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“This. Is. DELICIOUS. Go ahead and make it, share it with your friends and family and coworkers. It will go down in history as one of the best things you’ve made.” ~Jess
the love of cardamom crumb cake is in my dna
I grew up in the suburbs just outside New York City, and I have a pretty good dose of German heritage on my dad’s side. If you put those two things together in a hat and shake them up real good, you’ll come up with, among other things…crumb cake.
My cardamom crumb cake is New York–style, meaning it’s not light and fluffy ~ the tall cake layer is dense and close-crumbed, almost pound-cake adjacent, with a buttery, vanilla-rich (or in this case cardamom) bite that feels substantial under the fork.
what you’ll need for cardamom crumb cake
Mostly pantry staples, you know the drill. What you may need to pick up before baking:
- sour cream
- adds fat and moisture for a denser, tighter, ultra-tender crumb with buttery richness; helps the cake stay moist.
- ground cardamom
- a full tablespoon of this aromatic spice permeates the whole cake.
There are lots of ways to make a crumb topping ~ sometimes the crumbs are like little boulders all over the top, and other times it’s more like a streusel topping. This one is the latter. The crumbs are made from a bit of reserved cake mixture, so it’s super easy. The cake will take you about 15 minutes to get in the oven. Easy peasy.
why cardamom?
In baking I’ll often sub cardamom for cinnamon to get a new flavor profile with a similar warmth and aroma.
Cardamom is an aromatic spice in the ginger family. It grows in green or black pods filled with tiny seeds. When you grind the seeds you’ll get an incredibly fragrant spice. You can also use the pods whole in savory dishes, just crush them lightly to release the seeds.
bakers tips for cardamom crumb cake
I love cardamom crumb cake warm from the oven, but like other all-butter cakes it can dry out fast:
- Try not to over-bake, once the center has risen and the edges are golden, check with a toothpick. Moist crumbs are fine.
- Don’t slice until ready to eat to keep the edges from drying out.
- Wrap in plastic and store at room temp, not in the fridge ( which can dry it out faster.)
The crumbs on this cake are more like streusel
- It will feel dry to the touch. Use your hands to compress it into rough clumps as you add to the top of the batter.
- Be sure to spread it all over the surface of the cake, into the sides and corners.
the bottom line
This lovely cake stands out from others because it’s spiced with warm, fragrant cardamom, which is not traditional, but really wonderful. Cardamom is more subtle than cinnamon, and if you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend you do. Switching out cinnamon for cardamom is a tiny little change that can freshen up a lot of your favorite recipes. If you look closely at the photos you can see the little black specks of the cardamom seeds.
I happen to love the spice, and use it in everything from morning buns and Christmas cookies to meatballs and roast chicken.
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Cardamom Crumb Cake
Video
Equipment
- 9×9 square baking dish
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp ground cardamom
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F
- Spray a 9×9 square baking pan and line with parchment paper if you want to be able to lift it out for cutting. That part is optional.
- Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cardamom in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine, You can also do this by hand in a large mixing bowl.
- Cut the butter in small pieces and add it to the bowl. Pulse to combine, maybe about 20 pulses. The mixture should be crumbly with the butter well distributed and in very small pieces. You can also do this by hand with a pastry cutter.
- Measure out 1 cup of the mixture and set aside.
- Whisk together the wet ingredients and mix with the dry, just until combined. Spread the batter into the pan, and top with the reserved crumbs.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Notes
Nutrition
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Cake was divine!! Thank you for all your delicious recipes.
You’re so welcome Christy, appreciate the comment 🙂
This is a great recipe. I love the cardamon spice. What is the bake time if you make this Ina 9×13 pan?
If you double for a 9×13 pan the baking time will be about the same.
I figured it out – I need to extract and grind the seeds. Making it tomorrow!
Sorry I didn’t get to this earlier Shelley, and yes, you’ve got it! You can buy ground cardamom but doing it yourself is so incredible. You’ll need a spice grinder or coffee grinder to do it because the seeds are very small.
Hello! I bought cardamom with the idea of making this cake. But I have never used it before – am I to use the whole green pod (grind it), or take a seed out of the pod and use only that to grind?
The Cardamom Crumb Cake was exquisite! I’m new to The View from Great Island, but am always seeking recipes of excellence, and I must say that you had me at your love for cardamom and citrus! The cake was luscious ! Simple and extraordinary at once! Lovely in every way . Pillowy and aromatic as promised! So indescribably sublime that it infiltrated our dreams! Next up, Orange Cardamom Crumb Cake!
Thank you for what appears to be a treasure trove of recipe gems!
Mary
Welcome in Mary! I can’t wait for you to discover more gems!
Great recipe! Very tender and delicious. I used cardamom but I’m sure it’s fabulous with cinnamon too. I also subbed coconut sugar for regular sugar because I’m out of regular sugar and it still worked beautifully.
I just popped this into the oven and realized … I totally forgot the vanilla!!! Is this going to be ok without the vanilla compliment????
I think cake usually needs vanilla for depth of flavor, but you should be fine without it (just this once!)
Can you use less sugar?
Yes, you can generally reduce the sugar by up to 1/3 without any issues. This is actually a very tall cake, and I’ve made it before in a 9×13 pan, where you’d be able to get much smaller servings, if that helps.
I love cardamom. Can I use salted butter and omit the salt?
Yes.
Any chance you or a fellow baker have successfully baked this in other pans/formats. I’m loathe to buy another pan for baking and hardly ever see/use a 9×9 inch.
This would work well in a 9 inch springform pan, if you’ve got one.