I decided to make this Meyer Lemon Cardamom Pound Cake once I fell in love with the combination of lemon and cardamon. The combination of tart lemons and floral cardamom is so delicious. The cake itself is moist and tender and so good. It's hard to eat just one piece.
Last November my husband overheard me say that I wanted a particular bundt pan for my birthday. Not knowing which bundt I meant he decided to buy about 30 bundt pans and other assorted cake pans to make sure I got what I wanted. We returned about half of them. But I did end up with an amazing collection of Nordic Ware bundt pans, almost all of the 9 or 10 cups. I have the Nordic Ware Anniversary Bundt Pan which is a 12 cup bundt pan and that is the one I've used for my bundt (or pound cake) recipes, including my delicious Lemon Bundt Cake. But I needed a recipe for all my lovely new pans. Not only for myself but also for the readers of this blog. I wanted to make sure that when you make this recipe you didn't have to scramble for a cupcake tin to use the extra batter.
For this cake, I used the Nordic Ware 10-cup Heritage Bundt Pan. This pan produces a beautiful cake. I looked at other recipes online for guidance but in reading the recipes they appeared to either produce too much batter or too little, so I decided to start experimenting with ratios using my recipe for Lemon Bundt Cake as a guide.
The Recipe for Meyer Lemon Cardamom Pound Cake
I love lemon bundt cake and had decided that this cake would be my test recipe to make a test recipe for the 10 cup pan. In addition, I recently make cardamom scones with a lemon glaze and I absolutely loved this flavor combination. So I decided to make a lemon cardamom cake.
I made this recipe twice in order to get the right amount of cake batter for this size pan. If you ever have too much batter for a particular bundt pan use the leftover batter to make cupcakes. Don't overfill your bundt pan. The batter should end about 1-1/2 to 2-inches below the top rim of the pan.
The first version of this recipe I reduced my original bundt cake recipe by 16 percent. This version produced enough cake batter to fill the pan bake 2 cupcakes. The cake rose higher than I like in the pan, and while it cooled the cake shrunk quite a lot. The cake was compact, but still good.
I did the calculations to reduce the amount of cake batter by 20 and 25 percent and decided to go with the 25 percent version. This recipe was perfect for the 10 cup bundt cake. It was the right amount of batter and
How to Make a Great Pound Cake
Get the Right Equipment. For most of my bundt cakes, I use the Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Anniversary Bundt Pan. If you're adding to your set of baking tools I recommend investing it a good bundt pan. The interior is designed so the cake releases easily each time. It's well constructed so there are no hot spots to cause uneven browning. It's a great all-around pan for making delicious pound cakes for home or to share with others. And if you're going to buy a new bundt pan, don't settle for one that is flimsy or thin, get this one.
Prepare the Pan. It's important to properly butter and flour the interior of the pan. To make sure I thoroughly coat the interior of the pan I make a paste from melted butter and flour and use a pastry brush to coat the inside of the pan. This method ensures that there are no missed spots.
Measure Carefully. I list the ingredients in amounts and by weight. Weighing the flour and sugar will give you the most consistent results. Too much flour will result in a dry cake and too little flour will result in a sunken cake.
Use Room Temperature Ingredients. The eggs, butter, and sour cream are at room temperature. Room temperature means the ingredients are 65-68 degrees F. Adding these ingredients at room temperature ensures that they emulsify properly.
Don't Undermix or Overmix. It is important to beat the butter and sugar long enough until it becomes creamy and is properly aerated. This step is important because air is whipped into the cake batter and these air bubbles will expand during baking causing the cake to rise. When adding the flour mix only long enough to incorporate the flour. Mixing too long or on too high a speed will cause gluten to develop which will result in a tough cake.
