Intro
To be perfectly honest, I’m not much of a cake person. In fact for my wedding I put in a request for pints of Ben & Jerry’s to be served in lieu of the traditional towering cake but was vetoed. I’ve since made up for that disappointment by eating my fair share of ice cream. My cake of choice – ice cream cake. The sort with no actual cake present.
But there are days when I’m struck with the intense urge to bake a cake. I’m not talking about snack cakes, by which I mean the kind where fruits and vegetables linger in the batter. I love those. I’ll take a slice of Grandma’s banana bread heavy with whipped butter slathered over top any day. That cake is different. Here I mean the kind that towers on a pedestal like royalty and something to be looked upon with honor. The sort with frosting that requires a pound of butter and sugar cooked to soft ball stage and forces me to dig out my old piping bag and tips to adorn the cake with a flourish that is worthy of its stature.
There wasn’t a birthday to celebrate when the urge hit, no grand occasion for such a cake but the ordinary day, as most of them are, was suddenly made remarkable by the presence of this cake. Most often we use food to bolster the occasion but I sometimes prefer the food to determine the occasion, to subtly and sweetly remind us that there is much to celebrate in the mundane. Our everyday is worthy of attention and looking on with fondness. A cake can help us mark the occasion of a snow day, or the day in which we are all healthy again, or just because it’s Thursday which is almost Friday and around here that is indeed a thing to be celebrated.
This cake comes from my friend Sarah’s gorgeous baking book, The Vanilla Bean Baking Book. It’s full of all the things I crave with soft twists that make me smile. Like this cake; heady with cardamom and iced with a bittersweet coffee buttercream. Of course those two flavors are natural mates as they cozy up in a cup of traditional Thai coffee – or the sort I’ve had at least but never have I thought to pair them together in a cake. Then for some reason I was reminded of the plums I had in the freezer and thought the brightness of a tart jam would sandwich the layers nicely. We loved this cake so much it has turned not one but two ordinary days into ones marked with the memory of a stunning cake and joy in the everyday.
Cardamom Cake with Plum Jam and Coffee Buttercream
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 10 - 12 servings
Cake recipe adapted (oh so subtly) from The Vanilla Bean Baking Book
Ingredients
Cardamom Cake
3 large eggs
2 egg yolks (reserve the whites for the buttercream)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces
Plum Preserves
1 pound fresh or frozen plums, pitted and halved
1/4 cup sugar
Coffee Buttercream
1 1/4 cups sugar
5 large egg whites
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup strong coffee or espresso
Instructions
For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter two 8 by 2-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
Whisk together the eggs, yolks, vanilla, and sour cream in a liquid measuring cup or medium bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cardamom, and orange zest (if using). Turn the mixer on low and mix until everything is combined. Add the butter while the mixer is still running and continue to mix until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Slowly add half of the wet ingredients and beat until combined. Add the remainder of the wet ingredients, speed up the mixer to medium speed then beat for 20 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, with a spatula. Finish the batter by stirring with the spatula a few more times.
Divide the batter between the prepared pans and smooth the top.
Bake for 17 to 22 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown and pulling away from the edges of the pan ever so slightly.
Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto the rack, remove the parchment and let cool completely. Once cool, the cakes can be wrapped in plastic. Well wrapped the cakes will keep in the freezer for one month. OR let’s get frosting!
For the jam:
Combine the plums and the sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes or until the plums start to break down and the juices look like warm honey.
For the frosting:
Combine the sugar and about 1/4 water in a small saucepan.
Bring the sugar to a boil then cook until 238° (soft ball stage) or until you can blow a sugar bubble through a fork (be careful!)
While the sugar cooks whip the egg whites to soft peaks.
Carefully stream the sugar down the side of the bowl with the machine running on medium speed.
Increase the speed and whip until stiff peaks form and the bowl is no longer hot.
Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Whip until smooth.It may look like a mess but keep whipping until it comes together.
Add the vanilla extract, coffee (or espresso) and salt.
Pipe a border around the edge of the first cake layer. Fill with the jam. Add the other cake on top then cover the layers in frosting, starting with a thin layer just to cover the crumbs. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until the frosting is firm. Add another layer of frosting then decorate however you like.
Our first cake was topped with a light layer of salty sprinkles which was completely delicious.
