Sour Cream Is Such a Magical Ingredient in Baked Goods—Here's Why (2024)

It produces tender, moist cakes every time.

Have you ever tasted a slice of vanilla pound cake or rich, creamy cheesecake and wondered what makes it so tender, airy, and moist? The answer is sour cream. While you may think of sour cream as a topping on nachos or baked potatoes, it works wonders in baked goods, too. So, what exactly is sour cream? It's simply cream that has been soured and thickened with lactic acid bacteria, which gives the cream flavor and creates its signature texture, says Tracy Wilk, lead chef at the Institute of Culinary Education. "It adds a subtle tang to the flavor or baked goods. The fat contributes to moistness and richness that makes tender cakes," says Samantha Seneviratne, author of The Joys of Baking: Recipes and Stories for a Sweet Life.

Sour Cream Is Such a Magical Ingredient in Baked Goods—Here's Why (2)

How Is Sour Cream Used in Baking?

Sour cream is one of the fattiest dairy products; the extra fat content (for example, adding sour cream to a cake instead of milk) will make the cake moister and richer, says Wilk. "Fat, in any form (butter, lard, cream, etc.) shortens gluten strands, which essentially leads to the most tender baked goods," she adds. According to the Food and Drug Administration, sour cream contains no less than 18 percent milkfat.

Recipes That Use Sour Cream

Sour cream is a key ingredient in cheesecake, sweet cheese pies such as our Cherry-Cheese Strudel Pie, and basic cake recipes like Chocolate Sheet Cake with Vanilla Buttercream. In most cases, sour cream is used as an alternative to—rather than in addition to—milk or heavy cream. You'll be amazed at how moist this springtime Rhubarb Crumb Cake is thanks to sour cream. The same goes for the Vanilla Bundt Cake with Chocolate-Cream Cheese Filling that's pictured above.

Substitute for Sour Cream

Seneviratne recommends using full-fat, plain yogurt or créme fraîche in place of sour cream. "In a pinch, you can add lemon juice or vinegar to milk and let it sit for a few minutes until it has thickened. The results won't be exactly the same as sour cream as the fat content and consistency is a little different, but it should work," she says.

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Sour Cream Is Such a Magical Ingredient in Baked Goods—Here's Why (2024)

FAQs

Sour Cream Is Such a Magical Ingredient in Baked Goods—Here's Why? ›

Sour cream adds moisture without thinning your batter the same way that a liquid would. That fact that sour cream delivers moisture without further thinning out a batter results in a cake with a very tender, very fine crumb.

Why do people put sour cream in desserts? ›

Baking with Sour Cream: The creamy texture of sour cream makes baked goods more moist than if you used milk. This makes sour cream an excellent choice for recipes that are known to have drier results, like sponge cakes.

What does sour cream do to food? ›

More Moist and Flavorful Batters and Doughs

Of course, sour cream can be used to enhance more than texture. It adds body and fermented flavor to these extra-flaky buttermilk biscuits and all five of our cornbread variations. We even throw it into sweet potato pancakes to offset the sweetness with some sour tang.

What is a substitute for sour cream in baking? ›

Yogurt is your best substitute for sour cream. Whether you're baking or making a dip or sauce, yogurt is a 1:1 sub. That means if your recipe calls for 1 cup of sour cream, you can replace it with 1 cup of yogurt.

Can you leave sour cream out overnight for baking? ›

Sour cream should be kept refrigerated at all times and should not be left out at room temperature for more than two hours. Additionally, it is important to check the expiration date on the container and to discard any sour cream that has passed its expiration date.

What does sour cream replace in cake mix? ›

The best way to use sour cream with a boxed cake mix is to use it to replace the other liquids in the recipe, like milk or water. You can add up to a cup, or essentially the same amount of liquid you were originally meant to add, per the manufacturer's instructions.

What country eats the most sour cream? ›

The top tier of sour cream-eating countries are identified as the US, France, Poland, Russia, and Germany. The second tier includes countries of Eastern Europe and the EU.

Why is sour cream so delicious? ›

The lactic acid bacteria increases the thickness of the cream and adds its characteristic tangy flavor. You can use sour cream as an ingredient to add an acidic flavor to sweet and savory meals. There are different types of sour cream.

What is the significance of sour cream? ›

Sour cream is a rich, tangy condiment made from fermented cream. It contains several important nutrients, but because it's primarily a garnish, you don't get many nutrients in a single serving. This dairy product may boost your absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and some types even pack probiotics.

Is sour cream good for your stomach? ›

Usually, regular sour cream won't help your gut the same way yogurt can. But some brands add bacteria cultures back in after the last round of pasteurization. If you can find these products, they might help promote a healthy balance of bacteria in your gut.

Is sour cream or Greek yogurt better for baking? ›

These proteins contribute a fluffy structure to cake or quick breads. So when substituting, just keep in mind: Sour cream = more dense and rich; Greek yogurt = more airy and moist.

Is sour cream necessary in baking? ›

Sour cream is one of the fattiest dairy products; the extra fat content (for example, adding sour cream to a cake instead of milk) will make the cake moister and richer, says Wilk. "Fat, in any form (butter, lard, cream, etc.) shortens gluten strands, which essentially leads to the most tender baked goods," she adds.

Can you bake without sour cream? ›

Full-fat Greek yogurt will offer the closest approximation of sour cream's flavor and texture, and can be used as a one-to-one replacement for sour cream. If you'd like, you can stir some heavy cream into any percentage of Greek yogurt to give it a somewhat richer body and higher fat content.

Can I skip sour cream in a recipe? ›

5 Ingredients to Use When You Are Out of Sour Cream
  1. Swap in Greek-style yogurt, labneh or skyr.
  2. Go less tangy with crème fraîche.
  3. Make a thinner sauce with buttermilk.
  4. Go rich and creamy with cottage cheese, mascarpone or ricotta.
  5. Whip up a plant-based sour cream.
  6. Make sour cream at home.
Jul 5, 2023

Why does sour cream curdle when baked? ›

Both the yogurt and the sour cream mixtures quickly curdled, while the crème fraîche mixture remained perfectly creamy. Curdling occurs when excessive heat causes the whey proteins in dairy to denature (unfold) and bind with casein proteins, forming clumps of larger proteins.

Should you put sour cream in the oven? ›

It can even be oven cooked to a very thick consistancy without breaking. Bechemal with cream added would also not break.

Why do you add sour cream to dough? ›

When you add sour cream, you add moisture that is surrounded by fat. Both the fat in the butter and the fat in the sour cream help keep water molecules away from protein molecules, resulting in a more tender pie crust.

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