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This eggless almond cardamom cake is a simple, unfrosted tea cake I could happily eat every afternoon. It’s soft, moist, and buttery, with warm cardamom and sliced almonds on top. If you love cakes that don’t need frosting to shine, this one’s for you.
A cake my mom loves: my eggless almond cardamom cake
Whenever I bake for my mom, the cake has to be frosting-free, or as she likes to call it, a “dry cake.” She flat-out refuses anything “chip chip,” which to her means any cake with frosting. But let me assure you, this almond tea cake isn’t dry. It’s moist, buttery, and fragrant with cardamom.
Over the years, I’ve built up a small collection of cakes that pass her test, like my eggless condensed milk cake and my eggless marble cake. This almond cardamom version pairs perfectly with a cup of kadak masala chai.
I recently served it at one of my low-key chai parties at home, and it disappeared fast. Everyone loved it, and a few guests even took some home.
Bake AN eggless almond cardamom cake with me
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8-inch round baking pan.
- Cream butter and sugar; add wet ingredients.
Cream butter with an electric mixer, then add sugar and mix. Add yogurt and vanilla extract and mix.
- Add dry ingredients, milk, and sliced almonds
Add the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom powder, and salt) in 3 batches, mixing well after each addition. Do not overmix. Add milk and mix, then add sliced almonds and fold them into the batter.
- Transfer batter & bake
Transfer the cake batter and top with a 1/4 cup of sliced almonds. Bake for 35-37 minutes.
NISHA’S TIPS FOR SUCCESS
- Use sliced almonds, not chopped. They’re easy to find at most major grocery stores – I get mine from Trader Joe’s.
- Bring the butter, milk, and yogurt to room temperature. Room-temperature ingredients blend more evenly and give you a lighter, softer crumb.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Stir just until the ingredients come together, or else it will be dense.
Almond Cardamom Cake
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 sugar
- 1/2 cup whole milk yogurt*, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds, inside batter
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds, for topping
- dusting of powdered sugar, for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees & grease an 8-inch round pan.
- Cream the butter and sugar; add the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, beat the room-temperature butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture looks light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the room-temperature yogurt and vanilla extract and mix just until smooth and evenly combined.
- Add the dry ingredients, milk, and sliced almonds. In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom powder, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients in 3 batches, mixing on low speed after each addition just until the flour disappears. Don’t overmix, or the cake will turn out tough. Pour in the room-temperature milk and mix briefly until the batter is smooth. Finally, add 1/2 cup of sliced almonds and gently fold them in with a spatula until evenly distributed.
- Transfer the batter and bake. Pour the batter into a greased pan and spread it evenly with the back of a spoon or a spatula. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of sliced almonds over the top. Bake for 35 to 37 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Making this cake now. Looking forward to trying it. There is a typo at #11. Found should be round.
Can you make this without eggs? What would you substitute it with?
HI Pam, Yes, a few people have. Please replace 2 eggs with full-fat whole milk yogurt (not Greek yogurt). Let me know. Thanks.
This cake is delicious! My girls and I had it as suggested, with a cup of chai. It was a perfect afternoon treat. It is just sweet enough, and we did add a little extra cardamom as it’s one of my favorite spices.
I made this for a friends birthday …
about doubled the cardamom — added a bit of cinnamon
and a bit of honey …
I made a lemon glaze — just lemon juice and confectionary sugar
put it in a squirt bottle to drizzle on the cake …
the cake came out amazing and i think the honey and cinnamon
added a lot to it … people truly enjoyed ….
thank you for the recipe!!
Made with gluten free flour and turned out delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe
HI Laurie, So happy to hear. Glad it turned out delicious. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Hello! Would it be possible to bake this in a 9×5 loaf pan or would you not recommend that? Thank you 🙂
HI Grace, Baking temperature will vary if you bake this in a 9×5 loaf pan. Generally speaking, from my experience it will take about 50-60 minutes to bake a cake in a loaf pan.
Hi! Once baked can they be stored at room temperature or is best to refrigerate when planning on serving the following day
HI Vinisha. If you’re living in a place with cool temps, you can cover the cake with a plastic wrap or cake dome and leave it on the counter in a cool area. If it’s hot where you live, then I would cover and refrigerate. Pull it out of the fridge an hour or two before serving. Hope that helps.
This tea cake intrigued me because I love all the ingredients and was looking for a cake that would be nice without frosting. I made it for friends yesterday and they liked it, I thought is was good but could be improved by another 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and cardamom as well as more sugar to amp up the lovely flavor. The texture was very nice and I’ll look forward to making it again. Thank you for the recipe.
HI Allison, Overall, I’m glad you liked the recipe. I went easy on the cardamom as it’s quite strong, but yes you can always increase the amount as needed. As far as sugar goes, you’ll notice most of my dessert recipes aren’t overly sweet.. I tone down the sugar in my recipes so it’s perfect. Again, you may increase the amount as needed. THank you for your feedback. 🙂
Can you substitute honey for sugar? If so, what amount?
Looks like a great recipe!
HI Taz. I wouldn’t and I haven’t tried, but if you really want to make it with honey, go ahead and use the same amount of honey as sugar.
Let me know if you try it.
Deliciousness!! Was craving a nice almond croissant or cake. No luck finding a good one. Baked this cake and voila!!!! It was delicious. Will def be baking soon. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi, would this cake work with almond flour? Thanks
Hi Lia. I’m not sure. I believe almond flour and all-purpose have a 1:1 ratio so you can certainly try it. With that said, almond flour has more fat than regular flour and there is butter and eggs in this recipe. I would google similar recipes and substitute accordingly. Sorry.
Can I use a regular cake pan?
Hi JJ – what size is your cake pan? Yes, a round 9″ cake pan will work or even a 9″ square pan. Hope that helps.
Hi Nisha, trying your recipe for the first time. If you double the recipe, does it require the same about of time?
HI Nisha, I haven’t tried that. If you’re using 2 different cake pans – then I would check at the time indicated to see if the cakes are done. You may need 5 mins more. If you’re baking the cake in 1 large pan, then you will likely need more time. Regardless, I would check the cake at the time indicated and every 5 minutes or 10 minutes after that depending on how underbaked it is. Hope that helps.
I have whole cardamom, I opened them and tried to crush the seeds, its a little difficult.. its in the oven, will it work out?
How many green cardamoms did you add? A little bit goes a long way, it should work out. 🙂 Let me know!