Cardamom is the world’s third most expensive spice, after saffron and vanilla. It has a distinctive taste and aroma and it is used in some Nordic baking recipes, Indian sweets, and Middle Eastern sweet dishes, as well as a flavouring in tea and coffee. We love the flavour of cardamom. Sarah spotted a recipe for Cream Cheese pound Cake with Cardamom, Vanilla, and Almonds over on pinterest and made it over the weekend. Time for baking has been short lately (school exams are looming), so we are all for recipes that are easy to make and freeze well so that we can enjoy them after a day at work/school.
This Almond and Cardamom Pound Cake ticked all the boxes. We didn’t have any cardamom pods so substituted ground cardamom. (10 pods equals 1.5 teaspoons of ground cardamom). Topped with flaked almonds for texture, it didn’t need any other accompaniments. Pound cakes have a lovely texture and go perfectly with a cup of tea.
- 1 cup wholemeal (whole wheat) flour
- ½ cup plain (all-purpose} flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon bicarb soda (baking soda)
- 1 cup of sugar
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks) of unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup of cream cheese (5 ounces), at room temperature
- 3 large eggs
- 1 vanilla bean pod
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom (3 pods)
- slithered almonds to decorate loaf
- Preheat your oven to 175 deg C (350 degrees F). Grease and line a loaf pan with parchment paper
- Sift the flours, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl and set aside.
- Combine the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until blended. Slowly beat in the sugar, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean pod and add it to the mixture along with the ground cardamom. Mix until incorporated.
- Add the eggs — one at a time — and beat over medium-low, scraping down sides of bowl.
- Turn the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry mix, beating until just incorporated. Scrape the batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with almonds.
- Bake the cake until the top is golden brown and springs back when gently pressed and a tester inserted into the centre comes out clean (about 60–70 minutes).
Recipe Source: Based on recipe from Turntable Kitchen
Leave a Reply