Cardamom Cake with Coffee glaze

This easy Cardamom cake with coffee glaze is an unforgettable flavor and texture combination and can be a great addition to your holiday baking list. This cake is a must-make during Fall and Winter, but might just become your favorite Bundt cake all year round! Super moist yogurt cake packed with cardamom and made in a festive Bundt pan can make any day festive.

The Cardamom cake is super delicious and flavourful on its own. To take it to the next level I recommend that you also make my 2 ingredients coffee glaze, which is a simple yet wonderful addition to the cake.

Jump to:

• 📖 What is Cardamom cake
• 🌟 Why this is the best recipe
• 📝 Ingredient notes
• 👩‍🍳 How to make this recipe
• 🎓 Expert tips
• 🥣 Equipment notes
• ❓ Recipe FAQs
• 📚 Other Bundt cake recipes
• Cardamom Cake with Coffee glaze

📖 What is Cardamom cake

Cardamom cake is not an exact cake definition, there are so many different variations available across the world depending on other ingredients that the cake includes, and its origin. You might come across Orange cardamom cake, Cardamom coffee cake, Rose cardamom cake, Swedish Almond cardamom cake, Pistachio cardamom cake, etc. In terms of their origin, the Swedish Cardamom cake and Persian Cardamom cake (also called Persian love cake) are probably the two most famous ones. In regards to the shape, it can be made into a more traditional cake format or Bundt cake format, like my Cardamom cake.

What is common in all these cakes is the cardamom, this wonderfully aromatic spice! It is one of the best flavor cakes you can make during colder months, its smell will fill your kitchen and heart! Why not try also these cardamom cookies from Anne?

🌟 Why this is the best recipe

1. It is extremely easy – You won´t need any fancy ingredients to make this Almond Cardamom cake. The recipe comes together really easily, a totally doable from scratch. Both the mixing process of the batter as well as the baking process are very simple, even for beginners
2. It is super quick – I do not overcomplicate anything in this recipe! My Cardamom cake is not just easy, but quick as well, all you need to do is mix the ingredients, bake and enjoy. The recipe is the perfect choice if you want something quick and impressive that is literally ready in an hour
3. It is super delicious – I never compromise on taste! This cake is a super moist yogurt-based pound cake with cardamom and vanilla notes, the perfect tea cake. Cardamom cake can be a great addition to your holiday baking list
4. No special equipment is needed – All you need is a Bundt tin that you probably already have at home and you are good to go! Having said that, if you do not own a Bundt cake tin, this cake can be made in a loaf tin or any cake tin really
5. It is super versatile – The Cardamom cake can be made using different spices eg. cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, etc. Citrus zest eg. lemon or orange can easily turn this cake into a wonderful Orange Cardamom cake or Lemon Cardamom cake. You can also use a different glaze, eg. my butterscotch glaze would be wonderful for the cake. Feel free to experiment!

