From One Chocolate Lover To Another, My Favorite Chocolate Dessert Recipes
I freely admit to my love of chocolate, but I’m very picky about how I like that chocolate, especially in recipes. Not everyone agrees with me! I must have walnuts in my brownies and I like cake-like rather than fudgy, for example, but I do think you will appreciate many of these tested recipes which I have made many times over the years.
The one thing all these desserts have in common is the addition of rich chocolate flavor as the main ingredient. Do not only read, gaze and dream- bake and eat!
chocolate batter on mixer beaters
The Velvety Richness of Real Chocolate
Rich dark chocolate cake and fudge icing, easy brownies full of cocoa flavor and walnuts, Auntie Mary cookies with melting chocolate filling, and a cream cheesecake with sweet chocolate flavor… delve in and indulge.
My kids loved to lick the spoon, …and the bowl … but the best part is the final result: cake with the buttercream frosting, or the delicate “Auntie Mary’s” with a hot cup of Christmas tea, or just baked brownies cut in generous squares.
Now you can enjoy these recipes with your family.
brownie dessert
Moist, Extra Rich Cake with Fudge Buttercream frosting
best-chocolate-cake
Chocolate Velvet Cake
Deeply satisfying, rich chocolate cake with a smooth chocolate frosting. Make the best double chocolate layer cake for any occasion.
Melt chocolate chips with ¼ cup water in saucepan over low heat until smooth.
Sift flour, soda, and salt together.
Combine sugar, butter, and vanilla, beat well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well.
Blend in melted chocolate to egg mixture
Stir in flour mixture alternating with 1 cup water.
Pour into two greased and floured 9" cake pans.
Bake for 30-35 minutes @ 375° . Cool.
Frosting:
Melt chocolate and butter in double boiler.
Add milk, vanilla, and salt; mix until well blended.
Beat in confectioner's sugar gradually.
Frost and fill Chocolate Velvet Cake.
Auntie Mary Cookies
title=”Good for any special event, a rich cream cheese cookie with velvety chocolate filling.”
Folded inside rich cream cheese pastry is a melty chocolate filling. – The melted chocolate in the center makes this a very special treat. One of my family’s favorites.
Auntie Mary Cookies
This is -hands down- my children's favorite cookie. It is very rich and due to cream cheese dough is not a long keeper, but it is meltingly delicious. Try our family favorite, and store in a covered container in the refrigerator.
1 Baker's German sweet chocolate4 oz. pkg. -melted and cooled.
Equipment
1 10 inch pie pan
Method
Instructions
Add sugar to cheese in a bowl, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla.
Measure 2 cups of the cheese mixture and fold in melted chocolate. Pour remaining cheese mixture into well-buttered 10 inch pie pan or 9-inch square pan.
Add spoonfuls of the chocolate-cheese mixture and zig-zag a spatula through batter to marble.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Cool; then chill. Cut in 9 inch wedges.
*** for just chocolate flavor add 1 more pkg. Baker's German sweet chocolate and mix all together in batter.
I Love Chocolate
…just like millions of you do!
And I want my chocolate desserts to taste a certain way.
The Best Chocolate Flavor Should Be…
Full of chocolate flavor and highlighting the best ingredients in a way that fulfills my desire for the way the baked goodies ought to taste. Moist or cakey, fudgy and rich – it doesn’t matter as long as it is the best incarnation of its kind in a chocolate dessert.
rich chocolate brownie
My Favorite Brownies – the best brownie recipe
I don’t usually frost my brownies, but there is an icing recipe included, for those of you who do.
(hint) Don’t ever overbake brownies.
Chocolate Walnut Brownies
Rich and dense cake-like texture makes decadent and addictive brownies
Melt butter and chocolate in double boiler. Cool slightly.
Beat eggs until foamy and add sugar gradually. Add butter and chocolate mixture, blend. Add the flour. Add nuts. Stir together and pour into greased 9x9x2 " pan.
Bake at 325° for 40-50 minutes.
Notes
Optional chocolate icing:
2 c. sugar 1/2 c. white corn syrup 3/4 c. heavy cream 1 square chocolate 1 tsp. vanilla 3 T. butter Melt first three ingredients to the softball stage, add the resulting syrup to butter, add vanilla and beat well.
