Never have I ever gone to the grocery store to buy a week's worth of groceries. That is up until a few weeks ago. Honestly I wasn't even sure I knew how to buy food for at least a week's worth of meals. For someone who makes a trip to the grocery store every couple of days, or sometimes everyday, the sheer thought of limiting myself to a weekly visit was discombobulating. The idea of having to plan menus for a week not only seemed like way too much work (even for me), but borderline impractical. Between the frequent fluctuations in my food cravings along with being highly influenced by the daily bombardment of recipes appearing in social media, in magazines, and in the hundreds of cookbooks lining my sagging bookshelves, being unable to shift gears midweek validated why I saw this as some sort of insurmountable challenge. For those of you who have successfully and efficiently shopped weekly, you are probably thinking my approach to grocery shopping is some form of lunacy. Because who really wants to spend their limited discretionary time walking down food store aisles, waiting in line at the deli and/or meat counters, standing in checkout lines that never seem to move very quickly, or lugging bags of groceries in more than once a week? I guess I do. It's been my normal ever since college.
Growing up, my father (the one who did all the grocery shopping and apparently most of the meal planning) went on his usual three or four store stop Friday night food shopping excursion. Rarely did he ever venture out for a midweek stop at the grocery store after a long day at work. Unless, of course, we ran out of bread or milk. But those where back in the days when life followed more of a predictable schedule. Dinner at our house was always served at 4:30 p.m. Monday night dinner was generally the leftovers from the big Sunday afternoon meal. The idea of inviting people or friends over for dinner mid-week wasn't something I knew was even possible. Over the course of a couple of weeks, there wasn't a great deal of variability in what we had for dinner. Meaning I could probably still name the ten or so meals I consumed on a regular basis throughout my childhood. Baking only happened on the weekends and/or around the holidays. If you wanted some homemade chocolate chip cookies on a Wednesday, you had to hope there were some leftover over from the weekend (but usually not), wait until Saturday, or hide some in your room. Some of this may explain why I couldn't wrap my head around weekly grocery shopping way back when I first became responsible for preparing my own meals. The inconvenience of multiple weekly trips to the grocery store seemed to be a small price to pay for having flexibility. Thank goodness I only had to endure the throwback way of weekly grocery shopping for only a week.
There are so many incredibly great things about this Cinnamon Cardamom Bundt Cake I don't even know where to begin. And whatever your preferred approach to food shopping might be, you are more than likely to have everything you need in your refrigerator and pantry to make it on a whim. So anytime you get a craving for this bundt cake or want to surprise your friends or family, you don't have to wait until the weekend or make a special mid-week trip to the grocery store. Trust me when I say that once you taste this bundt cake, you will find multiple reasons to make it any day of the week.
If you are looking for a cake to serve as a luncheon or brunch dessert, a book club treat, or yes, even for breakfast, this bundt cake is for you. Or if you want to bring a cake to a meeting or to the home of a friend, this is the bundt cake you want to make.
There are several things about this Cinnamon Cardamom Bundt Cake which make it different from all of the other Cinnamon Bundt Cake recipes out there. First, it is flavored with a combination of cinnamon and cardomom. Together these two spices work in harmony with one another. The cardomom slightly tempers the spiciness of the cinnamon, and the cinnamon leaves enough room for the flavor of the cardomom to shine through. Second, all of the ingredients are blended together. Which means you don't need to create any swirls in the batter. And lastly, the finishing touch is a butter and cinnamon sugar topping. One somewhat reminiscent of a sugared doughnut. No need to make a confectionary icing or sift confectionary sugar over the top. No, this Cinnamon Cardamom Bundt Cake begs to be finished like a doughnut.
Like most cakes, this one begins with creaming the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. It generally takes about 7-8 minutes for the butter and sugar to achieve this consistency. Eggs are added in one at a time and the vanilla is blended in before you alternately add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cardamom) and milk. The dry and wet ingredients are added in a total of five additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
The batter for this bundt cake has a smooth, thick consistency. Remember to carefully prepare your bundt pan before spooning this luscious filling into it.
The Cinnamon Cardamom Bundt Cake bakes for approximately 55-65 minutes in a preheated 350 degree (F) oven or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. My baking time was closer to the 65 minute mark.
Allow the bundt cake to rest in the pan for 20 minutes before unmolding.
Brushing melted butter over the slightly warm cake and sprinkling with a sugar-cinnamon mixture, gives the finished cake a perfect sugary crisp edge.
Allow the cake to cool completely before slicing and serving.
This Cinnamon Cardamom Bundt Cake is light, tender, moist, melt-in-your mouth delicious. In spite of its' sugared finish, it isn't overly sweet. It is nothing short of being one of the most heavenly cakes you will ever taste. And one easily satisfying your sweet tooth.
The finished look of your Cinnamon Cardamom Bundt Cake will depend on the design of your bundt pan. This bundt pan from NordicWare is my absolute favorite as it turns the simple, humble bundt cake into one having an understated elegance to it.
If your summer plans include formal or informal gatherings, entertaining guests, trips to a VRBO, or weekend stays at the beach houses of friends, this simple to make Cinnamon Cardamom Bundt Cake might end up being your favorite go-to 'desserts' to make, take, and/or serve. Bring this cake as a hostess gift and expect to be invited over again. And while we tend to think of cake as a dessert, this one would work incredibly well served with some fresh fruit for a casual breakfast. What a feast for the eyes this bundt cake would be to wake up to.
Cinnamon Cardamom Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Cake
3 cups (390g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or fine sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup whole milk
Sugar Coating
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
Cake and Sugar Coating
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Prepare a 10 cup bundt pan using either a baking spray or butter and flour. Set aside.
2. Place the flour, cinnamon, cardamom, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
3. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (approximately 7-8 minutes).
4. Add eggs one at a time, until each is incorporated.
5. Blend in vanilla.
6. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk in two additions. Begin and end with the flour mixture.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan. Smooth out top of the cake with an offset spatula or spoon.
8. Place bundt pan on a baking sheet before placing in the oven. Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Note: Midway through the baking process, rotate the baking pan.
9. Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Place a cake plate or cake stand on top of the bundt pan and then turn upside down.
10. Allow the warm cake to rest before before brushing on the melted butter evenly over the cake. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle liberally over the cake.
11. Let the cake cool completely before slicing and serving.
