Another day, another cake! I’m sure you’ve caught on by now how much I love cardamom. I’ve been using it lately in Vanilla Cardamom Doughnuts and even cocktails! Today, it makes its way into a cake! With dried rose petals actually baked into the cake itself, this is a beautifully feminine/romantic dessert.
This cake would be perfect for a bridal shower, Mother’s Day brunch or as I told a friend just after making it, it would make a delicious and unique wedding cake as well! Both the cardamom and rose flavors are very subtle, and they pair together so well! If you’ve ever tasted baklava, this cake reminds me of those bright flavors. You can have fun asking your guests to guess the flavor too – I bet most of them would be stumped!
I’ve always loved the look of fresh flowers decorating cakes, and for this cake I thought, why not actually bake some rose petals into the cake as well? I bought these edible rose petals for the job (which I also used in these Orange Scented Shortbread Cookies with Rosewater Glaze). I’d say unless your florist can assure you that their roses are organically grown, I’d resist just using fresh rose petals. They’re often sprayed with pesticides that the FDA would not recommend you eat!
Cardamom Cake Ingredients:
2 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup full-fat sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup dried rose petals
Rosewater Buttercream Ingredients:
2 cups butter, softened (4 sticks)
6-8 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons rosewater extract
1 tablespoon heavy cream, if needed
Cake Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line the bottoms of three 6″ cake pans with parchment paper.
Whisk together the dry ingredients, flour through cardamom.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Mix in the sugar until combined. Add in the eggs, vanilla, sour cream and buttermilk and mix on low until all ingredients are incorporated. Then add the flour mixture, mixing on low until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Stir in the rose petals.
Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. Allow to cool about 10 minutes in the cake pans, and then invert the cakes onto a cooling rack with the “top” of the cake down. This will help flatten the cakes. Once the cakes come to room temperature, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes before frosting.
Rosewater Buttercream Directions:
Whip the butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until incorporated. Add vanilla and rose water extracts. Increase the speed to high, and mix about 2-3 minutes. If the frosting is too thick, add a little heavy cream.