The Good News about Chocolate
The good news is that it is healthy for you. Of course that news is tempered by how much and what kind of fat you mix with it or the amounts of sugar you ingest, but indulging in this favorite flavor can be good for your health.
Tips:
Dark is better
High Cacao percentage is healthier
High levels of flavonals
mocha walnut cookies
Mocha Walnut Drops
Mocha Walnut Drops
A favorite for Christmas... though I didn't include it in my Christmas cookie collection yet....
Ingredients
Don’t ever burn chocolate… not even a hint of it. That is why melting chocolate calls for a double boiler. Basically that is cooking the pan of the chocolate over a pan of hot water, just to melt the chocolate.
Any chocolate chips can work, but better quality chocolate means better tasting final product.
melted chocolate1
Double Boiler – To Melt the Chocolate Perfectly, A Double Boiler
The number one thing to remember when cooking or baking with chocolate is to never, I mean never, let it burn. Even allowing it to melt at too high a temperature can prove harmful to the flavor.
If you care enough to buy high quality chocolate, then it is more than worthwhile to have a double boiler in your kitchen. The bottom pot hold water which is heated directly from the burner, while the upper pot holds the delicate ingredient which is desired to bring to melting temperature. This help the squares to turn to silky liquid form without danger of burning.
This is a good quality, while not too expensive double boiler pot. It is serviceable for all your chocolate melting needs I think. I’ve used Farberware pots, my mother and my grandmother used them. They last, and they look good. More importantly they cook and clean well.
Directions for Melting Chocolate in a Double Boiler
checkerboard cookies
Checkerboard Cookies
Makes 60 checkerboards.
Bake some yummy cookies to have during your next board game bonanza. These are usually just vanilla and chocolate but one inventive foodie has made them into something that looks and tastes special.
Checkerboard Cookies
Makes 60 checkerboards.Bake some yummy cookies to have during your next board game bonanza. These are usually just vanilla and chocolate but one inventive foodie has made them into something that looks and tastes special.
:: Make the strawberry dough by placing the butter, sugars, salt, strawberry powder, and sumac in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy, about three minutes on medium. Add the vanilla extract and split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds into the batter. Add the egg and beat to incorporate.
:: Add the flour in three portions, beating to incorporate between additions, scraping down the sides with a large spatula. Once the flour is blended in, divide the dough in half and pat the dough down into a 6 x 6 x 1/2 inch square. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (about 20 to 30 minutes). Repeat with the second half of the dough.
:: Make the chocolate dough by placing the butter, sugars, and salt in the same bowl (don't bother cleaning it) of the standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy, about three minutes on medium. Add the vanilla extract and split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds into the batter. Add the egg and beat to incorporate.
:: Place the flour, cocoa powders, and instant coffee in a small bowl stir vigorously with a balloon whisk until well blended. Add these dry ingredients in three portions, beating to incorporate between additions, scraping down the sides with a large spatula. Once the flour is blended in, divide the dough in half and pat the dough down into a 6 x 6 x 1/2 inch square. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate (about 20 to 30 minutes). Repeat with the second half of the dough.
:: Take the doughs out of the refrigerator. Brush the top of one of the strawberry dough 6 x 6 squares with water completely. Place one of the chocolate dough squares on top of it, and press down firmly to adhere the dough. Brush the top of this chocolate dough with water and place the remaining strawberry dough square on top of that, pressing down firmly. Finally brush the top of this strawberry square with water and place the remaining chocolate dough on top of that, pressing down firmly. You should have a 2 inch thick stack of 6 x 6 square dough, alternating in layers. Wrap with plastic wrap and place back in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes until firm.
:: Once the dough has firmed up, trim the edges of the square to make a completely square piece of dough. Set the trimming aside for marbled zebra cookies (instructions to follow). Cut a 1/2 inch strip from the square. Place one strip flat, and then brush it top of it with water. Cut another 1/2 inch strip from the square and rotate the strip 180 degrees so it alternates with the bottom strip. Place on the strip brushed with water and press firmly down. Wrap with plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough. Chill until firm (another 20 to 30 minutes).
