Almond Flour Cardamom Cake with Vanilla Bean Icing
Almond Flour Cardamom Cake with Vanilla Bean Icing- soft buttery cake flavored with ground cardamom and an irresistible vanilla bean icing. Dairy-free and gluten-free!
Remember when I said last week that I’ve developed an obsession with cardamom? It’s because of this cake.
The buttery texture, the hint of citrus and spice, the sweet vanilla bean icing. You guys, it is SO good.
I didn’t realize I was so fond of baking with cardamom until I had muffin on our recent road trip. The spice hit my tastebuds and I instantly felt all cozy inside, like it was a big soft blanket wrapping itself around me.
I left with a mean craving for one of those cardamom muffins and knew I had to recreate something similar as soon as I got the kitchen set up in our new home. I used my go-to whole grain and gluten-free flour combination: organic brown rice flour and my favorite, Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour.
I frequently get asked what the main difference between almond flour and almond meal is so I thought I would take a second to explain. Almond meal is usually made from ground almond with the skin while almond flour is made from those without skin. I prefer to use almond flour in my cakes and muffins because it’s finely ground and it’s gives them the most delicious buttery texture. It’s also high and protein and low in carbohydrates, making it a healthy swap for traditional baking flours.
You see all those beautiful specks in the icing? That’s fresh vanilla bean, my friends. Oh so good.
I don’t buy them often because of how expensive they are but it really gives this cake an extra flair that makes it worthy of the holidays. That said, you can substitute vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, if desired.
If you haven’t tried baking with cardamom, I hope this encourages you to give a chance. It’s perfect for winter and I have a feeling you’re going to love it as much I do!
Almond Flour Cardamom Cake with Vanilla Bean Icing
Yield: 1 loaf // 9 pieces
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 30-35 minutes
Total Time: 40
Ingredients:
- 1 cup almond flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
- 1 cup brown rice flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
- 2 teaspoons cardamom*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 pasture-raised eggs
- 3 tablespoons almond milk
- 1/2 cup non-dairy yogurt**
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons oil (I like this Chosen Blend for baking)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F then lightly grease a loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine the almond flour brown rice flour, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir together then set aside.
In a blender, combine the eggs, almond milk, yogurt, maple syrup, vanilla extract and oil. Blend on high for 30 seconds, until frothy. Alternatively, you can whisk the wet ingredients together by hand in a medium-size bowl.
Pour the contents of the blender into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined. Careful not to over-mix. Transfer the batter to the loaf pan then bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Top with icing, serve and enjoy!
To make icing whisk together 1 cup organic powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon almond milk in a small bowl, until smooth. Add scrapings of one vanilla bean pod (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract) and stir together. Pour over the top and allow to set.
*You may want to use less depending on how fresh your ground cardamom is. If it’s very fragrant, start with 1 teaspoon.
**I have not tested the recipe with dairy yogurt so I can’t confirm if it works the same as non-dairy.
Did you try this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out by leaving a comment below or sharing a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #makingthymeforhealth. I love hearing your feedback! 
This post was created in partnership with a brand that I have used and loved for years, Bob’s Red Mill. As always, all opinions and text are entirely my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help make it possible for me to bring you quality content. For more delicious recipes and a coupon for $1.00 off any product, please visit Bob’sRedMill.com.
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Mmmmmm….I adore cardamom! It is so warm and cozy and just a little exotic. I have been craving vanilla cake lately and this will be perfect with a cup of coffee on these cold winter days. Can’t wait to get home from work so I can whip this up! :)
That’s the perfect way to describe it! Just a little exotic. :)
I hope you have a good day, Melissa! <3
I made this yesterday and it is phenomenal!! The texture is perfect!! So quick and easy and without any weird gums or starches!! :) Being GF, it is really hard to find good bread recipes, but this is my favorite by far!! Thank you so much Sarah!!!
Oh I’m so happy it turned out well for you, Melissa! Thank you for letting me know! <3
I am totally making this! I just need to buy a couple ingredients. Might give it a try this weekend.
Thanks Kelli! I hope you are enjoying the holidays!! xo
OMG, David and I LOVE this bread! It smells and tastes amazing! I only did half the glaze since I’m not big on sugar but it was so tasty! I had to bake it for 35 minutes but it came out excellent. I’m going to make it again next weekend for a dinner party I’m having.