📝 Ingredient notes

1. Butter: Use always unsalted butter as you want to be in control of the quantity of the salt. I am using 82% fat content butter in all my recipes including this Cardamom Bundt cake. The butter needs to be at room temperature which technically means soft enough to be able to cream but not too soft or runny so avoid last-minute microwaving
2. Granulated sugar: I use simple white granulated sugar, nothing fancy or expensive, you might want to experiment with using half granulated half brown sugar. If you want to learn about the different types of sugar and how to use them in baking, please read my sugar guide
3. Egg: Room temperature as always so the ingredients can properly emulsify
4. Vanilla bean paste: This is a Vanilla Cardamom cake so please please avoid using artificial vanilla! There are several great brands for fine, pure vanilla, I use Nielsen massey which I love and really recommend. I use vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract which has lovely vanilla bits in there too
5. Flour: If you have self-raising flour available in your country, feel free to use that. I am using pasty flour but AP (all purpose flour) can work too. They are so-called “soft flour” which are low on protein resulting in a delicate, tender texture. If you want to be a Pro when it comes to deciding what type of flour to use in your baking, please read my my flour guide
6. Baking powder: If you are using self-raising flour, then no baking powder is needed. I will state the amount of baking powder in the recipes for those who use all-purpose flour
7. Almond flour: I like adding almond flour to fall theme cakes, it always gives a bit of marzipan taste profile to cakes. It is worth buying a good quality ground almond meal, without the skin. If it is not available for you, replace it with an equal amount of AP flour
8. Cardamom: Cardamom cake obviously requires some cardamom! Beautiful, aromatic spice goes well with almost everything, try it! Cardamom is very popular in Sweden - where I live - and can be purchased in a pod form. Once the seeds are exposed or ground, they quickly lose their flavor. High-quality ground cardamom powder can be a substitute for the pods. Or, check this article about cardamom substitutes.
9. Milk: Whole milk is the best, pay attention to using room temperature milk
10. Yogurt: Use thick full-fat Greek or Turkish-style yogurt for the best texture. Again, very important that you bring the yogurt to room temperature as cold yogurt won´t properly mix in with the rest of the ingredients
11. Glaze: My coffee glaze will take this Cardamom Bundt cake to the next level, please do not skip it. It is made of 2 ingredients only: powdered sugar and freshly brewed coffee. Check out some of my other coffee desserts as well! If coffee is a concern, feel free to dust your Bundt cake will powder sugar and it will be still super yummy

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all Ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post

👩‍🍳 How to make this recipe

1. Step by step process of making a moist Bundt cake

This wonderfully moist Bundt cake is a type of cake that is definitely worth mastering for every home baker. It has a light texture with velvety crumbs, incredibly delicious.

1. Ingredients must be all measured with a Digital scale
2. Start preheating your oven - see tips below at "How to bake"
3. Prepare your Bundt tin - see tips below at "How to prevent Bundt cake from sticking"
4. Eggs, as well as butter, must be at room temperature. Make sure that butter is soft but not runny so avoid last-minute microwaving
5. Whip butter and sugar with an Electric hand mixer for a good 3-5 minutes until fluffy
6. Beat in vanilla bean paste or the vanilla you are using
7. Add room temp eggs into the mixture very slowly while your Electric hand mixer is still on. If you add the eggs too quickly or if the eggs are cold, you might find that the mixture curdles. It can be saved by adding the dry ingredients, but not ideal for the final texture
8. Sift dry ingredients (flour, almond flour, salt, cardamom) before adding to the mixture
9. Mix room temperature yogurt and room temperature milk together for a few seconds. Again, it is very important that all the ingredients are at room temperature so the Cardamom cake batter can properly emulsify
10. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold the dry ingredients (flour, almond flour, salt, cardamom) and wet ingredients (milk+yogurt ) into the mixture in 4 steps: wet, dry, wet, dry. Make sure that you finish with the dry ingredients
11. Pour Cardamom cake batter into the prepared Bundt pan. See my tips below at "How to prevent Bunt cake from sticking" section

Voila, your Almond Cardamom cake batter is ready! Now let´s bake

💡 Top Tip: If possible, grind the cardamom fresh as powder cardamom from the supermarkets are often already lost its aroma and flavor

2. How to bake

First of all, never bake any cake without properly pre-heating your oven first, so start with that before even preparing the cake batter. The Cardamom cake will be baked at 175 C / 347 F (no fan). Preheat the oven +20C / 68F as the oven temp drops when you open the door. Always use Digital oven thermometer to avoid over-baked crumbly or under-baked cakes.

Each oven is different so you might need to adjust the time slightly but in my oven, I bake the Cardamom cake for 1 hour. It is ready when the cake has a nice rise and when a toothpick is inserted, it comes out clean. Since it is a rather large cake, I suggest rather over-bake it, than under-bake as we need to make sure that the center is not raw.

Let the Cardamom cake cool in the Pan for 5 minutes then using a cooling rack and parchment paper quickly turn the Bundt tin upside down and carefully remove the tin.