:: To make marbled zebra cookies, brush the top of one trimming with water and place another trimming on top, alternating dough strips. Repeat until all the trimmings are placed on each other. Flatten and twist the trimmings together, turning clockwise with one hand, while counterclockwise with the other. Roll out the dough to a 12 inch length, and fold over once. Form the dough into a thick 1 1/2 inch roll pressing firmly down to make sure the different doughs stick together. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill until firm (another 20 to 30 minutes).
:: While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line two baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper. Once the dough has firmed up, slice the dough into 1/2" thick cookies and place on the baking sheet, about an inch apart. Bake in the oven for 11 to 13 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to brown ever so slightly. Cool on the sheet for ten minutes before moving them to a wire cooling rack.
The Best Brownies Should Always…
– be the way I like them 🙂
brownies in a baking pan
Cakelike or Gooey?
I say cakelike brownies are the best way to enjoy them, and add walnuts while you are at it; my kids say fudgelike and no nuts! What is your opinion?
What is your opinion on the texture of the best brownies?
Warming, soothing soup—winter days are just made for serving a bowl of your favorite concoction of ingredients. The perfect way to serve it up is not straight from a saucepan or soup pot but graciously ladled from a soup tureen, and that is what this presentation is about: finding a lovely soup tureen or two for your table.
How many of us have memories of our grandmothers using a pretty tureen to serve the mandatory first course of hot soup? It was traditional in my Hungarian grandmother’s meals to have a beautiful transferware soup tureen filled to the brim with her wonderful simmering chicken soup. It started some truly memorable meals.
Unfortunately for me, my rambunctious boys broke that old tureen that I inherited, but that doesn’t mean I need ever do without a good lidded container to serve a special recipe for this cold weather necessity. There are so many beautiful choices, and with eBay, even a way to replace a beloved antique. Enjoy the tour through the tureen aisle, and don’t leave without putting one on your list for gracious meals that are in good taste (in more ways than one!).
What Is a Soup Tureen?
The origin of the word tureen comes from the French, who do all things comestible so well. A tureen is a broad, deep bowl shaped container that is used for serving foods such as soups or stews. Often with a lid to cover and keep the contents warm, as well. That, my friends, is the unvarnished way to describe the soup tureen, but the art of serving a good soup has made many tureens so much more than that explanation would imply.
Soup Tureens
Probably the tureen was originally simply an earthenware bowl, which may be guessed from the root of the name in the French (terrine) and even earlier Latin terms for “earthen.” These word roots became terrines or terrenes. Some of the earliest known were made in the early 1700s (the 18th century). They were not only porcelain or earthenware! For the table of the rich, silver serving dishes were also used for the staple soups and stews of the day.
Fine Silver Hollowware
Pair of soup tureens
In France, many of the fine silver tureens of the eighteenth century were melted down to finance wars, and are now, thus, very rare. Today, a modern design is usually made in silverplate for serving soups.
There are so many ingenious, even whimsical, designs for serving soup that it may be hard to make a choice! But whatever our dining décor, or favorite motif, there seems to be serveware to match. I had so much fun looking through the wide number of choices available, that it was hard to stop. Do you have a favorite? I still wish I had the brown transferware tureen of my grandmother!
The most common material for these serving containers are a type of ceramic or porcelain material, instead of silver metal, harking back to the original material for which tureens came by their name.
A tureen of either type is a way to ensure the soup stays hot at the table. A custom that might be revived is serving soups in tureens that combine design with clues to the type of soup served, such as a tomato soup in a tomato red tureen.
Or a fish chowder? Yes, there were (and are) covered bowls molded in the shape of fish, a sure giveaway that seafood flavors awaited the hungry diner.
It seems that this particular serving piece retained the freedom of expression that modern tastes left by the wayside in most of the dinnerware designs. Perhaps because the large piece that holds that hot start to the meal doubles as a centerpiece. Few of us manage to create these table decorations for most of our meals, but the decorative holder in the amusing shape or pretty color makes a perfectly acceptable substitution.
https://youtu.be/IK0YCWLygnE?si=SugXWlABWxzIB7d_
The cool white color highlights food so well, especially the greens or reds of summer soups. Wedgwood adds elegance to your table and makes a simple soup a dining event. Don’t you love Nantucket baskets, with their fine weaving and round shape? I do! Maybe that is what makes this design so appealing. A summer on Nantucket recalled all year with a graceful basket look, detailed down to the lock closure.
