Orange Cardamom Cake with Rose Buttercream
If you’re looking for a cake that’s a little extra and a whole lot of delicious, this Orange Cardamom Cake with Rose Buttercream is it. It’s super soft, full of fresh orange flavor with a cozy hint of cardamom spice, and frosted in the dreamiest rosewater buttercream. It’s got that fancy, floral vibe without being fussy—and the dried rose petals on top make it look like it came straight out of a bakery. Perfect as a unique birthday cake, or when you just want to impress yourself (because you deserve it).
Oh do I have something special for you today.
Cardamom and Orange Cake With Rose B
Cardamom is a spice you can find in any grocery store, and rosewater you can find in any kosher supermarket or Mediterranean market. The dried rosebuds are harder to come by, but I think you can find them on Amazon. Everything else is standard baking aisle stuff.
The orange and cardamom flavors pair so well in the cake and both help to enhance the other, while the rosewater is used sparingly but will give you the sweetest floral taste that is hard to explain, but it tastes like it sounds and it’s glorious.
Besides those few oddball ingredients, this is essentially a standard vanilla cake recipe. There are quite a few eggs in the batter, plus some orange juice, but besides that I bet you have everything you need to make this fab cake already in your pantry!
How to make
I feel like I say this every time, but this cake is so easy! Don’t let the pretty pictures fool you, you can have the orange cardamom cake batter made and in the oven in about 10 minutes.
To make this cake, you simply cream the butter and sugars together, and then slowly add in the eggs. Then alternately add in the rest of the wet and dry ingredients — voila! Orange cardamom cake batter. Divide the cake batter between three greased 9-inch cake pans and bake until the edges pull away from the pan.
Once the cake layers are out of the oven, let them cool completely before making the rose buttercream. Then, simply frost that baby and decorate however you see fit. I used dried rose petals, but you could use fresh flowers as well (here’s more info on how to decorate a cake with flowers).
Can I use different sized cake pans?
Absolutely! If using 8- or 6-inch pans, you’ll need to adjust the bake time. 6-inch cakes will likely need 25-30 minutes in the oven, and 8-inch cakes will need a little more time. Just make sure to still divide the batter among three pans, otherwise the batter might spill over while baking.
Can I make this cake in advance?
This cake tastes best day of, but it will last a few days in the fridge. I suppose if you really wanted to prep this cake ahead of time, you could bake and freeze the cake layers and thaw the night before you plan on serving it. You’d need to make the rose buttercream frosting just before serving this cake, though.
I haven’t tried that myself, but if you’re in a pinch it might work out fine!
Notes on Using Rosewater
I’ve said this once, and I’ll say it again: do NOT add more rosewater than the recipe calls for! It’s powerful stuff, and it can quickly overpower the entire cake.
And for the best flavored cake, use freshly squeezed orange juice if you can. Or grab a good-quality bottled juice from the store — just try to avoid anything with extra sweeteners in it.
Besides that, there’s nothing more to say about this cake. Except that you need to make it ASAP, that is.
Orange Cardamom Cake with Rose Buttercream
Ingredients
Cake
- 1.5 cups (340.5 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- 1.5 cups (330 g) brown sugar, packed
- 8 (8) eggs, large
- 5 cups (625 g) all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp (1 tbsp) ground cardamom
- 1 tbsp (1 tbsp) baking powder
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) kosher salt
- 3/4 cup (177.44 ml) milk
- 3/4 cup (177.44 ml) orange juice
- Zest og 1 large orange
- 2 tsp (2 tsp) vanilla extract
Rose Buttercream
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups (480 g) confectioners sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp (1.25 tsp) rosewater
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla extract
- 4 tsp (4 tsp) milk or cream
- 2 drops (2 drops) pink food coloring
- Rose Buds , For Garnish
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350° F and spray 3 9” round pans with baking spray or line with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment combine the butter and sugars and cream on medium until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes
- Add in the eggs one at a time on low to fully incorporate them into the mixture. Keep the mixer on low.
- In a separate medium sized bowl combine the flour, cardamom, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a large measuring cup, combine the milk, orange juice, zest and vanilla.
- With the mixer on low speed alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients in thirds. Starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Turn up the mixer to medium and mix until the batter becomes smooth.
- Divide the batter between the pans and bake for 40 mins or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean and the edges start breaking away from the pan.
