Cardamom tastes bright, floral, and gently citrusy, with a cool, almost minty edge. It is the spice behind Scandinavian cardamom buns, Indian chai, and Middle Eastern coffee. Cardamom extract gives you that aroma in a few drops, with no pods to crack and no grit in your cup.
- Coffee first. Cardamom and coffee are a classic pairing; start with a latte.
- Bakes beautifully. Buns, cookies, cakes, and custards all welcome it.
- Two formats. Angel Bake Cardamom Culinary Aromatics® for drinks and batters; Pure Infusions™ cardamom flavor oil for chocolate and rich fillings.
What cardamom tastes like
Green cardamom is sweet and aromatic rather than hot. Think lemon zest, eucalyptus, and a hint of flowers, all at once. It brightens rich foods like butter, cream, and coffee, and it sits well beside vanilla, orange, rose, and chocolate.
Five ways to use cardamom extract
Cardamom latte
Stir the extract into the espresso, add steamed milk, and finish with a little honey if you like it sweet. Cardamom with oat milk is especially good. For a rose cardamom latte, add a smaller amount of rose extract as well.
Turkish or Arabic style coffee
Traditionally the pods are brewed with the grounds. With extract, brew the coffee as usual and add the drops to the pot or the cup.
Chai
Cardamom is the backbone of masala chai. Add the extract to brewed black tea with milk, alongside ginger and cinnamon, for a quick chai without simmering whole spices.
Cardamom buns and sweet breads
Scandinavian kardemummabullar get their flavor from cardamom in both the dough and the butter filling. Add the extract with the wet ingredients, and a few more drops to the cinnamon butter.
Cookies, cakes, and custards
Cardamom shortbread, cardamom orange pound cake, rice pudding, and panna cotta all take it well. In custards, add the extract after cooking, once the base has cooled a little.
Cardamom ice cream and whipped cream
Cardamom is wonderful in cold, creamy desserts. Add the extract to an ice cream base before churning, or whip it into cream to top a slice of apple pie, a bowl of berries, or a mug of hot chocolate. Cardamom and pistachio ice cream is a favorite combination in Indian kulfi.
Flavors that pair with cardamom
Cardamom plays well with others, which is why it shows up in so many spice blends. A few combinations worth trying:
- Cardamom and orange in a pound cake, a glaze, or a cold brew.
- Cardamom and rose in a latte, a panna cotta, or a Persian love cake.
- Cardamom and vanilla in sugar cookies and whipped cream.
- Cardamom and coffee in tiramisu or a mocha.
How much cardamom extract to use
| Recipe | Starting rate |
|---|---|
| Latte, coffee, chai, tea | 3 to 5 drops per cup |
| Frosting, whipped cream, custard, ice cream | 3 to 5 drops per cup |
| Bun dough, cake batter, cookie dough | 5 to 7 drops per cup |
| Cardamom syrup for a coffee bar | 1/4 teaspoon (about 50 drops) per cup of syrup, which puts 3 to 5 drops in a finished drink |
The rates above are a starting point. Taste and adjust; every base is different. Our extract dosing guide converts drops into teaspoons for larger batches.
Extract or flavor oil?
Use the extract for anything you drink, including milky lattes and chai, and for batters and doughs. Oil does not mix into water based drinks, so flavor oils are never the choice for beverages.
Use Pure Infusions cardamom flavor oil for melted chocolate, cardamom white chocolate bark, truffles, and buttercream. It is carried in organic coconut derived MCT oil, it is alcohol free, and it blends straight into fat.
Mist cardamom over the top
The Culinary Aromatics Kit includes a dropper and a spray nozzle. After flavoring your latte with the dropper, give the foam a light mist of cardamom just before serving. The same trick works over whipped cream on a pumpkin pie or a plate of cardamom buns fresh from the oven. The aroma reaches you first and makes the whole thing taste more vivid. See aromatic finishing for more ideas.
An extract adds aroma but not the specks or texture of ground spice. When converting a recipe, use the drop rates above rather than a spoon for spoon swap, and leave out the ground cardamom entirely.
Shop cardamom
Angel Bake Cardamom Extract is made from green cardamom with no added water, no added sugar, and no propylene glycol. It is Kosher Pareve, Non-GMO, Gluten-Free, and vegan, and one 2 oz bottle flavors more than 300 cups. Choose the 2 oz bottle or the Culinary Aromatics Kit with dropper and spray nozzle.
Building a cardamom drink for your café or bakery menu? Gallon sizes are available through our wholesale inquiry page.