A WASC cake recipe is a doctored cake mix that many bakers use as a no-fail white cake recipe
WASC cake recipe or “white almond sour cream cake” has been used for years and adapted many times. I made this recipe many years ago back after reading a thread on Cake Central before I knew how to bake a cake from scratch. The funny thing is by adding all these ingredients, you’re basically making a cake from scratch! The only thing you don’t have to worry about is the mixing method which can be tricky at first but is easy enough to learn with a couple of tries.
The good thing about WASC is that it’s easy to make, is fairly mistake-proof and tastes pretty good and is an easy way to make a boxed cake taste more like a scratch cake recipe.
The down side to WASC is that it’s very tender. I don’t recommend using this cake for sculpted cakes. I recommend using a nice vanilla cake recipe from scratch for a sturdier cake but this one sure is delicious and a great place to start as a budding baker.
WASC cake is a tender cake and needs to be fully cooled before you ice it with buttercream.
WASC Cake Recipe
A doctored cake mix that is well-used by bakers all over the world that produces a delicious white cake that tastes almost like scratch. This recipe makes three 6"x2" cake rounds or two 8"x2" cake rounds
Ingredients
- 1 box white cake mix I like duncan hines
- 1 cup AP flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup sour cream room temp
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1 cup milk room temperature
- 4 egg whites fresh not boxed at room temperature
- 1 tsp almond extract
Instructions
The instructions for this cake are super easy. Basically put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix it for 2 minutes! Voila! Cake batter is ready. Pour batter into two prepared 8" pans and bake at 335ºF for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean
Recipe Video
January 28, 2019
I’m thinking you’ve revised your recipe and didn’t change your intro. It says it’s not good for large stacked cakes because it doesn’t have butter in it. Your recipe actually has a 1/2 cup of butter. I use this recipe a lot and mix it a little differently; mix cake mix, flour, sugar, salt; set aside; mix eggs (I use 3 whole eggs), sour cream, flavoring, and water (1 1/3 cup) for a few seconds: add in dry ingredients for 30 seconds; then add melted butter for 2 minutes. And, it takes more like 40-50 minutes to bake at 325.
Thanks for all you do for us struggling bakers. You’re the bomb!!
Yes I updated the recipe 🙂
Hi,
I would like to know why you choose to mix it differently?
Because I prefer the texture of the reverse mixing method for this particular cake.
Love your site and the cakes and recipes are all yum. Can you please advise if I could use this cake recipe (WASC Cake Recipe) for stacking cakes. Will it be sturdy .
Your cakes and recipes are really great and secondly they are so easy to follow.
Have a question- can you please advise if WASC Cake Recipe- good for stacking cake – will it be sturdy.
Thanking in advance.
Hyacinth
Yes it is great!
You use melted butter that wasnt in original recipe. Is it a typo or thats was your tried addition?
I added melted butter because it adds more stability to the cake
Can I use milk instead of water in this recipe
Yes you can
can i use yogurt instead of sour cream
Yes and that would be so yummy
This is the perfect recipe for wedding cakes.
Do you think I’d be able to sub the white cake mix for a different flavor (such as yellow, butter pecan or funfetti)?
Yes you totally can
Can clear vanilla extract be used to substitute for the Almond extract?
yes you can use any flavoring you like
Any reason why it has to be fresh egg whites vs the box kind? Does the 100% liquid egg whites in a carton not whip as well?
Correct, you can use box but it may affect the texture
I often use (cartoned) pasteurized egg whites for a lot of recipes, but I use half real whites and half carton whites when I need foamy/frothy whites. Foam from cartoned whites break down too easily when you try to fold it into anything. When it really counts, I stick with real whites. Hope this helps!
Cake mixes use to be a larger weight. Can you tell me is this recipe done with the 18+ size or the 15+ weight cake mix?
I used the 15+ weight box and it turned out perfect.
What will be the substitute for egg.. As many of Indians don’t eat egg
I’m sorry I don’t have a substitution for an egg for this recipe. Perhaps you know of a typical egg substitute that you could try?
I saw on a show they used aquafaba (the liquid drained from a can of garbanzo beans) I think it was 2 tablespoons of aquafaba equals one egg white. Totally blew my mind they used it to make meringue!!
Hi Liz! (1) You’re amazing and I’m probably a bit toooooooo obsessed with your work/site and mad skillz 😛 (2) I’ve just had a crack at making your no fail cake and (I’m embarassed to say) have failed (!!!) – the recipe is rad, but my technique must be incorrect – when you say “mix for 2 minutes”, are you mixing on high speed or medium speed (say, kitchenaid setting 4?) and are you using the whisk or the paddle? (3) thank you again!
What seems to be the problem? It doesn’t matter if it’s a whisk or a paddle with box mix 🙂
Use a paddle, and mix at medium low setting, the setting 4 is perfect.
Hi, looking for a moist vanilla cake for my sons birthday. This one looks great. My question is can I make this recipe in a 9 x 13 pan or would a larger half a sheet pan be better? Seems like a lot of batter for a 9 x 13 since you add the flour and sugar to the mix. Any idea on how long I might bake in the 9x 13 or half sheet?
Thanks
Susan
9×13 serves 25 and should be plenty. Two boxes will be plenty. Time to bake varies depending on your oven but I would start with 40 mins
How does this recipe fair for making cupcake? And how many cupcakes do think this recipe would produce?
