1973 Vanilla -Sour Cream Cake

The Vanilla Sour Cream Cake is a recipe from the 1973 book, Dessert Cook Book from Better Homes and Gardens.

This cake is flavored with Vanilla Sugar.

Vanilla Sugar is easy and fun to make. It should be made two weeks before making this cake, You will need vanilla beans. I ordered mine here. No time to make the Vanilla Sugar? No problem! Just add a total of 3 tsp (1 1/2 more teaspoons of vanilla extract to the recipe). If you want to make this, see the Vanilla Sugar recipe, below. The special sugar adds an extra level of deliciousness to the cake.

I am making this cake to celebrate back-to-school but it would make a great birthday cake!

Cake Ingredients

• 1 cup Vanilla Sugar

• 6 tablespoons butter or margarine

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 3/4 cups sifted cake flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 cup of Dairy Sour Cream

• 4 stiffly beaten egg whites

• 2 greased and floured baking pans

Fluffy White Frosting Ingredients

• 2 beaten egg whites

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup water

• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

• dash of salt

• 1 tsp. vanilla

• tinted coconut for decoration (optional)

Instructions for Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream butter and vanilla sugar; add vanilla extract. (If using regular sugar, add the cup of sugar and 3 tsp. of vanilla extract.)

3. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients.

4. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the sour cream. Add ingredients slowly.

5. Beat until well mixed

6. Evenly pour into 2 greased and floured baking pans.

7. Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes.

8. Cool cakes for ten minutes in pans, then let cool completely on a wire rack.

Instructions for Frosting

1. Beat 2 egg whites in a mixer bowl.

2. In a saucepan, combine 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup water, 1/4 tsp , cream of tartar and dash of salt.

3. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.

4. Take off of stove, and very slowly add to the beaten eqq whites.

5. Mix for 7 minutes with electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

6. Beat in 1 tsp. vanilla.

7. Frost the tops and side of cakes.

Vanilla Sugar

• 2 vanilla beans

• 2 cups of sugar

Cut the vanilla bean pod in half lengthwise. Use a knife to scrape out the seeds. (The seeds are tiny -like sand) Place the seeds on top of the sugar. (Save the empty beans/pods.) Use a spoon or another knife to scrape the seeds off the knife—they’re sticky and clumpy.

You can use a food processor to blend the sugar and the vanilla beans, or simply use a whisk and whisk and stir until blended.

Put the sugar in an air-tight container, along with the empty bean pod shells. Submerge the bean pods into the sugar. You could use it immediately but is full flavor when it sits for two weeks.