25 Best Sour Cream Cakes

These sour cream cakes will change the way you bake forever!

Because of its fat and moisture content, it makes an excellent butter substitute in baking. 

Like many, I used to think sour cream was limited to nachos and baked potatoes. 

But after a few successful sponges, I can say unequivocally that sour cream is meant for baking.

Trust me on this one!

So, I’ve compiled a list of 25 of my favorite sour cream cake recipes. And I promise there is something on here for everyone.

25 Delicious Cakes Made with Sour Cream

1. Chocolate Sour Cream Cake 

I’m a sucker for chocolate cake. Chances are if you make this cake, you will be, too. 

This is the best birthday cake recipe, especially if you’re making the cake a couple of days in advance.

The layers won’t dry out, and everyone will rave over your delectable chocolate cake!

2. Lemon Sour Cream Cake

There’s something to be said for a heavenly pound cake. 

This recipe reduces the butter content and replaces it with sour cream. This results in the same richness, but a lighter pound cake. 

3. Passion Fruit Drizzle Cake

This is a beautiful gifting cake if you’re looking to bake for your friends and family.

It’s so beautiful, simple, and balanced in texture and flavor. 

After baking the sour cream loaf cake, you poke and drizzle a delicious, sweet, and tart passion fruit glaze that saturates the cake. 

4. Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Coffee cake is the first cake that calls for sour cream that I tried. So naturally, I wanted to share this incredible recipe with you. 

This recipe combines the delicious elevation of sour cream in the cake, with the tangy, rich cream cheese and pecan filling.

5. Red Velvet Cake

Red velvet cake is quite simple to make from scratch. You’ll be blown away by how easily you can whip together a fabulous, homemade red velvet cake.

This recipe encourages you to use cake flour and sour cream, which makes for incredibly light and moist cake layers.

Those layers are perfectly balanced with sweet and rich cream cheese frosting. 

6. Strawberry Sour Cream Cake

I was incredibly surprised by the gentle sweetness of this cake. This is a wonderful summertime sweet cake. 

This recipe is built with a base of a sour cream bundt cake, raised with fresh strawberries, then drizzled with a simple powdered sugar glaze. Yum!

7. Pecan Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This is an easy recipe for a classic pecan coffee cake. 

Simple layers of pecan streusel and thick sour cream coffee cake batter. You can easily modify the ingredients of the streusel to fit your tastes at home!

8. Easy Salted Caramel Cheesecake

I have a hard time turning down anything with salted caramel.

This cheesecake recipe shows how deliciously tangy sour cream in place of heavy cream is in cheesecake recipes. 

Please note that this cheesecake must be baked and fully cooled before serving. In fact, it’s best left to cool overnight.

And yes, you can freeze sour cream cheesecake! So make double.

9. Pineapple Dream Cake

Looking for a cool summer treat for your next bbq? Or how about looking to bring the tropics indoors while battling the winter cold?

Either way, this cake is a win. 

The rich and buttery cake is so delicious and moist and is so easy to make. Share it with your friends and family, or freeze in slices for midnight treats.

10. Sour Cream Mocha Cake

Words cannot espresso how delicious this cake is – oops I mean express!

The mocha flavor of this cake is so gentle, so the espresso and bittersweet chocolate are able to work in harmony with the rich texture from the sour cream. 

If you’re looking for a sweeter or richer cake to serve, you could make a chocolate espresso ganache for the drizzle, or replace the bittersweet with milk chocolate.

11. Poppy Seed Cake with Dulce de Leche Buttercream

Poppy seed cake is quite popular in European countries, and after trying this, I can see why.

I was blown away by how sophisticated this cake looked and tasted. The textures, flavors, and layers were impressive alone and combined.

The poppy seeds and walnuts in this recipe create a lovely texture paired with the soft, rich sour cream cake batter.

The chocolate ganache and dulce de leche add an undeniably delicious sweetness to the cake. 

12. Cherry Sour Cream Cake

Don’t judge a book by its cover. This recipe is actually an almond sour cream cake with cherry filling and frosting. 