Yay! I’m so happy you guys like it! Brandon said he thought it didn’t need the icing but I envisioned it with vanilla bean icing so it had to happen. :)
I love cardamom!! I put it in my coffee from time to time, it really steps it up a notch :)
Oh I love the idea to put it in your coffee! Sounds delicious. :)
I’m so in love with this bread, I can barely stand it! I have a full-tilt cardamom obsession, too, and am DIGGING that vanilla bean glaze! I definitely need this alongside every cup of coffee ever! :D
Hi Sarah,
This is perfect timing. I’m having some people over for soup and salad Saturday and need a simple dessert that is gluten free. And, one person doesn’t care for chocolate – I know – really? This sounds lovely and I’ll have some ice cream on the side (ice cream is always my back up in case I mess up a new dessert! :) ) I like it because it sounds delicious and looks easy – a great combination!
Have a lovely day.
I’m always baffled by people who don’t like chocolate! I’m glad I could come through with an idea for you, Nancy. Ice cream is always a good idea too, hehe. I hope you have a nice weekend! :)
That is a stunning loaf cake! Thanks for this recipe. I will be heading over to my local Coop this weekend to get some cardamon pods to crush in my mortar and pestle. Already ground cardamon in a glass jar can be very expensive, plus you don’t know how long the spice has been on the store shelf. Going to the Coop and buying the amount that I need is so inexpensive and it is fun to bring out my little mortar and pestle, which rarely gets used, and grind up the spice myself. Thanks again for posting this delicious looking recipe. :)
I’m so impressed that you crush your own cardamom! I have never tried it but I can imagine it tastes so much better than the bottled stuff. I would probably only use 1 teaspoon if I had fresh cardamom though. Now you’ve got me wanting to go find some fresh so I can do the same thing. Sounds so good!! :)
Thanks for your tip about using only 1 tsp. of freshly ground up cardamon. I was reading your recipe when you posted it and thought I would cut back on the spice amount, but wasn’t sure exactly how much less to use. I appreciate your suggestion to go with 1 tsp. instead of 2 tsp…thanks! :)
This looks so good, Sarah! I agree wholeheartedly about the wonders of cardamom. :)
What a pleasant surprise seeing your name in my comments, Killeen! Thank you for the kind words. I hope you are keeping warm in NH! :)
I LOVEEEE baking with cardamom! It totally is so warm and cozy! I usually just make muffins but I sooo need to make myself a cake! This sounds amazing!
I need to try it in muffins next, haha! It’s so good. :)
I love cardamom and I bet it brings so much flavor to this loaf+the vanilla bean! Oohhh yes, I could def go for a slice right now. .
This looks delicious, as usual! I also definitely did not know the difference between almond meal and flour. Thanks!
Look at you getting all fancy with fresh vanilla bean! This looks so delicious, and I’m hungry for lunch so I’m pretty much drooling on my computer screen right now. Ha. I don’t usually bake with cardamom either, but you’ve convinced me that I need to!
Every now and then I like to get a little fancy. ;)
I hope you’ll try it sometime because I think you’ll love it!!
What can I use in place of the Chosen Oil?
I can never get enough cardamom anything! I absolutely cannot wait to try this. Thank you :)
Hi Linda! You can use whatever oil you typically bake with! Olive oil, sunflower oil, melted butter, coconut oil, etc. If you use coconut oil I would add it in to the bowl last, rather than add it to the blender because it will solidify.
Great! Thank you.
I second MelissaD! A little exotic but cozy and lets you sink right into fall. Cardamom is also great in tea, but make it at home if you don’t have a place besides Starbucks because they’re extremely heavy handed with it.
Cardamom tea sounds wonderful! Thanks for the tip, Darin!
I can totally smell this bread, Sarah! And just look at the crumb… perfectly tender, moist and packed with flavor. I’m all heart eyes over those vanilla beans too… SO delicious. I’m a late comer to Cardamom too… just about three years ago, I experienced my first taste, in a cookie. I was undone. So I understand your sentiment about being wrapped in a blanket. It’s WONDERFUL! Delicious work, Sarah!
Oh I can imagine it’s delicious in cookies! :)
This was delish!!! I used a scale for my flours, and used Alice Medrich’s Flavor flours measurements – 100g of Almond flour and 135g of Bob’s brown rice flour. I have had many fails going gluten free, and this has been a lifesaver!!! I look forward to making more from your site. Thanks for all your hard work Sarah!
I’m so relieved to hear it worked out! Thank you for the update and for sharing the helpful information for others. :)
It just came out of the oven and love it! I substituted the Bob’s white rice flour since I already had it and put a very thin layer of the icing with the back of a spoon and it was perfect. Im thrilled to have this with my cuppa this evening. Thank you!
