Swedish Cardamom Cake

This easy Swedish Cardamom Cake with delicious coffee glaze is an unforgettable flavor and texture combination and a great addition to your holiday baking list. But this super moist yogurt cake packed with cardamom and coffee flavor and made in a bundt pan will make any day festive!

Jump to:

• 🌟 Why this is the best recipe
• 📝 Ingredient notes
• 👩‍🍳 How to make this recipe
• 👩‍🍳 Storage & Freezing
• 📚 Flavor Variations & Substitutions
• 🎓 Expert tips to make Swedish cardamom cake
• 🥣 Equipment notes
• ❓ Recipe FAQs
• 📚 More Swedish and European recipes
• Swedish Cardamom Cake

🌟 Why this is the best recipe

1. It is quick and easy – You won´t need any fancy ingredients, equipment, or techniques to make this Swedish Cardamom cake recipe. The recipe comes together fast and really easily, and I include all my top tips so it is suitable even for beginner bakers.
2. It is super delicious – I never compromise on taste! This cake is a super moist yogurt-based pound cake with cardamom and vanilla notes; it's one of my favorite European desserts. Cardamom is the most deliciously aromatic flavor. If you're a fan, why not try these cardamom cookies from Anne?
3. It is super versatile – This old fashioned Swedish cardamom cake can be made using different spices, or you could use a different glaze. My butterscotch glaze, for example, would also taste wonderful. Feel free to experiment!

📝 Ingredient notes

For the cardamom cake

1. Butter - Use unsalted butter so you can control how much salt is in the recipe. I use 82% fat content European style butter in all my recipes like this Cardamom Bundt cake. The butter needs to be at room temperature so that it is soft enough but not melted or runny.
2. Granulated sugar - I use simple white granulated 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 - Make sure the eggs are at room temperature so that the ingredients can emulsify properly. Learn more about eggs and what they do in baking here.
4. Vanilla bean paste - Avoid using artificial vanilla flavorings; I use Nielsen Massey, which I love and really recommend. I always use vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract so that it has lovely vanilla bits in there, too.
5. Flour - I use pastry flour in this Swedish cardamom cake, but you can use all purpose flour or even self-raising flour if it is available in your country. To learn more about what type of flour to use when baking, please read my flour guide.
6. Baking powder - This leavening agent gives a lovely fluffy rise to cakes. If you are using self-raising flour, then no baking powder is needed.
7. Almond flour - Adding almond flour to fall desserts always gives a delicious marzipan flavor. It is worth buying a good quality ground almond meal without the skin. Otherwise, replace it with an equal amount of all-purpose flour (AP flour).
8. Cardamom - This beautiful, aromatic spice is very popular in Sweden (where I live). Buy the pods and grind cardamom seeds yourself for the best flavor. High-quality ground cardamom powder can be used instead, or check this article about cardamom substitutes.
9. Milk - Whole milk is the best, and ensure it is at room temperature before baking this cake.
10. Yogurt - Use thick, full-fat Greek yogurt or Turkish-style yogurt for the best moist cake texture. It is important that the yogurt is at room temperature before you begin.

For the coffee glaze

1. Freshly brewed coffee - The 2 ingredient coffee glaze takes this cake to the next level!
2. Powdered sugar - Sift the powdered sugar before use so that the glaze is silky smooth with no lumps.

🛒 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

How to make Swedish cardamom cake

1. Preheat the oven to 175C / 347F (no fan) and prepare your bundt pan by greasing it with butter, dusting it with flour, and placing it in the freezer.
2. Whip the softened butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl using an Electric hand mixer for 3-5 minutes until fluffy, then beat in the vanilla bean paste.
3. With the mixer running, very slowly add the eggs into the mixture until fully incorporated.
4. Sift the flour, baking powder, almond flour, salt, and cardamom (dry ingredients) together in a separate bowl. In another bowl, mix the yogurt and milk together (wet ingredients).
5. Fold the dry ingredients and wet ingredients into the butter, sugar and egg mixture in 4 steps: wet, dry, wet, dry. Make sure that you start with the wet, and finish with the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula for this step.
6. Pour the Swedish cardamom cake batter into the prepared Bundt pan and bake for one hour or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire cooling rack. Let the cake cool completely before glazing.

💡 Top Tip: It is very important that all of the ingredients are at room temperature for the best results when baking this Swedish cardamom cake.

How to make coffee glaze

1. Sift the powdered sugar and whisk it into the freshly brewed coffee.
2. Check the consistency; if it is too thick, add more coffee. Too thin, add more powdered sugar.
3. Pour the glaze over the cooled cardamom cake and allow it to set for a few minutes before serving.

💡 Top Tip: The Cardamom cake must be at room temperature or even chilled before pouring the glaze on top. This ensures that the glaze can set without running down the sides and pooling at the bottom.

👩‍🍳 Storage & Freezing

Store Swedish cardamom cake in an airtight container either at room temperature or in the fridge and consume within 3-4 days.

You can also easily freeze cardamom cake but do not glaze it until after it has thawed out. Double wrap the cake in plastic food wrap and aluminum foil to freeze it and consume it within one month.

📚 Flavor Variations & Substitutions

Try making this delicious Swedish cake recipe with other spices instead of cardamom, like cinnamon, ginger, or even nutmeg. Grated citrus zest can also elevate it even further; try lemon or orange zest to turn this cake into a wonderful Orange Cardamom cake or Lemon Cardamom cake.

The coffee glaze on this Swedish cardamom cake is delicious, and in Sweden, it is often enjoyed with coffee, so it makes a natural pairing. But you can skip it and simply dust your bundt cake with powdered sugar instead. Or my delicious cream cheese frosting! If you want to try other Swedish desserts, try my saffron bun recipe! And check out some of my other coffee desserts as well.

If you are baking around a dietary restriction or preference, check out my baking substitution guides to make the right swaps.

🎓 Expert tips to make Swedish cardamom cake

1. Always make sure that your Swedish cake ingredients are all at room temperature before you begin for proper emulsification.
2. To achieve the best cardamon taste, grind the cardamom seeds in a pestle and mortar yourself, as powdered cardamom from the grocery store has often lost a lot of its flavor.
3. Definitely try my hack of greasing the bundt pan and dusting it with flour before baking. It's foolproof! Read my full guide on how to get cake out of a bundt pan to learn more tips.
4. The cake needs to be cool before glazing. If the glaze is too thin and runny, add more powdered sugar to the coffee frosting. And if it's too thick, add more coffee.

🥣 Equipment notes

Always measure ingredients by the gram with the help of a Digital scale. The cup measurements in this recipe are indicative figures only, and for best results, you need the precision of a scale.

All ovens vary, and an inexpensive Digital oven thermometer can help you make annoying baking mistakes due to baking at the wrong temperature.

For whipping the wet ingredients, you won't need a stand mixer; instead, an Electric hand mixer is super handy. Then, move onto a Rubber spatula to avoid overmixing the easy Swedish Cardamom cake batter.

Finally, use a non-stick Steel Bundt cake pan to bake your cake. For this recipe, I use a 12-cup capacity pan, which is 25cm/10 inches in diameter and 10 cm/4 inches high. In some Bundt cake recipes, I use a Silicone Bundt Cake tin, and I don't have to worry about it sticking at all. However, this time, I wanted to make a more traditional, tall, and moist cardamom cake, so I went with my traditional steel Bundt tin and used my baking hack of greasing, dusting with flour, and freezing.

❓ Recipe FAQs

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