The sour cream cake is incredibly delectable, and I enjoyed it without any frosting or filling. I imagine this would be delicious with mixed berry filling as well!

13. Rhubarb Sour Cream Cake

Who needs rhubarb pie when you can have rhubarb cake? 

In all seriousness, this rustic and tart cake is a delicious summertime treat. This cake is much less sweet than other cakes, due to the acidity of the rhubarb.

This cake pairs quite well with a vanilla bean or ginger milk custard. 

14. Louisiana Crunch Cake

The contrast of toasted sugary crunchy coconut flakes paired with delicate, moist cake is something this Louisiana cake has done right.

 This is the perfect dessert to treat your guests to after a spicy Cajun boil.

15. Fresh Fig Cake with Crumb Topping

Don’t be deceived, this cake tastes nothing like Fig Newtons. 

Figs are a delicious fall fruit that are juicy, sweet, and have an earthy berry-like flavor. This cake has figs layered into the cake batter, so they’ll really saturate the cake layers.

16. Eagle Brand Cheesecake

Don’t let the photo fool you, the cherry pie filling is optional. 

Or replaceable. Whatever suits your fancy! I personally love blueberry cheesecake. 

The core of this recipe is the easy preparation of rich cheesecake, with texture closer to New York Style cheesecake. 

17. Honey Vanilla Cake

If you’re looking for a less sweet, more naturally flavored cake batter, you’ve found it.

Once the cupcakes were assembled and frosted, this recipe reminded me of warm milk and honey, and they were absolutely divine. 

You’ll love how gently flavored these are with natural ingredients.

18. Banana Sour Cream Cake W/ Cream Cheese Glaze

Holy banana bundt cake, Batman! 

I’m not sure I’ll ever look at banana bread the same way. Sure, it’s fine, but why settle for fine when you can have banana cake? 

19. Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Do you ever sneak a bite of dessert at breakfast, and feel a bit guilty? 

Well, how about you just make dessert for breakfast and call it even?

This apple coffee cake is heavenly. All of the flavor of apple spice cake, all of the moisture and richness of a sour cream cake. 

Do yourself a favor and make two so you can freeze one.

20. Norwegian Gold Cake with Sour Cream Ganache

I’m throwing you a curveball on this one. Rather than the cake itself featuring sour cream, the chocolate ganache does.

The sour cream ganache is perfectly rich and smooth, and a delicious switch on traditional frostings for your cupcakes.

21. Glazed Sour Cream Gem Cakes

These gems are beautiful blossoms of the baked breakfast goods world. These are stunning personal cakes that are perfect to serve at any get-together, from breakfast to dinner.

They’re a bit more tedious than other cakes, simply because of the ingredients list, but the glazes are stunning and well worth the effort. 

22. Sour Cream Blueberry Bundt Cake

Brunch is the best with a delicious blueberry bundt cake. Even better if that bundt cake is filling, light in texture, and rich in flavor.

Despite a longer ingredient list, this recipe is seriously so simple. You’ll throw together sour cream bundt cakes on the regular after your first time making this recipe. 

23. Easy Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Can we make a pact to bring this cake to holiday feasts? 

I’m not a fan of cranberry sauce on my turkey, but I can definitely enjoy a delicious slice of this moist, tangy, cranberry upside-down cake after a big plate of potatoes, stuffing, and gravy.

24. White Cake Recipe

If you ever plan on baking a child’s birthday cake, go ahead and bookmark this recipe now!

This white cake recipe is absolutely perfect for coloring layers and customizing your cake.

Kids will love how creatively you can decorate a white cake, and adult guests will love how delicious the cake itself tastes!

25. The Best Texas Sheet Cake

Is it just me, or did anyone else think these were just lighter brownies when they were a kid? 

Knowing what I do now about sour cream making for richer cake, it makes sense I thought this chocolate cake was a frosted brownie.

Texas sheet cake is a classic cake that calls in the sour cream and is prepped in a larger pan for feeding a crowd. The chocolate frosting is a must for topping this southern staple.