This flavorful one-layer orange cardamom cake is made with fresh orange, warm cardamom and fruity olive oil. It’s topped with a two-ingredient chocolate ganache, comes together by hand and takes less than an hour to make!
This cardamom cake recipe is simple and delicious. It’s a no fuss one-layer cake made without a mixer. It’s flavored with cardamom, orange and olive oil and topped with chocolate ganache.
I had so many requests for another olive oil cake recipe after sharing my pumpkin olive oil cake, so here it is! I added orange since it’s citrus season and cardamom since it’s a warm spice that’s perfect for winter!
For more olive oil recipes, try my lemon rosemary olive oil cake and blood orange olive oil cake.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Everyone will love the fresh orange, warm cardamom and fruity olive oil flavor of this olive oil cardamom.
- The olive oil this cake makes the cake extra moist for days.
- Chocolate ganache makes the perfect finishing touch. Chocolate and orange are so good together!
- This easy cardamom olive oil cake recipe only has a few steps and doesn’t require a mixer or any specialty tools. You only need 12 simple ingredients!
- The elevated flavors make this cake perfect for a special dessert. It’s also easy enough to mix together for a weeknight treat.
Ingredient Notes
Here are some useful notes on some of the ingredients.
- Olive oil: Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil. Olive oil adds moisture and a fruity flavor to this cake. It also brings out the fragrant flavor of the orange. If you prefer a milder olive oil flavor, use 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup of a neutral oil like canola oil or vegetable oil.
- Greek yogurt: Use plain, full fat, room temperature Greek yogurt.
- Eggs: Use 2 large, room temperature eggs.
- Orange zest and orange juice: You’ll need 1 medium orange to get the right amount of orange zest and juice. Orange adds a fresh, citrusy flavor to the cake. Feel free to add more or less orange if you like.
- Heavy cream: Use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream.
- Chocolate: Chocolate baking bars work best for this ganache. They melt better and more evenly than chocolate chips. I recommend semi-sweet. It is not as dark as bittersweet and not as sweet as milk chocolate.
See recipe card below for measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
- Lemon – Instead of orange, swap in lemon juice and zest to make this a Lemon cardamom cake.
- Sour cream – Use full fat, room temperature Greek yogurt in place of sour cream.
- Chocolate – I prefer using semi-sweet. You can swap in bittersweet or milk chocolate if you prefer.
- Nuts– For a extra flavor and decoration, top the ganache with shelled, salt free pistachios or sliced almonds. Add nuts right after the ganache so that they stick to it.
- Orange zest– Top the ganache with strips of orange zest. It adds color and lets everyone know the flavor of the cake.
- Powdered sugar-instead of ganache, dust some powdered sugar on top of the cooled cake.
Step by Step Instructions
Here are the directions on how to make and bake this cardamom dessert.
Making the Cardamom Cake
Step 1: (Pictured above)In a medium mixing bowl, whisk to combine the dry ingredients.
Step 2: (Pictured above) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, orange zest and eggs til light and fluffy. Whisk in the sour cream and orange juice followed by the olive oil.
Step 3: (Pictured above) Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined. Pour mixture into an 8 or 9 inch round pan lined with parchment paper.
Step 4: (Pictured above) Place into oven at 350 Fahrenheit for 30-35 minutes. Place pan on a rack and cool 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto a wire rack. Cool completely before topping with ganache.
Making the chocolate ganache
Step 1: (Pictured above) Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a gentle simmer. Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate. Do not stir. Let stand 2-3 minutes then stir until the chocolate has melted and combined with the heavy cream.
Step 2: (Pictured above)Pour the ganache over the cooled cake. Spread evenly with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula.
Hint: Use a large serrated knife to finely chop the chocolate. Finely chopped chocolate will melt better than larger chunks of chocolate.
Expert Tips
- Zest the orange before juicing it. It’s much easier to zest when it’s still whole. I recommend a microplane for zesting. Grate off only the outer orange part of the orange. Avoid grating the white part of peel.
- Olive oil adds a fruity flavor. I love the flavor of the olive oil, but for a milder flavor, use 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil for 1/4 cup of the olive oil.
- Use high quality pure chocolate baking bars. I like to use like Baker’s or Ghiradelli. You can find these in the baking aisle. The chocolate should be at least 60% cocoa. If you use low quality chocolate, your ganache could turn out grainy.
- Use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream for the ganache. Don’t use whole milk or half in half. It won’t give you the same result.
- Stir the ganache with a metal spoon. I wouldn’t recommend using a whisk. Stir the cream and chocolate together slowly.
Recipe FAQs
Cardamom is a spice in the ginger family. The spice is made from the seeds in the pods of the cardamom plant. Cardamom has a fragrant, unique smell and flavor.
You can buy cardamom in the spice section of grocery store baking aisles. It can also be found in Middle Eastern grocery stores or online.
Store this olive oil cardamom cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Freeze the unfrosted cake in an airtight for up to 2 months. Defrost it in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
More Recipes You’ll Love
Orange Cardamom Cake
Ingredients
Orange Cardamom Cake
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons orange zest from 1 medium orange
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup full fat sour cream room temperature, or full fat plain Greek yogurt
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
Chocolate Ganache
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate finely chopped
- 4 ounces heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Orange Cardamom Cake
- Spray an 8 inch round cake pan with baking spray. Line with a round of parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk to combine the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, orange zest and eggs til light and fluffy.
- Whisk in the sour cream and orange juice. Whisk in the oil til combined.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir with a rubber spatula until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spread evenly with an offset spatula. Bake 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake. Place the cake pan on a wire rack. Allow to cool 15 minutes then turn out on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, run a knife along the edge of the pan to make sure it is not sticking. Remove cake from pan. Allow cake to cool completely.
- Once cooled, pour the ganache over top. Spread with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula and enjoy!
Chocolate Ganache
- Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan on medium heat, bring the heavy cream to a simmer. Do not let it get to a boil. Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate. Do not stir. Let stand 2-3 minutes then stir slowly with a metal spoon until the chocolate has melted and is completely combined with the heavy cream. Spread the ganache over the cooled cake.
Brenda
Fantastic recipe. This cake is a little different in flavor, but I really enjoyed the contrast of the spicy orange cake and the ganache. I did have to bake for 45 minutes (covered in foil the last 15 minutes to prevent over-browning). Ganache was excellent. I had to add more cream because I only had bittersweet chocolate and had to add sugar.
Natalie
Hi Brenda, Thank you so much for giving this cake a try! So glad you enjoyed it and that you enjoyed that contrast in the orange and ganache (I love that too!) Have a great week 🙂 Natalie