People usually think of soup as a winter warm-me-up, and cozy cool weather fare, but soup can be served cold as the perfect dish for a hot summer evening. It is light and filling at the same time. Some classics for summer repasts are gazpacho, chilled yogurt soups, and fruit soups.
There are as many summer recipes as your heart might desire, all of which are great served in a lovely tureen. My Hungarian grandfather loved his cold cherry soup in the morning.
To make the meatballs, combine the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and mix with hands.
Drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 30 minutes until browned, set aside.
For soup
For soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes.
Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender.
Add the fresh dill and the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust if necessary.
Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted.
Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan.
This tureen is one of the finest designs made by the famous Royal Copenhagen company. Flora Danica was made for royalty.
Royal Copenhagen blue fluted mega large tureen<
Royal Copenhagen tureen classic Danish design
The famous blue and white design “Blue Fluted” porcelain is one of the most popular designs and is still hand painted.
The Danish blue and white patterns of Royal Copenhagen are perhaps my all-time favorite designs for porcelain or even any type of ceramic. Its combination of detail with simplicity in what is an ideal marriage of blue and white is a look I keep gravitating to, even though there are so many styles of tableware that I might say I love. ( “That one! No, that one!” mentality is at work here)
But the Danish have been at the art of refining design and picking out the aesthetic essentials for a long time, and it is a design sense that appeals to people living in our hectic modern age. At least, that is my explanation for why this pattern has such longevity and popularity.
“Try this chicken soup, it is just like my grandmother’s.”
— Ilona
Royal Albert “Old Country Roses” soup tureen
Recipe 3: Hungarian Soup (Csirke Leves)
This soup is like one my grandmother used to make.
Hungarian Chicken Soup (Csirke Leves)
Delicious and nourishing chicken soup like MY grandma made.
Cook slowly for 1 hour or until the chicken is done. Strain before serving.
Notes
Don't substitute or forget the saffron- this is such an important part of the flavor of this soup.Remember, as well the difference that real Hungarian sweet paprika will make in all Hungarian sourced recipes.
This colorful and decorative soup server, in the painting, looks like it is porcelain or ceramic.
Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until tender, and drain.
Add 1 quart milk to potatoes and heat. Blend in the salt and pepper.
Cut butter into flour, and blend in egg and milk, using only enough milk to make the mixture thin enough to drop into the hot soup.
Drop by teaspoon into hot soup.
Cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Serve at once.
Notes
If this sounds like a variation on mashed potatoes- it is comforting for that reason. If you wish to boost the falvors, think of your favorite potato toppings: bacon bits, a sprinkling of parsley, a dollop of sour cream- let your preferences quide you.
Collecting Majolica Pottery
https://youtu.be/hCvMeblKnsg?si=qUGxUyygl3tueFea
Victorian majolica is characterized by having molded shapes that are painted in colorful clear lead glazes. Italian tin-glazed pottery was colorfully painted on a white background. It was also called majolica ware.
<h4>Mock Turtle Soup</h4>
“Beautiful soup, so rich, and green
Waiting in a hot tureen.”
— The Mock Turtle in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
A gorgeous soup tureen Source: Paul Cézanne
A gorgeous soup tureen by Paul Cézanne
Transferware Tureens
Transferware refers to patterns applied by transferring the print from a copper plate to a specially sized paper and then to the pottery. Transferware can be in patterns of blue, brown, red, or other colors. Blue is probably the most common.
How About You?
Have a seat at the table, and tell us your memory of soup and how it was served. What was your all-time favorite recipe? And do you have something special to serve out your stews or soups?
Cooking, eating, and entertaining … it’s why I collect recipes and share them. Plus I’m half-Hungarian, which explains a lot.
Cooking, eating, entertaining, having a good time… it’s why I collect recipes and share them. Plus I’m half Hungarian, that explains a lot.
The Apple Bundt Cake from the Szegedi Region of Hungary
Not-too-sweet apple cake
Hungarians make wonderful Desserts!
Apple cakes are perhaps the favorite Hungarian cake recipe known by most Americans.
Sometimes they are intricate and fancy affairs, like apple pite, but most of the apple cakes are delicious home-baked cakes which are loved by all. You know the ones: cakes that Grandma used to bake.
I wanted to share our family favorite with you, adding to the Hungarian Food collection of pages.
The Szegedi cake (named for a region of Hungary) is perfect for company.
