There is nothing like a slice of cake with a cup of tea. Especially on a weekday, at around 3.00 PM, at the end of homeschool day, when everyone including the 9-month-old is going a bit stir crazy. This cardamom rose cake is what I need. It is aromatic and so wonderful. My whole house smells amazing when I bake this cake.
The aromatic pairing of cardamom and rose is incredible. It pleasing without being overwhelming. I understand rose can sometimes feel perfumey, the key is to be light-handed (little goes a long way). The floral notes pop in this loaf, it is spectacular when combined with cardamom and olive oil.
Key Ingredient for cardamom rose cake
This cardamom rose cake takes inspiration from Persian Love Cake by Yasim Khan. I skipped the almond meal and instead used a lemon yogurt cake as a base to create this loaf. While testing the recipe, I played around with oils and butter, I ultimately loved this version with olive oil. It really works well to enhance the aromatic combination of cardamom and rose. I have also used a whole cup of Greek yogurt in this loaf, which is more than your traditional lemon yogurt loaf, but it helps keep the cake very moist.
How do you cook with rose water and dried rose petals? And what is the difference?
Rosewater is widely used in South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking, it adds a subtle floral notes to both savoury and sweet recipes. I find it is best to start with a little, I usually half what most recipes call for because it can quickly become quite overwhelming. While rosewater is great in desserts I love it in savoury recipes like biryani. It adds a certain je ne sais quoi, that is hard to miss.
Dried Rose Petals is best used as a garnish. It looks pretty topped on desserts. I also like it in my tea. it steeps with other spices and adds a floral touch to my masala chai. I would not recommend mixing it into the batter or cooking with it. The most important thing is that it cannot replace rosewater in a recipe (don't mix the two).
I have baked this cake many times, both while recipe testing and otherwise. Each time, it was promptly devoured by my husband and my six-year-old old. They generally prefer flavours like chocolate or vanilla so watching them enjoy this loaf counts for something. This cardamom rose cake is also great for a special occasion like Valentine's day or for whenever you want to brighten up your day.
If you like other baking ideas checkout out this delicious Brown Butter Chocolate Chip cookies recipe.
Cardamom Rose Loaf
This cardamom rose loaf is perfect when you want to brighten up your day. Cardamom and rose pair beautifully with olive oil and lemon zest to create a moist loaf.
Ingredients
- 11/2 cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup (150 g) sugar
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 8-10 cardamom pods crushed
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup greek yogurt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons rosewater
- ½ cup (125 ml) olive oil
Lemon glaze
- ¾ cup (100 g) icing sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2-3 (15 - 20 g) tablespoons raw shelled pistachio, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon crushed dried rose petals
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Lightly grease and flour a 9 x 4 - inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a mortar and pestle, crush the cardamom pods. Discard the green outer shell, and crush the black seeds to a coarse powder.
- In a large bowl, combine sugar with lemon zest and crushed cardamom seeds and rub together with your fingertips till the oil from the zest and cardamom combine with the sugar and makes it fragrant.
- Whisk in the greek yogurt, eggs, olive oil, lemon juice, and rosewater until well combined.
- Carefully add dry ingredients to the wet and stir until well combined.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes until the top of the cake is golden, the edges pull away from the sides of the pan, and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Then remove it from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack.
- To prepare the glaze, combine icing sugar and lemon juice and mix till it is a pourable consistency.
- Pour the glaze over the cooled cake and top with chopped pistachio and dried rose petals. Slice and Enjoy.
Notes
Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.
This looks absolutely divine!! Trying this over the weekend
Thank you so much!
Such a beautiful and unique cake perfect for any occasion!
Thank you son much! I love this cake too
One of the best cakes I’ve had. I made it for thanksgiving and it was a hit. The second time making it, I added a few more cardamom pods and it turned out great too.
That is so amazing thank you very much for trusting the recipe and making it!
The ingredients list calls for 3/4 cup white sugar, but the instructions mention 1 cup sugar.
Thank you, Krista, Feedback like this makes my recipe writing better. I have fixed it!
The cake didn't come out as I had hoped it would, which is a real shame. The lemon is so overpowering that you don't taste the rose water or cardamom at all. I only used zest from one lemon and didn't add the recommended 2 tablespoons lemon juice and it still was way too strong. A real shame.
