called for buttermilk.  But seeing that I didn’t have any buttermilk in the refrigerator, she decided (with some help and advice from my youngest daughter, her mommy, Amanda) to substitute some sour cream, for the buttermilk.  It just so happened that I did have some sour cream on hand.  The result was a deliciously moist and tender cake that really hit the spot!  In fact having tasted the cake being made with sour cream, I don’t think I’ll ever make this cake any other way.

What made it taste particularly sweet though, was the ingredient that wasn’t listed in the recipe, but was one she added all on her own.  The ingredient that made this cake so special was that it was “made with love”.  And Savannah’s little sister, Evangeline, topped the whole thing off with her “welcome home” picture and note.

Trips are great fun, but delicious cakes and lovely notes that greet you when you return, make coming home very sweet too.  These little kindnesses, and the precious ones who extend them to us, are what bring so much love, joy and abundance to our lives!

Sour Cream Cake

Cake:
3/4 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs, room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1¾ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup sour cream

Frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon sour cream

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9 inch cake pan with cooking spray. (Either square or round work nicely)

For the cake:
In a large bowl, beat the butter, and sugar with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Next stir in the vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Spread batter into the prepared pan.  Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes.  Remove from the oven.  Let cool completely.
For frosting:
In a large bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, and vanilla with a mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add confectioners’ sugar, beating until combined. Stir in sour cream until a spreadable consistency is reached. Spread frosting on top of cake, and sides if desired.