Simple Vanilla Cake with Cardamom

44 Responses

1. Fahmida January 11, 2011 at 3:21 am

   Salam,

   I would like to say that I have tried this cake yesterday and it turned out fantastic!! my husband loved it. Thank you soo much for all the wonderful recipes you are posting and the website looks great. Keep up the good work.
2. adminAuthor January 11, 2011 at 5:58 am

   Many thanks for your comment,
   I am glad you and your husband liked the cake.
3. Fowzia January 17, 2011 at 7:28 pm

   Salaam,I just want to tell you vanilla extract has alcohol,when I checked it said 35% alcohol,Muslims do not use alcohol,so,please check this.
4. adminAuthor January 19, 2011 at 8:34 am

   Asalamu Alaikum, many thanks for your comment.
   You can use the following
   Vanilla powder
   Vanilla bean
   Vanilla flavored extracts (non-alcohol), you can find these from Trader Joes, williams-sonoma I am not sure were you live.

   Let me know if you are able to find non-alcohol vanilla, or if any one knows other parts of the world where they get their vanilla I would appreciate if you could leave a comment.
5. Naima January 25, 2011 at 8:46 am

   Salaam Alaykum, Made this cake today, came out great. I love your recipes, they are simple and easy to make…Thank you very much for sharing.
6. adminAuthor January 25, 2011 at 8:24 pm

   WSalaam
   Thanks for your feedback, greatly appretiated.
7. Random February 22, 2011 at 4:19 am

   Hey, when you say flour, do you mean plain flour or self-ra ising flour?
8. adminAuthor February 22, 2011 at 1:45 pm

   Plain flour, you can use self-raising flour but dont add the baking powder.
9. Rowse June 16, 2011 at 3:10 pm

   assalamu aleikum sister, just want to say well done on these recipes. great seeing the somali cuisine coming back to the public eye. thanks for all your recipes and fabulous cakes! salaam
10. mysomalifoodAuthor June 17, 2011 at 12:43 pm

    WaAlaikumu Salaam
    you are very welcome Rowse

    Thanks for stopping by
11. Almas Ahmed :) July 22, 2011 at 7:35 am

    Saalam Sister
    I Just Would Like to Say, I Love This Cake But it Always Turns Out ti Be Burnt, You See Our Oven Goes Up To 250 And HEre We Have To Take it To 350 Degrees. I Take it up to 250 And itss Always Burnt, Please Can You Tell Me What Number I Should Take it too.
    Jazakkallah
12. mysomalifoodAuthor July 22, 2011 at 9:21 am

    Asalamu Alaikum,

    Sorry about the burnt cake, next time you bake if you set your oven to 180 degrees Celsius it should work Insha Allah.

    take care
13. Almas Ahmed :) November 20, 2011 at 10:42 am

    Thank You Sister Sooooooo Much It was Really Nice And BTW I Lovee
    Your Website And I Always Make Food From here. With Me Only Being 13 You Inspire Me<3 Thank You Soo Much Jazak
14. mysomalifoodAuthor November 23, 2011 at 4:48 pm

    Thank you so much Almas for you kind words and thanks for visiting, and only 13 you are amazing.
15. Hassan Abdul-Basir May 10, 2012 at 9:46 pm

    Salaamu Alaykum. Love the recipes. As a soon to be graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, I have found that there are many ways to substitute for things like “vanilla extract” to avoid using the Haram items. One thing you could do (I highly recommend this) is simply use the vanilla bean itself. It gives you a stronger vanilla taste. Just split it open and scrape the insides for the “essence” of the bean.
16. Hassan Abdul-Basir May 10, 2012 at 9:47 pm

    I have tried many of the recipes on this site. Masha Allah.
17. mysomalifoodAuthor May 22, 2012 at 6:34 am

    Many thanks for your feed back

    Jazakalahu Khair
18. mysomalifoodAuthor May 22, 2012 at 6:35 am

    Wa calaykumu Salaam
    Many thanks for the tip.
19. Hodan June 25, 2012 at 8:08 am

    Also onthe vanilla issue,there are no alcohol alternatives but are very hard to find suchas a syrup-textured brown vanilla extract,but its probably not extract to be honest.

    Best thing to do is,buy the vanilla pods(in London these can be a bit expensive) flatten each with a knife then cut them open using a knife straight down the middle to help release flavour; and then put them in a glass jar and pure sugar over it.And then you have vanilla sugar for all your bakes,pancakes,waffles etc which should give the same flavour if not better.

