Cardamom Coffee Cake
This cardamom coffee cake is the perfect, cozy homemade coffee cake recipe for fall. Your house will smell amazing while baking it!
This recipe for cardamom coffee cake was originally published October 12, 2018. It has been updated from the archives with additional information and larger photos.
About this Cardamom Coffee Cake
Logan recently mentioned coffee cake and I realized that I haven’t baked on in a while. It was the perfect time to do some baking last night. Kevin was out of town last night and I didn’t have any of the kids home.
It has been cold and dreary outside all week. Baking something like this homemade bundt coffee cake instantly warms the house and makes it smell so good and cozy. So, I spent the evening baking this delicious cardamom coffee cake and watching Grey’s Anatomy in my pajamas with the Bailey, our dog.
Meet Bailey here if you haven’t seen her yet. She’s so cute! I’ve been baking this homemade coffee cake recipe for more than 9 years. The base of the recipe was something that I first learned when I took a college cooking class years and years ago.
Over the years I have tweaked or adapted it multiple times. I’ve added things like cranberries or blueberries. I’ve used ricotta instead of sour cream. And in this version I’ve added orange zest and plenty of cardamom for the perfect fall smells and flavors.
★★★★★
Reader says –
“Yum! I made this for my ladies bible study this morning, and they LOVED it! Turned out just like your pics. Thanks for a great recipe.” — Sara
What Does Cardamom Taste Like?
I first learned about cardamom when I originally made this recipe about 9 years ago. Before that I can’t recall ever having tasted or cooked with cardamom. I didn’t even know what flavor profile to expect from the name.
Cardamom is described as having a strong, unique spicy-sweet taste, which is slightly aromatic. It is spicy, citrusy, herbal, and a bit woody all at the same time. It is a really complex flavor.
If you’re a tea drinker, you might be familiar with cardamom because it is a common ingredient in Chai Tea, a spicy black tea. Cardamom is also common in Indian cooking.
Related: If you love the flavor of cardamom, you might like to check out my homemade chai syrup (featuring this delicious spice!). I love using it to make homemade lattes or a festive gingerbread chai latte!
Tools Needed for this Recipe
You’ll need a few kitchen tools to prepare this cardamom coffee bundt cake. Here’s what I recommend having on hand before getting started:
- Measuring Cups and Spoons – you’ll want a standard set of measuring cups and spoons for measuring the ingredients in this recipe.
- Mixing Bowls – this recipe uses a few bowls, so you’ll need a small one for the filling mixture, a medium sized one for the dry ingredients, and a large one (or a stand mixer/bowl combo) for preparing the cake batter in.
- Microplane Grater – for zesting the orange.
- Silicone Spatula – for scraping the sides of the bowl as you prepare the batter so that all of the dry ingredients are evenly incorporated.
- Bowl and Electric Mixer or a Stand Mixer – I prefer using a stand mixer. If you don’t have one, you can use a larger mixing bowl and an electric hand mixer instead.
- Bundt Pan – this cardamom citrus coffee cake bakes in a standard sized bundt pan.
- Wire Cooling Rack – cooling racks are great for cooling this coffee cake so that you aren’t putting a hot pan directly on your counters.
Cardamom Coffee Cake Ingredients
This cardamom coffee cake has two components: the homemade coffee cake itself, and the spiced brown sugar filling that runs through the middle of the cake. Here’s what you’ll need to add to your shopping list:
For the Coffee Cake Filling:
- Orange Zest
- Brown Sugar
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground Cardamom
For the Coffee Cake:
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda
- Salt
- Ground Cardamom
- Granulated Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Orange Zest
- Butter
- Vanilla Bean or Vanilla Extract (check out my Homemade Vanilla Extract!)
- Eggs
- Sour Cream
For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.
How to Make Cardamom Coffee Cake
Don’t let the brown sugar swirl in the center of this bundt coffee cake fool you into thinking it’s tough to make. It’s actually quite easy!
- Prepare the dry ingredients: Stir together the ingredients for the brown sugar and cardamom filling; set aside. In a large bowl, stir together all dry ingredients, excluding the sugars and orange zest.
- Make the sugar mixture: In a food processor, pulse together the sugars and orange zest.
- Prepare the butter mixture: Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients: Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture, then mix in the dry ingredients and sour cream until well combined.