Szegedi Cake
The name ‘Szegedi’ means this recipe came from the Szeged region of Hungary. Located on the Great Plain on the southern border of Hungary, Szeged is renowned for their paprika, their salami, and goulash stews cooked in open pots.
Szegedi Cake
I make this dessert recipe at Christmas or for company, it is so pretty sprinkled with a lacy covering of confectioner's sugar. This cake has a rich sour cream batter, with an inner filling of chopped apples and walnuts.
Stir 2 tsp. butter and brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts 'til crumbly.
Beat butter and white sugar 'til creamy. Add egg yolks. Add flour, salt, and baking powder, alternating with sour cream.
Fold in stiff egg whites. Turn 1/2 batter into greased tube pan Sprinkle with the walnut mixture, then apples.
Top with remaining batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes
Swirl Bundt Cake Pan For Stylish Baking Results
Give Your Cake a Beautiful Shape
Bundt cake shape. Source: Betsy Weber
I love the molded shapes of bundt cakes, they are a great way to show off your enticing apple cake or rich pound cakes. Just a dusting of powdered sugar or a lick of glaze will present a pretty look. The center will hold a dollop of whipped cream or pile of sweet fruit. This particular shape with the swirls is one of my favorites.
The sophisticated swirl design gives your cakes panache. Just dust with confectioners sugar or drizzle with glaze. It gives the bundt cake its distinctive shape.
Your cake is presentable to company with just its shape and your baking talents!
I use a Fluted Baking Pan
A Bundt pan gives a decorative shape to your apple cake, and this is the one I use. I bought it back when I first started learning to bake, so many years ago. Little did I know how long and dependably it would serve me!
Owned my Nordic Ware brand Bundt pan for decades.
I love the original shape, and it has been used for countless batches of cakes- Hungarian apple, Peanut Butter pound cake, and more…
There are gorgeous and unusual Bundt pan shapes. A very pretty one would have a multitude of uses: these are perfect for pound cakes, too.
Apple Cake Tip
When sprinkling confectioner’s sugar on the cake, use a paper doily to make a lace pattern. Simply hold the doily over the cake,sprinkle powdered sugar through it.
Removing the Cake Perfectly
The fluted shape pan is the one I personally use. I loved the pretty arches covered in a light dusting of powered sugar. Watch the video for tips on getting this perfect look.
https://youtu.be/28ZFlYlPe_8
Like Apple Cakes?
If you try any of these recipes I’d just love to hear how you liked it or any tweaks or suggestions you would like to make.
Recipes you can bake at home
Visit the Kaffee Haus: Recipe book worth having.
Try some of the 150 recipes from the famous coffee houses of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. Or try each and every one!
Warming and Flavorful Cardamom Spice for Your Cooking
A warm aromatic spice
While better known today because of its addition to Chai drinks and Indian cuisine, cardamom has long been a favorite in Scandinavian kitchens and in my kitchen, too. It add a “je ne sais quoi” to many dishes ranging from the well known Chai beverages to such diverse cuisines as Scandinavian, Indian, and Israeli.
In fact, it is a favored spice in many Middle Eastern recipes, and sold in open markets there. One of the best places to purchase the spice in the USA is from an Indian grocery, although Amazon is quick and easy. And most spice displays in your grocery carry it, too. “Decorticated” ground spice seems more flavorful, although you can also buy the pods and grind them yourself.
The Cardamom Plant – True Cardamom
Botanical name: Elettaria cardamomum
Family: Zingiberaceae, the ginger family
Cardamom is native to the monsoon forests of India and Sri Lanka, but is cultivated throughout tropical Asia. The plant may be grown as an outdoor perennial in Zones 10 and 11which include southern Florida, Puerto Rico and Hawaii, in most parts of the USA it can only be grown indoors. If you chose to grow in a container, keep it moist, but not soggy. Place on a a sunny windowsill (facing west or south) and give high humidity, (by way of a bed of rocks or a mister spray).
Culinary Cardamom can be either the true or green Cardamom, which is this plant, or its close relative the black Cardamom. Green, this species, has the more desirable, delicate flavor.
Nutritionally
Cardamom is a good source of minerals like potassium, calcium, and magnesium.