I am sooo happy to find this site. I love all of your ideas using box mixes. Going to enjoy trying it for a yellow cake because I haven’t found a scratch yellow cake recipe that I liked yet. Always go to my sour cream pound cake .
I recently made this cake for my church’s linger longer. The people who tried it loved it. I brought the leftovers home and my family loved it. I frosted it with a simple buttercream frosting. A brother at my church said he’d give it 4.75 stars. I give it 5 stars. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
It’s a winner in this house too! So easy to put together too 🙂
I used this recipe to make cupcakes and they were AMAZING!! Wonderful texture and flavor! Thank you, Liz!!
If you are using this recipe for a vanilla cake do you use whole eggs
If the box calls for whole eggs then yes use whole eggs
Hi, can this recipe be used for cupcakes? If so how many and for how long in the oven? Thank you:)
Yes, it’s basically a box mix. I don’t know exactly how many but usually cupcakes bake up in about 18-21 minutes
Hi, Can you use the Cake Flour like in the other cake recipe or do you have to use the AP?
I would use the ingredients that the recipe calls for 🙂
What is AP Flour
Regular plain flour (not self-rising)
AP Flour stands for All-Purpose flour.
Hi, I’m new here.
If using the 6” pans, is it the same temperature and same baking time?
Thank you!
It just depends, I would start with 25 minutes and check to see how done they are. Better to be safe than sorry.
Love your whole site! Just one question since I think I made a mistake mixing the batter. I added the dry ingredients then the melted butter and the rest of the liquid ingredients. After mixing there were lumps all through the batter I think it is because I added the melted butter to the dry before I added the rest of the liquid. Any thoughts on if that was the issue?
Hmm that is odd. Adding butter to the dry should not result in lumps. Perhaps your cake mix was just really lumpy. You can always sift beforehand if you notice lumps.
What is white cake mix? I am in Germany and don’t know to buy?
It’s an American pre-made boxed cake mix
The melted butter in recipe. Is it 1/2 a cup that is then melted or melt butter & measure out 1/2 cup? Thanks.
4oz of butter that is melted
Will this be okay to layer and use a fruit purée/filling between?
Yes definitely
Well… shoot. I guess I didn’t bake it long enough. Takes a minimum of an hour for me. This was 45 minutes… other than that, its delicious!
You must have had it in a very big pan 😀
Do you use all of the other ingredients that the boxed cake mix calls for (eg. Oil, water, 3 eggs) in Addition to the ingredients above, or just the cake mix out of the box only, then just the items above?
Only use the ingredients that the recipe calls for, ignore the box
I just made my daughters cupcakes using this recipe! The taste, and texture of these cupcakes are amazing! You would never know the base of it was box cupcake they taste like they r made from scratch! Can’t wait to try chocolate Wasc recipe!
Hi, may I ask why we add 1 cup sugar when the mix already has a lot of sugar in it?
Thanks!
Linda
Because you’re also adding a cup of flour and cake recipes often have almost equal parts flour and sugar in a balanced cake recipe
Hi, is it possibly to make a Tres Leches 2 tiered cake (10″ and 8″) using this WASC recipe? If so, how would you adjust the recipe and with what flavors? Also, what icing would you use if I want a smooth, clean elegant look for the Tres Leches cake?
I made this as a tres leches cake for my wedding last year and it worked perfectly – but making a stacked tres leches you cannot saturate it as much. Be judicious about how much milk you add. I used a pastry brush and slowly added milk a little at a time. I stacked (5) 8” layers and (4) 6” layers for a two tier cake, doweled it, and it came out great.
Love wasc. However I have a problem with the cake sinking while still in the oven. It rises perfectly until towards the end of baking then collapses. I’ve tried so many things to fix it. Has this ever happened to you?
It hasn’t, have you tried using a baking core? Or are you just taking the cake out too soon?
I use a flower nail and baking strips. Bake at 325. It collapses before I even take it out of the oven. Probably ten minutes before it’s even done. It’s a mystery to me!
I used to have the same problem and what helped was to mix all ingredients together except the sugar. Add it last and that should help the cake not sink
I want to make 2, 10″ cake rounds instead of 2, 8″ cake rounds. What are my measurements?
Just put the batter into two 10″ rounds instead of 8″. They will be slightly shorter. Or you can do a double batch and have leftover batter.
Can you use the same recipe for a chocolate boxed cake?
I have a chocolate wasc recipe as well 🙂
Can you taste the almond flavor in the cake? I’m needing a white almond cake for this weekend and this one sounds perfect just making sure there will still be a taste of almond in it 🙂
It’s very slight if you want more almond flavor you can add more but be careful, almond extract is very strong
Donna Lynn: I made the white cake and it was absolutely delicious. My family couldn’t believe how moist it was . They just raved about it. Thank you Liz.
Hi, this is the most delicious cake ever! However, mine always ends up raw in the center and done on the sides. I have good cake pans.
What am I doing wrong? Thanks.
Bake at a lower temperature for a longer period of time until the center is cooked.
I am hoping that this recipe will make a white cake that is comparable to the traditional wedding cakes from 30 or 40 years ago. Those are my husband’s favorite cakes. Are there any adjustments needed for high altitude baking (elevation 5000 feet)?
Not that I know of because this is a box mix not from scratch
Tried this. Substituted 2 extra large eggs for egg whites (all I had on hand) and used vanilla rather than almond with yogurt rather than sour cream. It was still amazing and the hit of the party with real buttercream frosting. Thank you for this!