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Chocolate, Cherry and Cardamom Cake (Rectangular Version)

A big, rich, chocolate sponge, filled with cardamom-infused buttercream and a homemade cherry jam, topped with fresh cherries and homemade dark chocolate curls.
Course Dessert
Cuisine German
Keyword Cake, Cardamom, Cherry, Chocolate
Prep Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Infusing Time 12 hours
Total Time 16 hours
Servings 50 wedding servings

Equipment

  • 13 x 9 x 2 inch rectangular cake tin (see Note 1).

Ingredients

For the cardamom-infused milk:

  • 45 cardamom pods
  • 80 ml whole milk

For the chocolate cake layers

  • Stork or softened butter, for greasing.
  • 1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee granules (I used decaf).
  • 450 ml boiling water
  • 150 g cocoa powder (see Note 2).
  • 210 g salted butter, diced.
  • 600 g plain flour
  • 690 g golden caster sugar
  • 1 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 450 g buttermilk
  • 180 g sunflower oil
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 6 eggs

For the cardamom buttercream:

  • 400 g unsalted butter, room temperature.
  • 800 g icing sugar, sifted.
  • 6 tbsp cardamom-infused milk (see above).
  • 1/4 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 pinch fine sea salt

To assemble:

  • 240 g cherry jam (approx. 1/2 of my Homemade Cherry Jam recipe- see Note 3).
  • Dark chocolate curls (see Note 4).

Instructions

Infuse the milk for the buttercream:

  • Bash the cardamom pods to crack open the pods. Place them in a heatproof container along with the milk and microwave for 10 seconds on high until the milk is hot. Cover, cool to room temperature, then leave in fridge overnight to infuse.
  • The next day, strain the milk through a sieve, pressing down on the cardamom pods to extract as much flavour as possible. Discard the pods and keep the milk to use in the buttercream later.

Make the chocolate cake layers:

  • Preheat the oven to 150°C (conventional, not fan). Grease a 9 x 13 x 2 inch cake tin with Stork (or softened butter) and line completely with baking paper. Set aside.
  • Place the instant coffee granules into a medium bowl. Pour over the boiling water and stir to dissolve. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth.
  • Gradually add the diced butter to the hot cocoa mixture, whisking in each addition until all of the butter has been added and everything is smooth.
  • Sift the flour, caster sugar and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Whisk together until well-combined, then set aside.
  • Add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla extract to the warm cocoa mixture. Whisk until incorporated.
  • The cocoa mixture should now be cool. Add the eggs and whisk thoroughly, until completely incorporated.
  • Pour the cocoa mixture into the dry ingredients gradually, whisking all the time, until the batter is smooth and well-combined, with no lumps of flour.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared tin. It will be pretty full, but it shouldn't overflow when baking. Firmly tap the tin down on the work surface a few times to help release any large air bubbles, then drag a blunt knife back and forth through the mixture a few times. This helps to prevent 'craters' from forming in the cake when it is baked (but don't worry too much— no one will notice once it's filled with icing anyway!).
  • Bake the cake in the centre of the preheated oven for 90-95 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs. The cake will be very domed and the surface will be quite cracked— don't worry, that's how it's supposed to be!
  • Leave the cake to cool in the tin for about an hour or so, then run a palette knife around the edge of the tin to loosen it before turning it out onto a wire rack. Allow the cake to cool completely before assembling (or wrapping tightly in clingfilm and storing)— this is a large, dense cake so it will take a long time to cool (like... 3-4 hours!).

Make the cardamom buttercream:

  • Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high until smooth, fluffy and noticeably paler in colour.
  • Turn the speed to low and gradually add the icing sugar, mixing all the time until it is incorporated.
  • Add the cardamom-infused milk, lemon juice and sea salt and mix on low until incorporated.
  • Turn the speed up to high and beat until light and fluffy. Use immediately or transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge. The chilled icing should be brought to room temperature and given a gentle whip on low speed before using.

Assemble the cake:

  • Start by levelling and splitting the cake. Use a cake leveller or serrated palette knife to trim the domed surface off the cake, then cut the cake in two horizontally. The cake layers will be a little fragile (because of their large surface area), so handle them with care.
  • Spread a thin layer of buttercream on the serving board, and place one cake layer on top. Spread half of the remaining buttercream on top of the cake, then swirl half of the cherry jam through the icing.
  • Place the second cake layer on top and spread the remaining buttercream on top of that layer. Swirl the remaining jam through the icing, then generously top with the chocolate curls, remembering that more is more!

Notes

This recipe makes a 2-layer rectangular cake. You can increase this to 3 or 4 layers by doubling the chocolate cake ingredients and baking a second cake, which is then cut into two layers, horizontally, like the first. For the wedding, I made two cakes, cut each in half and used 3 of the resulting 4 layers to get the right amount of servings.
Leftover cake can be stored in the freezer and defrosted overnight/warmed in the microwave for a delicious and easy sweet treat!
  1. I used this tin from Silverwood.
  2. Using really good cocoa powder will take your chocolate cake from amazing to absolutely incredible. My favourite is the Valrhona cocoa powder, but it is... very expensive. I did use it for this recipe (because I figure weddings deserve the best stuff!), but you can use a cheaper alternative if you prefer— your cake will still be delicious, just not quite as amazing!
  3. You can find my Homemade Cherry Jam recipe here. If you'd prefer to use store-bought jam, that's absolutely fine— just get the most delicious one you can find!
  4. I made the curls for this cake using a 72% dark chocolate, which I think contrasts nicely with the sweet icing and brings out the chocolatey-ness of the cake. However, you can absolutely use whatever chocolate you prefer to make your curls! You can find my chocolate curl tutorial here.