Hi Julie,
I am so sorry to hear the recipe didn't work out for you. Thank you for your candid feedback. I have tested this recipe multiple times and I know many people have tried it too and I haven't had this feedback. I am in the process of retesting all my recipes and will keep an eye out for the flavor profile of this cake in this recipe. Let me see if I have any tweaks to make.
This is my favorite cake! I made it for my husband on his birthday in a round tin. Everyone loved it. So moist and flavorful without anything being too strong! =)
Thank you! This is giving me ideas, I should test it in a round pan.
This cardamom rose cake was amazing!!! I made it today and followed the recipe exactly. It came out perfectly and super moist! I’m not exactly a world class baker lol I can bake 1 thing well - chocolate chip cookies. Now I can say I can bake 2 things well! On a freezing cold day, this loaf paired with a cup of hot chai is just the ticket!!
Thank you so much for your kind comment. I am so glad you liked it and that it is helping you push your skill as a baker!
Can almond flour be used instead of all purpose or a combination of both?
I haven't tried this. But now I am curious to try it.
Could I make this with zero fat Greek yoghurt?
Jack, I have no tried it with zero fat greek yogurt, but I think it should work.
I don’t bake and I really wanted to make a cake for this special occasion with our family and friends. So I made this cake for my son’s baptism and i layered it so there was 2 of these as round cakes with a mascarpone filling. I had so many compliments on the flavours of the cake. I couldn’t taste the rose as much and it was more lemon flavoured but it was great that way because a rose flavoured cake isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I’m not a fan of super sweet cakes and this cake was a perfect dessert after a big lunch. Thanks you so much for the recipe! It will definitely be my go to recipe for years to come!!!
Sharon, I love the idea of making it as a layer cake. And you are right it is lemon-forward, I talk about it here
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpiTQoAgiO5/. Thank you for taking the time to write this, I appreciate it.
Finally made this cake and the family loved it, including the 5 yr old who only goes for chocolate. At first bite the smell tricks my brain into thinking it is a gulab jamun! The smell and taste of the cardamom is amazing. I added a little rose water into the icing as well because I’m a fan of the smell. This is one moist cake, and not an overly sweet dessert either. Saving this one for guests next time, it’s just too pretty with the petals.
Gissel, Thank you you made my day! Yes, it is a very pretty cake and I love it for that. It is inspired by the Persian love cake.
Could you please tell how many grams of green yogurt has to be used. Since I follow metric measurements it would be helpful ! 🙂
I am going to measure it for you, let me update the recipe ones I have it.
This cake is lovely! A favorite in my household now. Easy to make, easy to follow instructions. I added more rose water than what the recipe called for and I won’t do that again - it was ,y first time using it and now I realize too much can be a bit overwhelming. But wow, otherwise this is a fantastic recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, yes rose water can be very overwhelming a little goes a long way. Thank you for taking the time to comment!
Can i make this without eggs?
What can i use as an egg substitute?
Unfortunately, I haven't tried making this without eggs.
This looks so good. Would it be ok to use rose essence in place of rose water?
Rose essence would be too strong, and I am hesitant to recommend it.
Can this be made without eggs?
Unfortunately, I have not tried making this without eggs
Hi. I have ground cardamom can you tell me the equivalent measurements to the pods? Thanks
I was wondering the same thing. I looked up a different recipe for a loaf cake with cardamom and it called for one (1) teaspoon of ground cardamom. Hope this helps.
Can’t wait to make this today! Lemons can vary in size so much. Any idea what quantity of zest you are using? Maybe a tablespoon? US lemons can get crazy big. I’m wondering if that’s the issue with some of the people who found it too lemony.
Sarah you make such a good point I would say no more than 1 tablespoon. I will add that note to the recipe.
A beautifully moist cake and lovely in every respect except we could taste neither rose nor cardamom. Will be increasing both quantities, in our next try.
I really like the milder level of sweetness of this cake. We made this cake for the second time today as the first time we could not really detect any flavours apart from lemon. This time, I used 1 tsp of cardamom seeds, which were then crushed and 4.5 tsp of rose water. I’ve been really keen to try a rose cardamom cake without the pistachios, as is most often the case. The result was good but with only a little hint of cardamom and almost nothing again, of the rose. Perhaps our brand of 🌹 water is a mild one. Also, changed the oil to rice bran as the previous time around the olive oil made the bottom of the cake somewhat dense. The texture was lighter with rice bran oil.