I’m so disappointed! =( My battery was runny and I wasn’t sure if that was normal or not. I added a little bit of both flours and ended up having to bake it for 50 minutes for it to set. It smelled delicious, but tasted more like baking soda than anything else. I followed the recipe exactly. Can’t figure out what I did wrong. =(
Sorry it didn’t work out for you! I’m not sure why you had to add more flour but it’s possible the baking soda taste is from the type of baking powder you’re using. I always use aluminum-free baking powder to avoid that taste.
Can coconut flour be substituted for the brown rice flour? I’m looking to lessen the carb count?
Hi Miriam! Coconut flour is much more absorbent than brown rice flour so my suspicion is that it wouldn’t work the same. If you decide to try it you may want to add a few more eggs.
Can i sub out the rice flour for more almond flour?
Hey Emily! I’m sure you could but you would probably have to use some kind of starch to help bind it together. Are you trying to make it grain-free?
If so my friend Julia is the queen of grain-free baking. You could probably use this recipe: https://www.theroastedroot.net/paleo-almond-fig-quickbread/ and make it similar to mine by leaving out the figs and using cardamom. I hope that helps!
I wonder, would using tapioca flour as a replacement to for the rice flour work?
It might but I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure!
What size loaf pan????????
Just a standard size loaf pan. This is the one I use: https://amzn.to/2Jzt2Sx
Could I use all brown rice flour without the almond flour? Or sub another kind of flour like coconut instead of almond?
Hey Kendra! Unfortunately this recipe needs almond flour in order to work. It provides moisture and balances out the dense texture of the rice flour. If you aren’t able to use it then I would recommend searching for a different recipe that has the ingredients you need and then just modify the flavor profile to match this one. Hopefully that makes sense!
I’m not sure what I did wrong. First it was not anywhere near done at 30 min, so I baked for 40 min. Apparently it was still not done as I set it out to cool and it completely collapsed and still was not done in the middle despite being golden brown on the outside. I’m so sad, I was counting on it for a Christmas eve dinner. I sampled the part that was done, the flavor is great.
I’m so sorry it didn’t work out for you, Laura. Was there anything you changed? Did you substitute any of the ingredients for something different?
For my oil, I used avocado oil and I used regular dairy yogurt. Otherwise everything was the same right down to the brands you used.
It sounds like it was most likely the dairy yogurt that was the culprit. I assumed that it would work the same as regular yogurt but dairy is much more acidic so that could have interfered with the leavening agents. Unless your baking powder/soda was bad. That’s the only other possibility. I’m so sorry I said that it would work without testing it! I feel awful that it didn’t work out. I will make sure to change that in the notes. If by chance you wanted to remake it I would recommend trying it with a non-dairy yogurt to avoid the acid.
I substitute with dairy also, and it does work but takes almost 10 mins longer and I know it’s not the oven temp as I have a digital thermometer. I know this is an old comment, but might be helpful to others :)
Hello, this sounds so delicious, thank you. Can I use 1/4c coconut sugar in lieu of 1/2c maple syrup? If so, do I add 1T more almond milk? I will be using metal square pan so should the oven temperature be decreased? Thank you.
Just want to say I’ve made this with kefir/buttermilk and subbed other flours for the rice flour and it was gooood! I added a little more baking powder though, which helped.
I’m anxious to make your cardamom cake recipe. I am missing one ingredient. It is the non dairy yogurt. Where do you purchase yours? I’m having trouble finding it at my grocers.
I’m not sure where you live but almost every major grocery store (Publix, Kroger, WalMart, Whole Foods, Safeway, etc.) carries non-dairy yogurt. It’s usually kept near the produce section in non-health food stores.
I did find the non dairy yogurt today at Target. So glad I kept looking for the last ingredient to make your cardamom cake recipe. This might be the first time I made it, but it will certainly not be the last time. Thank you for sharing this gluten free treat.
Looks so good!
I feel that I can almost smell the aroma!
Can I use this recipe to make muffins instead of loaf?
That should work fine! Just keep an eye on them around 20-25 mins to see if they are done. Muffins usually don’t take as long to cook as loafs.
Hi,
What can I replace the rice flour with, I do not have any on hand.
Thank you,
Oat flour will work!
I made this with Chia Eggs instead of regular eggs and it came out great !! Just incase anyone who’s Vegan or cant eat eggs was interested :)
I’m running downstairs to make this for the second time, since the first one was such a hit. The texture was great and actually resembled “regular breads” something I’ve missed since having to go gluten free. I didn’t change a thing. For the reviewers that found it runny, you may be baking at a higher elevation. Thanks for a great recipe even my gluten eating husband loved it.