Cooling the Cake. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting it onto a plate or cooling rack. I made this cake three times. The first time I let it cool for 10 minutes and it broke when I inverted the pan. 10 minutes wasn't long enough for this cake to firm up. The second time I let it cool for 30 minutes and it wouldn't easily come out of the pan. When it did, large chunks were still stuck to the pan. Cooling the cake too long in the pan caused the cake to become damp and stick to the pan. The third time I let it cool for exactly 15 minutes and it came out perfect.
I hope you enjoy this cake. It was a big hit with friends, family, and co-workers. It's now on the list for the annual holiday baking. If you try this recipe leave a comment. If you post on Instagram you can tag me @bakesbybrownsugar and use the hashtag #bakesbybrownsugar.
Meyer Lemon Cardamom Pound Cake
Ingredients
Pan Release
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Meyer Lemon Cardamom Cake
- 2 1/4 cups (256 grams) cake flour sifted
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 3/4 cup (169 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- 5 (250 grams) large eggs
- 1/4 cup Meyer lemon juice
- 3/4 cup (172 grams) full-fat sour cream room temperature
Meyer Lemon Soaking Syrup
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed Meyer lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
Meyer Lemon Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups (173 grams) powdered sugar sifted
- 2-3 teaspoons Meyer lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. For this cake I used the Nordic Ware Heritage Bundt pan. This cake recipe was developed specifically for this size pan.
FOR THE PAN
- Stir together the melted butter and flour in a small bowl until a paste forms. Using a pastry brush, coat all interior surfaces of a 10 cup Bundt pan. (If mixture becomes too thick to brush on, microwave it for about 10 seconds, or until warm and softened.)
FOR THE MEYER LEMON CAKE
- Crack the eggs into a separate bowl. Put the flour, baking powder, salt, and ground cardamom together in another bowl and combine with a whisk.
- Place the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and zest the lemons directly into the bowl, on top of the sugar. With your fingers rub the zest into the sugar. Add the butter to the bowl and beat the mixture on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 8 minutes.
- Scrape down the bowl. Add eggs one at a time on low speed and then increase to medium until each egg is well incorporated. Stop the mixer after adding the first 3 eggs and scrape the bowl from the bottom to ensure the ingredients are well mixed. Add the remaining 2 eggs and scrape the down the after adding the last egg. Add the lemon juice and mix on medium speed until combined.
- Add one-half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until well combined, but do not over mix. Add all the sour cream and mix on medium speed until well combined. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix on low speed for about 20 seconds to ensure all the ingredients are well mixed.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared bundt pan. If you use the Heritage Bundt Pan, bang the pan against the counter 2 times to settle the batter into the grooves on this pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. The cake will also begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.
FOR THE MEYER LEMON SOAKING SYRUP
- When the cake is almost done combine 1/4 cup Meyer lemon juice and 1/4 cup the sugar in a saucepan, and heat over medium heat until the mixture begins to simmer and stir to dissolve the sugar. Lower the heat and add the butter. Whisk until butter is thoroughly melted and combined into the glaze.
- Remove the pan from the oven and cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes. Do not let the cake cool too long in the pan or it will stick. Place a piece of parchment paper over a cooling rack and invert the parchment lined rack over the cake pan. Invert the cake pan onto the rack. Immediately start brushing the cake with the soaking syrup until it is all gone.
- Cool the cake until completely cooled, about 90 minutes.
FOR THE MEYER LEMON GLAZE
- Combine the powdered sugar and the lemon juice. Stir until the glaze is smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake.
Having just made a batch of cookies with meyer lemon and cardamon, I am smiling all the way through your post.. isn't that a great combination?
your pictures are beautiful, and thanks for doing all the math and baking work... since I own the same pan, I have one more reason to smile....
Sally
I so appreciate you leaving comments on my site. And yes, I love this flavor combination. Will your lemon cardamom cookies be posted soon?
And you're welcome on the cake, my pleasure. I've been wanting to develop a recipe for this pan with the right ratios. Everything I was seeing online seemed like there was too much flour, sugar or eggs for that size pan.