More about the Health Benefits – Cardamom Spice
Cardamom is a good source of minerals like potassium, calcium, and magnesium.
The pods are rich in many vital vitamins including riboflavin, niacin, vitamin C
Improves digestion and stimulates the metabolism
Scandinavian Cuisine – Cardamom is no secret there…
Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, and Danes all use cardamom in their cuisine. These cooking traditions are world famous for their baking and coffee drinking is part of their culture. It is common to invite people over for coffee and cakes, an intrinsic part of the hospitable culture. Spicing up the cookies or coffee with cardamom can be one of the delightful elements of this repast. (Try a dash of cardamom in your coffee for a real taste treat!)
The Rolls No One Can Resist
Warm from the oven cardamon rolls
I bake it as a traditional Christmas ritual, and this is a wonderful recipe for anytime you wish to bake it, although for us it is part of our Christmas Eve celebration. My family loves the warm spicy taste of the cardamom mixed with fresh yeasty sweet bread and sprinkled with slivered almonds. I prefer not to glaze the rolls, but sprinkle with an almond/sugar mixture.
INCREDIBLE in Baked Goods!
Ground cardamom flavors yeast breads with a sweet, yet refreshing, nuance. Cardamom bread, a traditional Swedish baked good, is often flavored with a combination of cardamom and almonds.
For me, Christmas baking just isn’t the same without my favorite Cardamom yeast roll recipe and the Cardamom spiced cookies. I want to share these delightful and fragrant recipes spiced with this aromatic with you.
If you are interested in using my recipe I have it online.
Scandinavians aren’t the only culture to have an affinity for Cardamom- let the Arabic culture show their use of this aromatic spice.
American cooks often are not familiar with this culinary treat. Trying Arabic, Scandinavian, and Indian dishes will familiarize this addition which flavors breads, stews, and desserts with equal flair.
To get you started, an easy and well-loved dish is the following custard variation.
Middle Eastern Dream Custard
photo by phdstudent on Flickr
Serving Size Serves:4-6
Cardamom and Rosewater Lend Luxury Scent and Flavor
4 cups whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons custard powder (commercial)
2 tablespoons rose water
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cardamom
Ground pistachios (optional)
Instructions
Put milk, sugar and cardamom into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat.
Mix the custard powder with a little water to make a smooth thin paste. Gradually stir it into the milk mixture, whisking constantly. Continue stirring until the custard is smooth. Remove from heat and add rose water. Return to the stove and place over a very low heat a few minutes. Pour into custard dishes, and garnish with pistachios. Chill.
~~~~~~~~wish to make it from scratch?~~~~~~~~~~
Try this variation:
* 3 1/2 cups whole milk
* 1 tablespoon green or white cardamom pods, slightly crushed
* 1/3 cup arrowroot
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios or walnuts
Bring milk, cardamom pods, and a pinch of salt just to a boil in a 2-qt heavy saucepan, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes.
Whisk together arrowroot and sugar in a large bowl, then whisk in hot milk mixture. Return to saucepan and simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids. Chill pudding, its surface covered with wax paper, until very cold, at least 4 hours. Serve sprinkled with nuts.
Reputedly used in love potions as found in the tales of the Arabian Nights, which make frequent reference to it.
History notes:
“It’s a well-travelled spice, too, believed to have been brought from India to Greece by one of Alexander the Great’s soldiers in the fourth century BC, where it was used in both medicinal as well as culinary concoctions. In the ninth century, the Vikings took it from Constantinople to Scandinavia, where it’s still a fragrant favourite in baking and even in some versions of pickled herring.” {1)
botanical stamp of cardamom plant
Fresh Spices Make a Difference
Like most spices, cardamom loses it flavor strength over time. You can refrigerate for longer preservation, but be sure to use your spice and replace it when it seems less potent.
I recommend this Cardamom – Economically priced
If you have looked in your local grocery store you know this food flavoring comes at a premium cost. An organic source that is far more economical is this one, online.
Ground for convenience, use it up within a year. Buy these smaller amounts more often for freshness.
Entrée Tandoori Chicken
photo by my_amii
Indian cooking uses cardamom in many of its spice mixtures- and no wonder since this is where the spice originates.
