This easy lemon cardamom cake is delicate, light, moist, intensely citrusy and not overly sweet. The ground cardamom adds a subtle floral flavor and a sprinkle of chopped pistachios provides just the right amount of crunch.
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What does cardamom taste like?
Cardamom has a fresh, floral, minty and lemony flavor that works great with citrus desserts, such as this cake.
How to make the cake:
The preparation of this recipe is very straight forward, you begin by preparing a 9 inch x 5 inch x 2.5 inch loaf pan and heating the oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 1. Cut a piece of parchment paper and fit it into the bottom of the pan, then grease the pan (including the surface of the parchment bottom) well with vegetable shortening, sprinkle flour into the pan and shake out the excess.
RECIPE NOTE: To grease a pan, I find it easiest to grab a paper towel, fold it up, then scoop up the vegetable shortening with it and rub it around the insides of the pan.
Step 2. Add together:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
Step 3. Whisk the dry ingredients together, then set aside.
Step 4. With an electric mixer or standing mixer, whip 8 tablespoons softened, unsalted butter and 1 cup granulated sugar until fluffy.
Step 5. Whip in 2 whole eggs and 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon zest for intense lemon flavor.
Step 6. In a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together:
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup and 2 teaspoons plain, whole milk yogurt
- 4 teaspoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Step 7. With the mixer running, gradually whip the dry and wet ingredients into the batter, alternating between the two and starting with the dry ingredients. Whip the batter for a few minutes until it turns lighter in color and becomes firmer and smoother.
Step 8. Fill the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out completely clean.
Let the cake cool a bit in the pan on a wire rack, then run a knife around the edges of the pan, turn the cake out and let it cool completely.
How to make the glaze:
Step 9. Whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar and 5 teaspoons lemon juice (if the glaze is too thin, whisk in more powdered sugar; if it is too thick, add more lemon juice). Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake, then sprinkle chopped pistachios on, both for their visual appeal but also to add some crunch and a great texture contrast to the delicate, light and airy cake.
How to store the cake:
You can let the cake sit out at room temperature, covered loosely with aluminum foil, for 1 day.
You can also transfer the glazed cake into a freezer bag and freeze it. To thaw, let the cake sit on the kitchen counter for about 2 hours.
More cardamom desserts:
- Baked Cardamom Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
- Cardamom Meringue Cookies
- Raspberry Apple Crisp
- Mini Lemon Cardamom Bundt Cakes
Made this recipe? It would be awesome if you could leave a rating. Either tap or click the stars in the recipe card or leave a comment below. Thanks!
Recipe Card
Lemon Cardamom Cake
Ingredients:
For the cake:
- vegetable shortening to grease the loaf pan
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon zest (you need 4 – 5 lemons for that)
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup + 2 teaspoons plain, whole milk yogurt
- 4 teaspoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 5 teaspoons lemon juice, or more, depending on the humidity in your kitchen
- chopped pistachios
Instructions:
For the cake:
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cut a piece of parchment paper and fit into the bottom of an 9 inch x 5 inch x 2.5 inch loaf pan. Secure it to the bottom of the pan with a few dabs of vegetable shortening.
- Grease the pan well with vegetable shortening (including the surface of the parchment bottom),* sprinkle flour into the pan and then shake out the excess.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and soda, salt and cardamom. Set aside.
- Whip butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
- Add the eggs and continue to whip until well incorporated and smooth.
- Whip in the lemon zest.
- In another bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk lemon juice, yogurt, milk and vanilla together. Set aside.
- Whip the dry and wet ingredients into the butter mix, little by little, alternating between the two and starting with the dry ingredients. Whip for a few minutes on high speed until you have a very smooth and creamy-looking batter.
- Fill the batter into the loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (45 -50 minutes).
- Once the pan is cool enough to handle, run a knife around the edges to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Unmold the cake and then let it cool completely.
