Almond Sour Cream Pound Cake
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

On reviewer had this to say about this cake: "I made this beautiful cake along with the almond cream-cheese icing recipe and my husband said it was the best cake he had ever tasted! I agree! I took pieces of it for my co-workers to try and they raved about it. The combination of almond and orange is now my favorite (now I even use a little almond extract in my orange cupcake recipe). I also found out a local bakery uses the orange-almond flavor combination in their holiday Spritz cookie recipe! The texture of this cake is just right - dense and yet not overly heavy - a very fine texture."

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, plus more for pan
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
3 cups sugar [this seems like a lot]
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 eggs
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Almond Buttercream Frosting, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Butter and flour a tube pan and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer, cream butter and sugar together and then add sour cream. Sift flour and baking soda together. Add to creamed mixture, alternately with eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add extracts and stir to combine. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cool cake in pan for about 10 minutes and then unmold and cool completely on a wire rack.

16 to 18 servings

Almond Buttercream Frosting:

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
3 to 4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

With an electric mixer, cream butter in a large mixing bowl. Slowly beat in the sugar until smooth and creamy and sweetened to your liking (about 2 minutes). Add almond extract and stir to blend. Frost cake when fully cooled. If you are not using the frosting immediately, store it, covered, in the refrigerator and then bring it to room temperature just prior to using.

Yield: 3 cups