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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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This post appeared just at the right moment in time. My fiance and I had a houseful of guests for the weekend (12 people for brunch on Sunday!) and this cake was just the perfect thing. It was a breeze to make and I set it out for people to help themselves to along with coffee or tea as they meandered into the kitchen at their own pace on Sunday morning. The texture/crumb of the actual cake part was phenomenal – superb recipe. Many thanks!
You’re so welcome, it sounds like it was a wonderful day!
Yum! This looks so good. Cardamom rolls are one of my favorite things on earth so I know I would love this.
I didn’t realize that crumb cake was a German food. It explains why Opa’s favorite coffee cake is a crumb cake ( my family’s recipe and what we actually call it )
Now you can enlighten the rest of the family 😉
Made this just this morning for my Friday treat… I made 1/2 of the recipe and baked it in a 9 x 5 bread pan which worked fine. I used less sugar 2/3 cup plus 1 T (1/2 the recipe would have been 1 cup) as I don’t like things too sweet. This turned out perfect for my taste as in just sweet enough 🙂 !
I looked at Martha Stewart’s recipe and noted she used some lemon zest. I might try that next round as it sounds wonderful to me, but this version is very good and so quick to put together. It was in the oven before my coffee was ready!
A bread pan sounds like a nice variation, and good to know about the less sugar option, Liz!
This sounds so delicious and my kind of cake without a lot of frills. Give me a crumb topping any day and cardamom – oh yeah!
This was such a fun post, and so personal for me, as I am a native New Yorker. I also grew up in the suburbs of NY. My Father is of German desent, crumb cake is essential! We used to go to the bakery and get Crumb Boards, lots of streusel topping with a flaky pastry underneath, absolute heaven! Thanks for a trip down Memory Lane, I know what I will be baking this weekend!
I’ve never heard of a crumb board — now I’m so curious!
Sue, your cake looks fabulous and your photos are fantastic as usual! We eat a lot of Indian food (very popular cuisine back in Scotland) in our house and so I always have cardamom pods in the pantry but I would never have thought to use them in baking, what a neat idea! I might try to gluten-freeify your recipe, I’ll let you know how it goes!
Definitely let me know about the gluten free version Sheena. As for the pods, I usually use the pre-ground cardamom from the supermarket in baking, but whenever I’ve taken the trouble to grind the seeds myself, I’ve been blown away by the extra flavor.
I love simple cakes like this and am always looking for an excuse to use cardamom. I bet if I made this for our neighbors, formally from NY, they would love it.
i love crumb cakes and i have never had one with cardamom before. It moist and a great flavor of sweetness.
We lived in the NYC area for a time. And had more than our share of crumb cake. Haven’t had it for years. But I will. 😉 Thanks.