Can I make this in a cake pan? Like two 8inch round pans? Or is it more of a bread?
You could make it in one 8-inch cake pan but I’m afraid the batter won’t be enough to fill two. The texture is cake like!
this looks so delicious! i don’t have any yogurt, is there anything i could substitute, like applesauce?
Applesauce could work! I haven’t tested it but it’s definitely worth a try. The texture could be slightly different (applesauce is lower in fat than yogurt so maybe not as moist- you might want to add another tablespoon of oil) but I’m sure it will still taste delicious. :)
i made this cake this morning, and i can’t believe how delicious it is!! i added golden raisins, cranberries, cinnamon, and nutmeg – it is so so wonderful! thank you <3
So glad you enjoyed it!
First time making this and wow…so delicious!! So by pure accident I added milk instead of yogurt, it was too late so I’m the oven it went…fingers crossed and it turned out perfect! I cooked for an extra 5 minutes. 3 pieces later and had to take to the neighbor otherwise I was eating all of this yummy ness! Thanks for the great recipe!
This cake was fantastic. I made it with oat and almond flour, and I’ve been really like that combination. I was wondering if you had any pancake recipes with that combination? Thanks,
I love that combination as well! I have many pancake recipes that are made with oats or buckwheat flour but not with the almond/oat combo. I’ll keep that in mind for future recipe development though! :)
I’m glad I didn’t wait :) I did not have dairy free yogurt. So I used Greek yogurt thinned our slightly with almond milk, baked in a Bundt pan for 30 mins. Everything else exactly as the recipe states. So happy I make it! We usually eat out daily – since Covid we haven’t eaten out in … 3? Months. We were missing our Swedish bakery that makes Cardamon buns. This completely hit the spot! Hub said “you’ll definitely have to make this again”. He never says anything. Thank you
Haha! I love your husband’s response and am so glad it worked out well for you. Thank you for the review!
Tomorrow is the big day, – we will dig into this. Thank you for inspiring me to try something a little more exotic, Sarah. I sprinkled roasted/unsalted pistachio nuts over the vanilla bean icing. It looks so pretty, and I think it will be a complementary partner to the cardamom. :-)
That does sound like a wonderful combination! Enjoy!
I wanted to make this completely dairy free and used the Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer. It worked really well. I used Oat based non dairy yogurt and used 1/3 cup of maple syrup instead of 1/2 cup, to make it a little less sweet. The texture of the cake was like cornbread. A bit crumbly but delicious! Definitely a hit at my house!
I have made your gorgeous recipe on two occasions now, and what a hit it has been with everyone who tasted it.
QUESTION: can you freeze this bread for approx. 1 week, without ruining it’s texture/flavor?
Thank you and wishing you good health, and much happiness.
Yes it will freeze well! Just make sure it is sealed properly. Perhaps wrapping it in foil or plastic wrap then storing in a sealed bag or container. Also make sure it has cooled completely to release any excess moisture so that it doesn’t get freezer burn. :)
Thank you, Sarah, and here’s wishing you and yours a beautiful and healthy week ahead.
This was so good! I used regular yogurt with success. I did have to bake it for about 40 minutes. I used a glass loaf pan. I love the rice/almond flour combination. The texture was great.
Do you think I can do almond flour and GF flour 1:1 instead of the brown rice flour?
I think that would work!
Made these as muffins—came out beautifully fluffy. I used regular Greek yogurt and fresh ground cardamom. I love cardamom, so next time I’d double the amount .
I made this cake for the first time and it is insanely good!!! The cardamom is delicious and the vanilla bean icing is the perfect compliment. I didn’t have brown rice flour so I substituted white rice flour. It’s moist and delicious. I will make this again and again. Thanks so much for the recipe!
It’s one of my favorites too! Thank you for the review!
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Made this for a treat while on an Elimination diet & it was delicious. I substituted egg for aquafaba, and yogurt for applesauce. It took 40 minutes to cook in my stove & the middle was still quite soft. Topped with vegan butter whipped with maple syrup & vanilla. Delicious.
First time baking with Cardamom and I am excited to try it out more often. Very exciting taste.
This looks so good! Do you use this icing for any other cakes?
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make it?
It will stay good for up to a week if you refrigerate it! But it’s best served fresh within 24hrs of baking. :)
Can you substitute coconut sugar for maple syrup ? And if so whahow much and does the liquid need to be increased in the cake ?
Yes you would have to increase the liquid for sure! You might be able to do 1/2 cup coconut sugar and then add 1/4 cup milk. But I can’t say for sure without testing it myself. Could need further adjustments!
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