Courses dessert
i’m very pro-cake, but i’m surprised your ben and jerry’s proposal got rejected (; this cake sounds so vibrant with the plum and coffee, and i definitely need to get into the cardamom hype. all this to say that the cake sounds delicious and worthy of cake baking urges (:
It’s not just the Thai, but also the Swedes who are known for pairing coffee and cardamon. This looks absolutely luscious. Love the sour cream in the batter. And I’ve often paired prunes and cardamon, so plums and cardamon are a natural progression. I’ll save this recipe for a rainy day. Thanks so much! 😀
That’s right! Thanks for the reminder. The coffee flavor in the buttercream is quite subtle but all three of them together is really lovely.
This is an interesting combination. I love cardamom, and agree that it goes so well with coffee.
Your decorating is beautiful, too.
I’m like you. I’d usually choose some other sweet than cake. We served homemade pies at our wedding. But this cake, with all the plum goodness and cardamom, makes me think it’s the kind of cake that I would do a little jiggle dance to with every bite. It has pie vibes. Also, sometimes cake is the special occasion. Cuz that’s an accomplishment!
The flavours here sound absolutely spectacular together (and the colours are offset so nicely too)!
Where is your cakestand from? It’s gorgeous!
This cake is beautiful. I love the simplistic approach of the decorations matching the color of your Coffee Buttercream. I look forward to baking this very soon. Make it a delicious day!
Thank you Ashley. I make cakes and Jams with Cardamom but never put them all together. This is delicious
This looks amazing!
Do you think this recipe will work for a bundt pan?
I don’t see why not. I’d suggest adding butter and flour to the pan.
Love these flavours together – the colours are beautiful as well. And there’s something so nice about baking a spectacular cake ‘just because’, it’s almost more freeing because you *can* play with interesting flavours without worrying about birthday peoples.
Isn’t cardamom and fruit the most incredible combination for a cake? I’m working on a recipe myself that includes the two, and love your addition of coffee into the mix. How unique! I’m saving this as a must-try.
This should go without saying, but the presentation is also gorgeous – thanks so much for sharing, Ashley!
Cardamom with coffee buttercream???!!! That sounds absolutely fabulous. And your filling (and cake decor) is so gorgeous!! I’m impressed and LOVING these flavor combo ideas!
I’m in the market for new cake pans…which 8×2-inch round pans do you recommend? Thanks!
Not sure if it’s because I’m doing this at high altitude (SLC, UT) but the buttercream didn’t happen – it’s like it didn’t ‘condense down’ or ‘thicken down’ and it’s now the consistency of an airy pudding… not sure what to do. My son (it’s for his birthday cake) said I could just pour it over the cake, but I think I’ll let it sit a bit and then likely add some powdered sugar if all else fails. Bummer…
Perhaps altitude has something to do with it but buttercream always looks like a failure at some point. If it’s pourable I would put it in the fridge for at least 10 minutes then try whipping again. Whip for a long time. If it’s still not coming together add a bit more butter a little at a time until it comes together.
cake-plum-jam-coffee-buttercream are really awesome to eat..This recipe can also be easily be done in home itself
I love everything about this cake! The flavor combination…the decorating. It’s amazing 🙂
Thank you so much for the recipe! I veganized + made a few changes and blogged it! I gave you credit of course and linked back to your recipe! Would love if you checked it out, thanks again!
xoxo Brooke Paige
http://brooke-paige.com/2017/03/09/vegan-gluten-free-berry-valencia-cake/
That’s amazing. Thank you. I had no idea that the liquid from canned beans could be used as an egg replacer in baking. Amazing.
I made this lovely cake tonight, it was DIVINE!! What a wonderful combo of flavors! I happend to have jarred a bunch of plum preserves, so I was half way there;) I did need to buy cardamom, and was surprised that it was pricey, but how fun to try something new (for me anyways). The only thing I did different was made a standard coffee buttercream( Brown eyed baker) because I was feeling lazy😋 Thank you for this recipe, I will definitely be making it again!!!
oh yay!! So happy to hear you enjoyed the cake. I’m surprised to hear that the cardamom was so expensive. I usually just buy it in bulk along with my other spices.
Good video tutorials and delicious recipes. I really like the cake but since my weight has gone up drastically, I limit the food with a lot of sugar.
This flavor combo sounds delightful!
Thanks for such a gorgeous recipe! I meant to make it last summer (while on maternity leave with my daughter, ha!) and of course never got around to it. But I’m making it later this month to celebrate paying off my student loans. Hooray!
What are your thoughts on using cake flour? Does this recipe need something a little sturdier? I don’t generally keep AP flour in the pantry, though I can certainly pick up a bag if you think that’s best.
Thanks!