For the glaze:
- Whisk the two ingredients together and keep adding lemon juice until you have a slow-moving icing. (If the icing ends up too runny, whisk in a little more powdered sugar).
- Drizzle the icing on the cake and sprinkle the chopped pistachios on.
Catlin
Oh!! looks wonderful
Alex
This cake was extremely lemony. I could not taste the cardamom at all. Once I tried it, it was a huge lemon punch. I literally thought it was soaked in plain lemon juice. And the crumb is so weird: the outer layer was starting to crip a lot and the interior falls apart like it’s wet sand. I really had high hopes for this one. ?
Nicole Branan
Hi Alex, I’m very sorry that you didn’t have a good experience with this recipe! I have made this cake many times and it has always turned out great for me with a nice and tender crumb. I’ve also had very good feedback from readers about this cake, so unfortunately I’m not sure what happened when you made it.
Laura
Delicious! I baked this in a muffin pan at 350 for 20 minutes. It made 12 cupcakes. Great flavour. My family enjoyed them. I was planning on doing the lemon glaze icing, but they got eaten too quickly. Next time I will double the recipe. Thank you!
Nicole Branan
That’s wonderful to hear, Laura! What a great idea to make cupcakes! Thank you so much for coming back and leaving feedback, I really appreciate that. :)
Stephanie
This was a delicious, light, refreshing cake. Perfect for mid-day brunch in spring/ summer. Only difficulty I had was with the icing, did not lay correctly across the cake in an “icing” fashion… kind of just sunk in, delicious, just not on top! Thank you for the recipe will definitely be making again!
Nicole Branan
Hi Stephanie, thank you so much for the feedback! It sounds like the icing may have just been a little too thin, you might want to try using a little less lemon juice next time to get a less runny consistency. But I’m very glad you like the cake, that’s wonderful to hear! :)
Moray
Have made this cake many, many times. Love the recipe with the touch of cardamom with lemon. Beautiful loaf with a difference. I usually use Greek yogurt. Definitely a favourite recipe,
Nicole Branan
That is incredible to hear, Moray! Thank you SO much for leaving such a wonderful comment, I really appreciate it. :)
Nagi@RecipeTinEats
Hey Nic! How crumbly would you rate this on a scale of 1 to 10? As in – is it like banana bread in that it could be toasted, or is it more like cake that needs to be eaten with a fork on a plate?
I’m asking because I was going to make this for a picnic only – food to be eaten with hands only! :)
Nicole B.
Definitely like cake and not like banana bread. Does require fork and plate and would probably be messy at a picnic. :)
Kathleen | HapaNomNom
I love the etherial look of this cake – so light and bright! Cardamon is such a wonderful spice and paired with the lemon, I know this cake is just out of this world!
Nicole B.
Thank you so much, Kathleen. “Light and bright” is the perfect description for this cake. :) Happy 4th of July to you!
Cakespy
What a beautiful flavor combo. Cardamom is one of my favorite flavors in anything.
Nicole B.
Thank you, Jessie! Cardamom is good, isn’t it? I have to use it more often, and not just in sweet stuff! :)
Louise | Cygnet Kitchen
This looks such a lovely fresh summer cake, Nicole. I love the cardamon (my latest blog post is a meringue roulade with raspberries, cardamom and rose cream) this is such a nice update on a lemon drizzle cake. x
Nicole B.
Meringue roulade? Rose cream? Oh my, I’m going to have to head over and check that out right now! :)
Linda whitney
What kind of yogurt do you use in the recipe?
Nicole Branan
I like to use full-fat, plain Greek yogurt.
Linda whitney
Thank you for your reply.
CakePants
Wow, I love how the photo really shows how soft and fluffy the cake is! The addition of cardamom sounds amazing – I bought some cardamom to bake with a little while ago but haven’t gotten around to using any yet. I’m looking forward to trying this!
Nicole B.
Thank you so much, I hope you like it! :)