Cardamom

Day 8 of Spicemas

Today’s packet confirms a little suspicion that I had, with the exception of Pumpkin Pie Spice, this advent calendar is proceeding through the spices alphabetically. Perhaps I’m wrong, but only time will tell! The packet today was green cardamom pods, which I was happy to see. I use cardamom in spice blends, generally, where it adds a flowery flavor note. It is very good indeed in tea or coffee - and curiously I don’t find it a ‘sweet’ spice perceptually as I do some others, so I would add a bit of honey or such to the beverages I seasoned with it.

Today I opted to see what my cookbook collection had for me, and found these Cardamom Balls in the Finnish Cookbook. Looking at the recipe, I could see they would be a simple cookie, not overly sweet, and spiced only by the cardamom.

Cardamom Balls

Preheat oven to 375F

• 1/2 c softened butter

• 1/2 c sugar

• 1 egg

• 1/4 c heavy cream

• 2 c flour, sifted

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp salt*

• 3 tsp crushed or ground cardamom seed

Cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in the egg, and finally the cream. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and ground cardamom. Add this into the wet mixture. The dough will be very stiff, almost like playdough in consistency.

With damp, or lightly oiled, hands, form the dough into small balls. Place these on the cookie sheet. At this point, if you choose, you can brush them with a little beaten egg, and perhaps sprinkle with coarse sugar like Demerera. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes until the cookies are just barely brown at the base, and firm to the touch on top.

My cookies numbered 24, which means they were likely larger than hers!

These are very nice, with a soft interior surrounded by a lightly-crunchy shell of baked cookie. They are not terribly sweet, and the cardamom is not as dominant as you might think. They are lovely tea cookies, and would likely work well with coffee, too.

My husband isn’t fond of cardamom, but liked these. We both agree they are an ‘ordinary cookie’ as they are simple in flavor as well as in preparation, something you could make up quickly to have for midday tea-time snack, without being too sweet.