This easy cake is perfect when you want to bake something simple. This extra moist cardamom cake is frosted with a browned butter cream cheese frosting. It only takes 15 minutes to prep your cake and is the perfect everyday snack cake.
Tell me about this cake!
- Texture: this cake is extra fluffy and moist, and the cream cheese frosting is very creamy.
- Flavour: the cake is similar to a typical vanilla cake, but its packed with dried cardamom. This gives the cake almost a warming taste and even spicy. This of a spice cake on a cold day. The frosting is made with cream cheese and browned butter, giving a nutty and toasted taste.
- Ease: both the cake and the frosting are really easy to make and require no fancy techniques.
- Time: the cake only takes 15 minutes to prep, and the frosting only take 10 minutes to make. A nice and simple cake!
Step-by-step for making cake batter
Make sure to weigh out all of your ingredients and things that need to be room temperature (eggs, butter) have been taken out of the fridge at least an hour before you start baking the cake. This will make your life a lot easier!
Add the butter to the dry ingredients 
Add the wet ingredients in two additions Measure out the batter evenly
- In a jug, whisk together all of your wet ingredients.
- Mix all of your dry ingredients together first
- Add your butter a piece at a time, until your batter looks like coarse sand
- While the mixer is running on low, slowly pour in half of your wet ingredients. Increase the speed to medium until the batter is smooth, then go back to a low speed.
- Pour in the rest of your wet ingredients, mix on medium again.
- Use a silicone spatula to fold in the ingredients to make sure there are no flour pockets.
Pour the batter into 2 pans evenly and give each one a hard tap on your counter to stop any air bubbles. To get your cake out easily, make sure you grease the bottom and sides of the pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper.
How to make browned butter
Learning to make browned butter can help you with so many recipes! I love using browned butter in chocolate chip cookies, rice krispie treats, brownies.. Those little brown bits that you get at the bottom of your pan are toasted milk solids, and those are what you need to scrape out to keep that toasted and nutty taste.
- Place your butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Stir the butter as it begins to melt. Once the butter has completely melted, it will start to foam and bubble. Make sure you continue stirring.
- This is where you need to keep a close eye on it! The melted butter will turn a darker colour, and the milk solids at the bottom will go from white to a light brown. You’ll also know it’s ready by the smell, which should smell toasted and nutty. Take it off the heat and it is ready to use!
Tips on making cream cheese frosting
All you need to make this frosting is butter, vanilla, cream cheese and powdered sugar!
- Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature before you begin making the frosting.
- Before starting your cake, brown the butter and leave it to chill. You want the butter to firm up a bit before using it, so let it chill in the fridge while you make the cake.
- To stop powdered sugar from flying everywhere when you add it, add it half a cup at a time and mix slowly to incorporate it.
FAQs and Tips
Because of the cream cheese frosting, this cake is best stored in the fridge. You can keep it for 4 days.
You could sub out the cardamom for other spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, or leave out spices entirely and just have a vanilla cake
You can wrap the baked cake in clingfilm and freeze it. Before you frost it, let it defrost for at least 2 hours.
Take a large sharp knife and run it under boiling water, quickly wipe dry with a paper towel, and make one slice. Repeat for each cut you make and you’ll get a clean slice!
Cream cheese frosting is a tough one to firm up, I recommend letting it chill in the fridge if it isn’t firm enough.
If you only have fine salt, then halve the amount called for in the recipe. So for this cake, use ¼ teaspoon of fine salt instead of ½ teaspoon of kosher salt.
If you don’t have buttermilk, add a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to every cup of milk. Stir and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Other cake recipes to try:
Make sure to tag me on Instagram @alpineella and leave a review below if you’ve made this cake! If you want more baking ideas, you can follow me on Pinterest
Cardamom Cake with Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- Two 8 inch cake pans
Ingredients
Cake
- 255 grams all-purpose flour
- 226 grams butter room temperature
- 250 grams sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 eggs
- 3 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 240 ml buttermilk
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 teaspoon cardamom
Frosting
- 454 grams powdered sugar
- 340 grams cream cheese, room temperature room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 226 grams butter
Instructions
Make Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease and line 2 8-inch cake pans.
- In a jug, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and buttermilk.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom and salt on a low speed until everything is combined. While the mixer is still running, add the butter a piece at a time. Your mixture should look like coarse sand
- With the mixer still running, slowly pour in half of the wet ingredients. Increase the speed to medium for 30 seconds, then return to low. Add the rest of the wet ingredients while the mixture is still running. Increase the speed to medium again for 30 seconds. Use a spatula to fold the batter to make sure there are no flour pockets.
- Divide the batter amongst the pans and then tap them against your counters to get rid of any air pockets. Bake for 18-22 minutes until golden brown. A toothpick inserted should come out clean
Make Frosting
- In a medium saucepan, cook the butter over medium heat, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until the butter begins to foam and the milk solids turn brown. This can take up to 10 minutes, so be patient!
- Scrape out all the butter and the brown bits into the bowl of your stand mixer and leave to cool while you make the cake.
- In the stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until it is completely smooth and fluffy.
- In a bowl mix together the salt and powdered sugar. Add to the butter/cream cheese, half a cup at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.
- Once all the sugar is incorporated, beat the frosting on medium until it is thick and very smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add in the vanilla.
Sisko
Hi Ella!
Could I make this into mini cupcakes? Would I need to make any changes to the cake recipe?
Thanks!
Ella
Hi! I haven’t tried making them into cupcakes, but if you give it a try you’ll have to decrease the baking time and also make a lot less of the frosting!
Andee
This is absolutely delicious! I served it for the first time the night we were hosting a large group and it was a huge hit.
It definitely made more frosting than I think it needs (I have a fully frosted, layered cake and 1-1.5 cups of frosting still!) so I’ll probably half the amount next time but this one will be added to my holiday rotation for sure!
Highly recommend.
Ella
Thanks so much for your review and feedback! I’ll retest the frosting, I think I might like frosting a little bit more than most people haha!