Whipped Cream Cake with Cardamom

Recipe No: 226
When I saw a Cake recipe in ‘Rose’s Heavenly Cakes’ using Heavy Whipping Cream instead of Butter and Oil, it suddenly caught my attention. I loved the idea and decided to give a try and did it with many flavors and some adjustments in the amount of Flour and Baking Powder. The best result was this heavenly light and soft Cake flavored with Cardamom, one of my all time favorite flavors. Above all, you don't have to wait for the Butter to come to a room temperature to make this Cake!!!

Ingredients                                         Makes 1 Cake

• Sugar……………………………....1 Cup
• Cardamom……………………....4 big ones (or 6 small ones)
• Nutmeg Powder…………….....1/8 Teaspoon
• All Purpose Flour/ Maida….1 ¾ Cup
• Corn Flour……………………….2 Tablespoons
• Baking Powder………………..1 ¾ Teaspoons
• Salt…………………………………1/2 Teaspoon
• Heavy Whipping Cream…..1 ½ Cups (Cold)
• Eggs……………………………...3 Large (room temperature)
• Vanilla essence……………….1 Teaspoon
• Powdered Sugar for dusting at the end

Method of Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375˚F/190˚C.
2. Grease a tube pan with Butter and dust lightly with Flour. (Can use a cooking spray instead.)
3. Grind together Sugar, Cardamom and Nutmeg into a fine Powder and keep aside.
4. Sift together Flour, Corn Flour, Baking Powder and Salt really well and keep aside.
5. Whip cold Heavy Whipping Cream in a bowl until it forms stiff peaks. (When you take the beater up the peaks of the Cream should stand without falling.) Do this on maximum speed with a whip attachment, if you are using a hand or stand mixer.
6. Lightly beat the Eggs and Vanilla Essence in another bowl and pour it slowly into the whipped Cream on a medium speed. Incorporate it well. At this stage the mixture will have a light Mayonnaise consistency.
7. Add the Sugar mixture (on medium to low speed or you will be covered in Sugar!)  to the Cream- Egg mixture and let it combine well.
8. Switch off the beater (if you are using) and combine the Flour mixture slowly in two additions with a rubber or wooden spatula into the Cream mixture. (The process should be gentle as we don’t want to deflate the Cream)
9. Pour the batter into the greased pan and level the top. Tap it once or twice on the counter to get rid of big air bubbles that may be trapped in the batter.
10. Bake it in the middle of the preheated oven for about 25-35 minutes or  till an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
11. Let the Cake cool in the pan itself for 10 minutes before inverting into a serving plate. (Do run a pointed knife along the edges before inverting; the Cake will shrink away from the sides of the pan during cooling process.)
12. Once cooled, dust the top of the Cake with powdered Sugar before serving it with a dollop of sweetened Whipped Cream.

Notes:

• Nutmeg Powder will take away the ‘egg iness’ of the Cake. But if you don't have Nutmeg please ignore that part.
• Corn Flour is a white soft Flour that is used to thicken Soups and Stews and is different from Corn Meal. It will lighten the All the Purpose Flour to a Cake Flour consistency which will in turn lighten the Cake. This is available in the baking section of your grocery store.
• Cold Heavy Cream whips better and faster than the one at room temperature.
• Powdering the Sugar will make it easy to combine with the Cream. Using ready made Powdered Sugar will decrease the sweetness of the Cake (or add a bit more).
• Don't beat the batter too much after adding the Flour, for beating may develop Gluten in the Flour which in turn makes the Cake tough.
• I used a fluted tube pan for this (pan with a tube in the middle) for an additional support in the middle of the Cake so that it can rise. In India, you will get a separate tube that can be placed in the middle of any pan.
• As there is a tube in the middle, the Cake will be cooked from its middle too. So if you are using a regular pan without a tube support, it may take a bit more time for the Cake to be done in the middle. So adjust the time accordingly.
• Don’t over bake the Cake.
• Don't try to take the Cake out of the pan when hot, as  Cakes tend to stick to the pan more when hot.
• Dusting of Powdered Sugar will be easy if you do it with a tea strainer.

 





Make it, enjoy the deliciousness and 
serve it to your family with love…