    Salaam.
20. Hodan June 25, 2012 at 8:10 am

    forgot to add fill the jar till nearly full and close in an airtight container to infuse for a few days,weeks etc.
21. mysomalifoodAuthor June 25, 2012 at 9:23 pm

    Thanks for the great tip, the vanilla sugar is a good idea to keep it around.
22. ali August 1, 2012 at 2:12 pm

    can it work without vanilla
23. mysomalifoodAuthor August 1, 2012 at 2:46 pm

    It will work, the cardamom only will be enough.
24. Umm Zubayr October 25, 2012 at 5:32 pm

    JazakhillLaah khayran for sharing this recipe. I did everything except add the vanilla and it was still awesome. My husband and I love this cake, thank you so much.
25. mysomalifoodAuthor October 28, 2012 at 4:28 pm

    Thanks so much for sharing sister, may Allah bless you and your family.
26. Huda July 2, 2013 at 9:57 am

    I returned to this page especially to thank you. Thanks a lot for this recipe. I just made it and it turned out to be soooooooooo wonderful.
27. mysomalifoodAuthor July 4, 2013 at 9:56 am

    Thanks Huda 🙂 for trying the recipe I am happy it turn out for you.
28. Hanaan July 22, 2013 at 10:13 am

    Salaam Alaikum sis,

    I loooove cardamom! and in the mood for cake, so I’ll be using this recipe. I like baking with oil makes cakes so much more lighter and moist.

    Take care and thanks for this recipe 🙂
29. mysomalifoodAuthor July 23, 2013 at 6:10 am

    Asalamu Alaikum

    Thanks for stopping by sis.

    I agree with you on this one, light and moist and pinch of cardamom every where. 🙂

    Ramadan kariim
30. Hanaan July 29, 2013 at 8:58 am

    Ramadan Karim Sis!

    The cake was lovely, but I found that it was even better the next day when the cardamom flavour intensified. I was sad that it got over and now I’m actually thinking of making it again LOL.

    BTW Inshallah I plan to make different variations of this cake too.. like add orange peel/orange oil extract for a change.
31. mysomalifoodAuthor July 29, 2013 at 8:05 pm

    Hanaan, Salam sis
    I love orange cake and it is on my list.
    It is coming soon, one with oil :). Insha Allah.

    Have a blessed Ramadan.
32. Amina May 6, 2014 at 5:27 pm

    i tried and loved your cake….Many thanks:)
33. mysomalifood May 8, 2014 at 2:25 pm

    Thank you,
    🙂
34. Leyla October 23, 2014 at 6:27 am

    Hi,

    Your Cake is a succes. It’s the first Somali cake that i have made. A tip for the europeans ( somalis),

    I have used european measurement.

    192 gram Flour
    200 gram sugar
    118 ml Milk and Oil

    Also when i turn the oven on i first turn on the bottom part of the oven, and when the cake has risen. and the sides turn a little brown. I turn on the top part of the oven.

    I turn the oven between 150 and 175 so more towards 150 because 175 is a little high.

    Usually it’s in the oven for about 40 minutes.

    Thanks for this recipe>

    Family loves it!
35. Leyla October 23, 2014 at 6:29 am

    Thats 150 degrees ..
36. mysomalifood December 4, 2014 at 3:38 am

    Thank you so much Leyla, I am happy the cake worked for you, these tips will come handy.:)
37. Leila January 18, 2015 at 11:01 pm

    Salaam alaykum! I just put this cake in the oven. I added just a little more cardamom since it’s my favorite!! I can’t wait to see how it turns out. Thanks for posting.
38. mysomalifood January 19, 2015 at 5:40 pm

    Asalamu alaikum,
    Thanks for trying the recipe.
39. Mia August 11, 2015 at 6:02 am

    ASC I just put this cake in the oven eventhough I forgot to add the salt. I can’t wait to see how it turns out. Thx for the recipe
40. mariam September 20, 2017 at 10:53 am

    assalamu alaykum,
    this is one of my favourite recipes, I make it regularly for guests and its always a hit!
    its a cake that goes lovely with tea. It works best when i put it to 180 degrees for 40 minutes.
    I LOVE IT
41. mysomalifood October 6, 2017 at 5:42 pm

    Wa alaikum Salaam
    Thanks for sharing Mariam.
    I am glad you enjoyed the cake.
42. Jessica April 18, 2018 at 8:46 am

    Can you tell me what size pan to use? Thank you!
43. john Daahir April 21, 2018 at 10:00 am

    Mashalah may Allah bless you
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