Sour cream pound cake with crusty top

Ingredients

2 sticks butter, softened

3 cups sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

6 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 cup sour cream

Preparation

Heat oven to 300 F. Grease a bundt or tube pan and set aside.

Cream butter and add sugar slowly, scraping sides and bottom of bowl with a spatula. Add flavorings and baking soda. Add egg, one at a time. Mix at medium to fast speed, scraping sides and bottom of bowl periodically. Mix until batter is firm and ridges appear in batter. Reduce speed and add sifted flour and sour cream alternately, scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
Variations: 

For a lemon cake, omit vanilla and almond extracts and use 1 tablespoon lemon flavoring. 

For a chocolate cake, reduce flour by 1/2 cup and add 1/2 cup cocoa powder.

For a coconut cake, add 1 cup flaked coconut after mixing flour and sour cream.