- Assemble and bake the coffee cake: Spread half of the coffee cake batter into a greased bundt pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar filling on top, then spread the remaining batter over the filling. Bake the cardamom coffee cake until done.
The above is simply a quick summary of this recipe. Check out the full recipe in the free printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for all the detailed instructions.
Tips for Making this Recipe
- It’s important that all of the wet ingredients are room temperature before adding them to the batter. This includes the butter, sour cream, and eggs.
- Be sure to give your orange a thorough wash under warm tap water before zesting it.
- This bundt coffee cake is a great base recipe. You can change up the spices and/or add fruit to the batter as you see fit — cranberries or blueberries both work well.
- Tired of your bundt cakes sticking to the pan and making a mess? Follow these easy steps to learn How to Grease and Flour a Pan so it comes out in one piece!
Storage Instructions
Store this easy coffee cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. The addition of sour cream to the batter helps it stay moist.
A bundt cake storage container works well, but if you don’t have one of those you can always slice it up and store it in a different type of container.
Can I Freeze this Coffee Cake?
Yes, once fully cooled you can either wrap the entire homemade coffee cake in plastic wrap and foil and then freeze. Or you can slice and freeze portions individually. It is best used within 3 months of freezing.
What Readers Are Saying
★★★★★
5 Star Review –
- “I made this – such a lovely cake, thank you for the recipe.” — Lisa
More Baking with Cardamom
Do you love baking with cardamom? Check out some of these favorite recipes:
Pumpkin Sugar Cookie Bars are a fun take on classic sugar cookies. I’ve added pumpkin puree and some yummy fall spices, like cardamom, for a seasonal version.
For a savory dish, cardamom is an excellent addition to garam masala and fresh ginger in Indian Butter Chicken.
If you’re looking for an excuse to eat dessert for breakfast, you might like to try out this recipe for Overnight Oatmeal Breakfast: Apple Pie Steel Cut Oats Recipe. It contains cardamom, which I think pairs really well with apples!
I love these Maple and Cardamom Spiced Pears with Pecans spooned over a bowl of vanilla Greek yogurt!
I love pears with cardamom. Try this recipe for Vanilla Spiced Pear Butter and learn How to Can Pear Butter; it is so good on a piece of toast!
Don’t see what you’re looking for here? Try browsing the ingredient index archives to see all of my recipes that use cardamom.
What do you like to use cardamom for?
Citrusy Cardamom Coffee Cake
Cardamom Citrus Coffee Cake is the perfect, cozy fall coffee cake recipe. Your house will smell amazing while baking it!
Ingredients
Filling:
- zest of 1/2 large orange
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
Cake:
- 3 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 3/4 teaspoon Salt
- 3/4 teaspoon Ground Cardamom
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- Zest of 1/2 large Orange
- 3/4 cup Butter, softened
- 1/2 a Vanilla Bean split open and seeded or 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 3 Eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup Sour Cream
Instructions
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Generously grease bottom and sides of a bundt cake pan.
For the filling
- Prepare the filling by combining the orange zest, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom; set aside.
For the cake Batter
- In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom; set aside.
- In a small food processor, combine the sugars and the orange zest. Pulse several times until the zest is finely chopped and sugar is fragrant.
- Alternatively, you can place the sugars in a bowl with the zest and rub it with your fingers.
- Using an electric mixer, preferably a stand mixer, beat sugars and butter until fluffy, scraping the sides every few minutes.
- Add vanilla bean or extract and eggs to the butter and sugar mixture, beat on medium for 2 minutes, scraping bowl periodically.
- Beat 1/4 of the flour mixture and sour cream at a time alternately into sugar mixture on low speed till blended.
Assembly
- Spread half of the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Sprinkle prepared filling mixture on top.
- Add the remaining batter and carefully spread (it may help to spray a spatula with PAM).
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until tooth pick comes out clean.
- Cool 30 minutes in pan on wire rack. Remove the cake from the pan to wire rack, cool completely.
Notes
This is a great base recipe. You can change up the spices or add fruit to the batter - cranberries or blueberries both work well.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 14 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 359Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 405mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 1gSugar: 29gProtein: 5g
GoodLifeEats.com offers recipe nutritional information as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although GoodLifeEats.com makes every effort to provide accurate information, these figures are only estimates.
Sara says
Yum! I made this for my ladies bible study this morning, and they LOVED it! Turned out just like your pics. Thanks for a great recipe.