Almond Cardamom Sponge Cake

An almond cardamom sponge cake is decadent and takes tea time to the next level.

A sponge cake should be light, fluffy, incredibly well flavored, and scrumptious enough that you could eat the whole damn thing in one sitting…and don’t think I haven’t!

Moving to the States was amazing but one thing I always miss about home is the baking. American desserts are traditionally very dense and a sugar overload. They lack the delicacy associated with some of the French techniques that India picked up during occupancy. The best thing about a sponge is just how easy they are to make, if you have the patience. Get two to three under your belt and you’ll be able to make them with your eyes closed. Whenever I’ve had company just show up and I need to make a decent effort of things, I just pop one of these baby’s into the oven and let guests ooo and aaah.

The almond gives the sponge cake a sweet nutty flavor while the cardamom brings an aromatic and heavier note. I also like to use my almond cardamom sponge cake for Victoria sandwiches. It really gives it an unreal flavor, unlike anything you’ll find in a traditional recipe. That said, you could skip the cardamom and almond and just have a nice plain sponge if you’re in the mood for something lighter.

As a side note, be careful when you pick your almond essence. You want something well flavored and not cough syrupy. Also, I always stress this, but grind your own spices. When you grind a spice and leave it in a jar they oxidize quickly, completely altering the flavor of your spice and making it much harsher. Same goes for store bought ground spices. Buy a decent spice grinder or coffee grinder and take the extra couple seconds to do it yourself. Also, it’s important for this recipe to use self-raising flour, not regular or self-rising flour.

Need more traditional desserts? Try these:

Almond Cardamom Sponge Cake

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Course: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Total time

45

minutes

Ingredients

• 8 oz 8 self-raising flour

• 8 oz 8 butter, softened to room temperature

• 8 oz 8 caster sugar

• 4 eggs

• 1/2 tsp 1/2 almond essence

• 1 tsp 1 cardamom, ground very finely

• 2 tsp 2 baking powder

• Icing sugar (powdered sugar) for decorating

Directions

• Mix:
• Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
• Grease round baking tin and line the bottom with parchment paper.
• If you haven’t purchased self-raising flour mix it together (recipe available under techniques).
• In a medium sized bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs, flour, almond essence, cardamom, and baking powder and beat until blended. Be careful to not over mix. You want it to be light and airy and overworking the batter will make your sponge dense.
• Bake:
• Pour batter into prepared baking dish.
• Level out the baking tin before putting it (smoothing the surface) in the oven.
• Place the baking tin in the middle shelf of the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. As tempting as it is don’t open the oven door before time’s up, you want to keep the cooking environment as consistent as possible.
• Take the cake out when it’s golden brown, separating from the edges of the tin, and pierce the deepest part with a skewer- the skewer should come out clean.
• Leave the cake to cool in the tins for 5 minutes.
• Cover the cooling rack with a clean tea/kitchen towel.
• Run a palette or rounded butter knife round the inside edge of the tin and carefully remove the cakes and place on the cooling rack.
• Allow them to cool completely.

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