Experienced issues before in regards to not being able to remove the Bundt cake in one piece? Never again! Continue reading!

💡 Top Tip: Once you flipped the cake over, you can gently bang the bottom of the Bundt tin with a spoon. This trick is just an extra safety measure to release the Bundt cake from the tin.

3. How to prevent Bundt cake from sticking

There are many tricks on the internet on the topic of how to prevent Bundt cake from sticking to the tin. First and foremost, check out my article about How to get Cake out of Bundt pan that will explain all the information you need!

In some Bundt cake recipes, I use a silicone mold like this one: Silicone Bundt Cake tin, and with that, I don't have to worry about this question at all. However, this time I wanted to make a more traditional tall, really festive Cardamom cake so I went with my traditional steel Bundt tin.

The process of preparing your Bundt tin is the following

1. Use soft butter (again soft, but not melted, just like you used for the cake batter) and patiently cover the entire bundt tin using a pastry brush or your fingers. You must pay attention to cover every single corner of your tin
2. Lightly dust with flour

With the steps above you have super high chances to get the Cardamom Bundt cake out of the pan in one wonderful piece!

💡 Top Tip: Freeze the prepared tin while preparing the Cardamom almond cake batter! This is a super important step and will take your Bundt cake preparation to a solid level

4. How to make coffee glaze

The Cardamom cake is really super flavourful on its own however making an easy coffee glaze really takes it to a whole new level!

This is a 2 ingredients coffee glaze recipe, you will need to whisk sifted powdered sugar with freshly brewed strong espresso coffee. It is super easy, the only thing you will have to be careful of is to find the right consistency that is not too runny and not too thick.

What if my glaze is too thin and runny? Add more powder sugar into the mixture

What if is my glaze is too thick? Add more coffee

💡 Top Tip: The Cardamom cake must be at room temperature or even chilled before pouring the glaze on top so the glaze can set in a few minutes and your Cardamom cake without running too much on the sid

🎓 Expert tips

1. Always make sure that your cake ingredients are all at room temperature for proper emulsification
2. To achieve the best cardamon taste, grind the cardamom fresh as powder cardamom from the supermarkets are often already lost its aroma and flavor
3. Once you prepare your Bundt tin (with butter and flour), freeze the prepared tin while preparing the Cardamom almond cake batter
4. Bake the cake for about an hour, but focus on the texture (tooth pick check), instead of time. Once you flipped the cake over, you can gently bang the bottom of the Bundt tin with a spoon. This trick is just an extra safety measure to release the Bundt cake from the tin.
5. Feel free to experiment with spices, eg. use pumpkin spice mix, cinnamon, vanilla bean, orange zest instead or with of cardamom
6. The Cardamom cake must be at room temperature or even chilled before pouring the glaze on top so the glaze can set in a few minutes
7. What if my glaze is too thin and runny? Add more powder sugar into the mixture
8. What if is my glaze is too thick? Add more coffee

🥣 Equipment notes

First and foremost make sure you measure the ingredients with the help of a Digital scale. Cup measurement in this recipe is an indicative figure only. Baking cups are not just inaccurate, but also make way too many dirty dishes.

If you are baking regularly and often struggle with your oven, also recommend purchasing an inexpensive Digital oven thermometer. Most home oven over or under run and inaccurate oven temperature can cause several issues during baking and wasting time and ingredients.

For whipping the wet ingredients you won´t need a stand mixer however an Electric hand mixer is super handy. Then, once you proceed with the dry ingredients, make sure to don´t use your mixer but a Rubber spatula instead, as we do not want to over mix the Cardamom cake batter.

Finally, for the Steel Bundt cake pan use non stick. The one I am using is a 12 cups pan meaning 10 inch = 25 cm in diameter and about 4 inches = 10 cm height. Please make sure you read above my tips about "3. How to prevent Bundt cake from sticking"

❓ Recipe FAQs

📚 Other Bundt cake recipes