Rosewater Buttercream
- In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar and mix on low speed, picking up to medium as the mixture combines. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add in the rose water, vanilla, food coloring, milk, and salt. Beat on medium speed for 3-4 minutes.
Assemble the cake
- Using a large serrated knife, cut off the tops of the cake to level them off. Place the bottom layer on a cake board and fill with 1/3rd of the buttercream. Place the middle layer on top and fill again with another 1/3rd. Lastly place the top layer down and ice the cake with the remaining icing. Garnish with fresh or dried rose petals
Notes
Would this cake be best made on the day it’s eaten, or the day before? Thanks!
Best on day its made but will last for a few days in the fridge!
This looks amazing! Is there a way to tweak the recipe for a six-inch cake instead?
Hi Aileen!! You can use the same recipe and use bake in into 3 6″ pans! I would adjust the baking time to about 25-30 mins.
Hope you make it!
I have been on an adventure to learn to make cakes from scratch. I have made about 10 cakes so far and this is by far my best! Great recipe! Very moist and perfect crumb. I topped it with candied blood oranges and rose petals. It was a huge hit!
Ahhh Jessi thank you so much, I’m so happy to hear that! It sounds like you made it so beautiful, I’m so happy you enjoyed!!
If I wanted to completely cover the cake in frosting would I need to double the frosting recipe? I don’t want to ruin the balance of the flavors of the cake. Thanks!
Yes, double the buttercream, should be just fine!
I was pretty disappointed with how my cake turned out. The batter was thick, and the crumb was very dense and firm after baking. My fiancé says the taste is great, but I can’t get over the resulting texture of the cake. I’m curious of where I went wrong, as this has never happened to me before in my years of cake baking.
Hey Katelyn! Sorry the cake didn’t turn out for you! It is more on the dense side, is there any chance that it was over-baked? If you want it to be lighter, then I would suggest replacing the milk with yogurt instead and adding in 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Thank you for making it, I’m happy your fiance liked the flavor!
if I want to replace the milk with a yogurt, what kind of yogurt would work best? plain or greek?
I would go with greek 🙂
Can I split the batter in half and make 3 6in layers instead?
Yes! Bake it for 25-30 mins!
What buttercream alternatives would you suggest to replace the rose buttercream? Because I have a hard time finding one where I live.
Hi Cynthia! You can always go for a classic one like this: https://frostingandfettuccine.com/classic-vanilla-american-buttercream/. If you make it let me know!!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! Are you able to share the measurements for 2 9” cake for this? Also based one the comments I read that the cake is a bit on dense side. What kind of Greek yogurt will help to make it lighter or fluffier?
I’m looking forward to make this cake for my daughter’s first birthday! She loves oranges. 🙂
Hi Kavita! It is more on the dense side but not too much so. You can use any greek yogurt that you like, it wont make a difference in the texture. I would cut the recipe in half if you want to make it smaller, I dont have the measurements to alter it a different way. Happy birthday!
Can I use this recipe for cupcakes? About how many would that make? Thanks!
Hi Krysta! I haven’t tried this one as cupcakes so I can’t say with certainty if it would work or if you would need to adjust the ratios. Cupcakes usually bake faster so you would want to be extra careful on the baking time.
For orange juice, do you mean juice the oranges, or use bottled orange juice?
Hi Sarah! You can do either!
This looks amazing! Out of curiosity, what would happen if I cut the amount of eggs–I know that eggs can affect texture (maybe part of why this cake is on the denser side?) but I don’t know how much I would have to change the other measurements. With the egg prices what they are, 8 eggs in one cake gives me pause…..But this cake looks incredible and would definitely be a hit in my family!
Hey Marina! Yes I totally hear it lol, you could sub appkesauce on a 1:1 for eggs, or you could use half the amount of eggs and the rest use egg whites. The cake would be lighter though!
Hi I have just discovered you and I would love to bake this cake for my 60th birthday in June. I am from Great Britain and we dont measure in cups, do you have the quantities for flour, butter and sugar for the sponge and butter cream in grams or ounces please. Sorry to be a pain but I am not confident with cup measurements as I have always weighed the ingredients.
Hi Jayne! Happy Birthday! So honored you would like to make this for such a special occasion. Yes totally hear you on weighing the ingredients-this is actually how I add in most of my recipes now but since this is an older recipe the ingredients in weight isnt there. I I can calculate it automatically through the recipe card and add it for you, just keep in mind that is being calculated that way. Thanks again, I hope you have a great birthday!