Cook Time
Prep Time: 5 hours (marinate)
Total Time: 1 1/2 hour
Serves: 6
Ingredients
1 chicken (3 lbs.) quartered
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups yogurt
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
8 garlic cloves- crushed through a press
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper- to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon red food coloring(optional)
Scallions and lime wedges
Instructions
Remove skin from chicken; make two deep gashes in each piece of meat. Rub chicken all over with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the lime juice and 1 teaspoon salt. Place in a 12x8x2-inch baking dish.
In a medium-size bowl, combine yogurt with ginger, garlic, cardamom, cumin, cayenne, black pepper, remaining lime juice and salt, and food coloring, if desired. Pour over chicken and turn to coat. Cover loosely and refrigerate, turning occasionally, for at least 4 hours or overnight to develop flavors.
When ready to cook, light charcoal grill or preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grill over medium-hot coals or bake 40 to 50 minutes, turning and basting frequently with yogurt marinade. Garnish with scallions and lime wedges
Cardamom Pistachio Cookies
Delicious Christmas cookies which are just a little different because of the pistachio nuts. Easy to print recipe.
1teaspooncardamom seedscrushed using a mortar and pestle
¼cupdecorative sugar
¼cuppistachio nutschopped
Method
Heat the oven to 375°. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat for one minute. Add the vanilla extract and egg yolks and beat an additional minute.
Sift together the flour and salt. Spoon the flour mixture into the butter mixture and add the cardamom. Beat on low speed, then increase to medium and mix until the batter is combined.
Spoon the dough into a cookie press and press out onto ungreased baking sheets. Or roll the dough into a log, wrap in parchment paper and chill for two hours before slicing into rounds and arranging evenly onto the cookie sheets. In a small bowl, combine the sparkling sugar and the pistachio nuts, then sprinkle some on each cookie.
Bake just until the edges of the cookies start to turn a pale golden color, about 8 to 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet, then remove carefully to a wire rack. The cookies will firm up as they cool.
Notes
When cookies are completely cool, store in an airtight container. They may be kept frozen up to two months.
Cardamom Extract
More Ways to Start Using this Flavor to Set your Cooking Apart
“Heavy Table” recommends starting your experience of baking with the flavor of cardamom with addition of an extract. Use it with vanilla or even instead of it.
Use as the flavoring in cakes, cookies and ice cream, pancake or waffle batter. It might become your favorite spice, too.
The flavor of cardamom captured in an extract is the easiest way to infuse its flavor into your cooking.
For custards or entree dishes you may want this form. I like the flecks of the ground spice for my baked goods.
Another Delightful Cookie
Fabulous Cardamom Cookies
Rich Buttery Cookies with the secret ingredient of cardamom that will have everyone raving. And such a simple recipe!
Combine flour, cardamom and salt. In a separate bowl, beat butter until creamy, and add sugar. Continue to beat until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in flower mixture until well-blended, stir in ground almonds.
In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar and cardamom. Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, coat in sugar-spice mixture. Place 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Dip the bottom of a glass into sugar mixture and flatten cookies to 1/2 inch thick rounds. Decorate with sliced almonds.
Bake cookies until golden brown, about 12-14 minutes. Remove sheets to wire racks to cool 2-3 minutes. Remove cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
Flavor Your Coffee
Cardamom adds a “je ne sais quoi” to your coffee- it is fabulous in strong Turkish coffee.
My favorite Israeli restaurant uses it in the coffee it serves.
“It is fruity, floral, citrus-y and pungent, and its essential oil contains cineole, which gives it a dash of warming eucalyptus” – [1]
Used to flavor rice pudding, cakes, chutney and creme brulée, it is included in Indian spice mixtures like Garam Masala. Scandinavians flavor glogg, yule cake or aebleskivers (apple pancake puffs) with generous sprinklings of Cardamom, too.
Among the more obscure, nationally-proclaimed holidays, were you aware of the day set aside to celebrate cherry desserts? Well there is one! For most of us, that means the tart fruits of the sour cherry tree, the Prunus cerasus.
The pie cherry has been consumed since prehistoric times. The earliest record of the cultivated cherry is recorded as having been brought to Rome by Lucius Licinius Lucullus from northeastern Anatolia, the country now known as “Turkey”.
Romans introduced cherries into Britain before the 1st century AD, where they became very popular in the time of Henry VIII.
Botanical details of the sour cherry tree.
