Orange Cardamom Bundt with Mandarins and Orange Scented Whipped Cream #BundtBakers

Bundt Bakers this month is being hosted by Lara of Tartacadabra.  Don't you just love that name? Lara lives in Spain but decided that we should travel to India this month with the theme of  One Thousand and One Nights or as it is known in English, The Arabian Nights.

Have you read it?  I have not but Lara's invitation was very clear and I was excited to create an Indian inspired Bundt cake.  Lara said:

"Let Scheherazade's tales ensnare you as they ensnared Shahryar. Let them inspire you to bake something with the most suggestive ingredients from Arabic, Persian and Indian kitchens.   

Use pistachios, almonds, dates, raisins, cashews, spearmint, saffron, cardamom, rosewater, orange blossom water, figs, dried apricots, coconuts, sesame (obviously!)... anything you would expect to be served at Aladdin and Badroulbadour's table, while belly dancers entertain them and their guests."

The possibilities were endless and my taste buds were tingling.  I have used cardamom before when baking these Spiced Parsnip Cupcakes.  I also added it to an Indian Mango Cooler and loved it in my Stollen Bread Pudding.  So I knew that cardamom was going to be one of the flavors that I used for this challenge.

I had received a bottle of orange extract from Nielsen-Massey that I have been enjoying immensely and I knew it would pair well with the cardamom.  Now that I knew my flavor profile I punched in a google search and found this recipe for a mava cake by Swathi at Zesty South Indian Kitchen.

I read through the recipe and adapted it quite a bit.  I did not make my own mava and chose to use ricotta cheese instead.  I doubled the recipe as Swathi had made mini bundts and I was using a large bundt pan.  I also bundted (see what I did there?) a bit as Swathi's recipe was a little unclear to me but that may have been caused by the website translation.

The cashews I had were salted so I was going to omit the salt from the recipe but then there was no salt listed.  I am not sure if this was intentional or if it got missed in the ingredients but in my recipe you will find no salt but salted cashews.  If you are using unsalted cashews I would add some salt to the recipe.

The cake rose very nicely and the aroma emanating from the kitchen had me salivating all over the place.  

I was originally going to make an orange glaze for this cake which would have been very pretty but time got away from me.

So when it came time to serve it.  I opened a can of mandarin oranges and sprinkled some of the juices over the cake along with the oranges.  Then I added a dollop of cream that I had whipped up sweetened with powdered sugar and some of the orange extract.  DELISH!!

Orange Cardamom Bundt Cake

adapted from Zesty South Indian Recipes

2/3 c. ricotta cheese

6 T. unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 c. sugar

zest of one orange

1 egg

2 c. flour

2/3 c. milk

1/2 c. salted, roasted cashews, chopped

1 1/3 t. baking powder

Place cheese, butter, sugar, orange zest and egg in the large bowl of a stand mixer.  Beat until creamy. Add dry ingredients alternately with the milk, mixing well after each addition.  Fold in the cashews. Pour batter into a bundt pan that has been liberally treated with baking spray.  Bake in a preheated 350* oven for 45-55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center removes cleanly.  Serve with sweetened, orange scented whipped cream if desired.  Print Recipe

Let's kick off our shoes, grab one of these treats and curl up with a story about Aladdin.

• Almond Date Bundt Cake by Magnolia Days
• Almond Orange Basbousa Bundt by Food Lust People Love
• Arabian Nights Bundt Cake by Tartacadabra
• Honey Almond, Apricot, and Cream Cheese Filled Breakfast Cake by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Moroccan Bundt Cake by I Love Bundt Cakes
• Orange Cardamom Bundt by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Orange and Mint Bundt Cake by Our Good Life
• Persian Orange Cake by Making Miracles
• Pistachio Lemon & Rose Drizzle Bundt Cake by Baking in Pyjamas
• Roohafza Almond Bundt Cake by SimplyVeggies
• Saffron and Apricot Cake by Jane's Adventure in Dinner
• Saffron and turmeric mini bundt cakes by Patty's Cake
• Turkish Delight Bundt Cake by All That's Left Are The Crumbs







#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme.  Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.