In America, Massachusetts colonists planted the first sour cherry, ‘Kentish Red’, and they have since become a much loved fruit here. That variety of cherry tree may even have been the one in the famous legend of George Washington, who knows?
Whatever the history of this fruit, it is the flavor that assures ongoing popularity, and reigns supreme in every type of dessert.
For your own celebration, whether on the official day or not, some well loved recipes are included in this post along with the surprising health benefits and a bit of trivia about the fruits themselves.
May 26
It’s a National Holiday for Tart Pie Cherries in Desserts
These are tart, or sour, cherries from the tree Prunus cerasus, different from the Bing dark cherry.Their tartness makes them preeminent for the flavor they give baked goodies like cherry pie, cobblers, and other well loved recipes remembered from our mothers and grandmother’s kitchens.
While the sweet and dark red fruits of the Prunus avium tree, are best chosen for fresh eating, nothing beats a pie cherry for any recipe that calls for cherries for cooking.
Pie cherries with their tart and tangy taste create the zing that ignites a plain fruit pie into a memorable sweet summer surprise of flavor. Just the right contrast to the flaky crust of a home baked pie, or the biscuit topping of a cobbler.
Those “down home” desserts are only two of the ways you can use pie cherries to give your table a treat in the early summer month of June, or during other times of the year if you freeze or preserve the the cherries.
More Reason to Love the Tartness on National Cherry Dessert Day
Tart cherries have fewer calories and more beta-carotene than sweet cherries
The Celebrated Pie Cherry
Most tart cherries are grown in the state of Michigan in the USA. Traverse City, Michigan is called the “Cherry Capital of the World” and is host to the National Cherry Festival.
In Australia, the New South Wales town of Young is called the “Cherry Capital of Australia” and hosts the National Cherry Festival of Australia.
Fun Facts About Cherries: Cherry pits have been found in Stone Age caves.
Thomas Jefferson, grew cherries on his plantation at Monticello
Harvest Season
Tart cherries ripen two or three weeks after sweet cherries. Look for them in mid to late July.
The Dessert Side of the Story
Cherries are good for you, but all that cream, sugar, and pastry? Maybe not so much… but the taste! Besides pie, cobbler, or cherry dump cake, how can you fix this fruit as a dessert? Healthier choices to enjoy as desserts.
On National Cherry Dessert Day try cherries
with yogurt
with sherbet or gelato
baked into oatmeal
Because of their tartness, most people will want to sweeten them, which makes them ideal for desserts.
classic latticed pie
Prepare Your Pie Cherries with Professional Quality Cherry Pitter
During the season when stone fruits are available, you may be buying fresh produce. In order to use them in desserts, it is necessary to remove the pits. If you have ever tried this, you know how much a kitchen gadget makes all the difference.
If you are going to pit lots of cherries this is a professional style of machine to make the job easy. Highly rated and recommended.
Preheat oven to 400°. Put cherries and 3 tbsp. of the sugar into a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat, gently stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and cherries are warmed through, 8–10 minutes. Add optional almond extract, if desired.
Combine flour, baking powder, and 3⁄4 cup of the sugar in a medium bowl. Stir in egg with a fork, then use your fingers to work in egg until topping is crumbly. Set aside.
Place cherry mixture into an 8" x 8" baking dish, then put topping over fruit in an even layer. Drizzle melted butter over topping and sprinkle the remaining 1 tbsp. sugar on top. Bake until topping is golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Set aside on a rack to cool briefly before serving or serve at room temperature.
Notes
Using fresh cherries increases prep time (for pitting them), but gives superior flavor. Frozen could be substituted, thawing somewhat and keeping the liquid.I like the flavoring of almonds and Mace with cherries. If you'd like, try to add a dash of mace to the fruits or to the topping.Mace is made from the outside of the nutmeg. Its flavor is milder and less sweet than nutmeg.
A cherry is a fruit with a hard seed pit which must be removed before using the cherries in baked goods. There are a number of types of gadgets to do the job, which is important to own if you have a large number of cherries to prepare.
Tart Cherries Have Health Benefits
Use National Cherry Dessert Day to experience the health benefits of pie cherries. The fact that they include anti-oxidants should motivate you.
Promotes circulation
May help you sleep better due to the melatonin content
Helps relieve migraine headaches
Helps prevent free radical damage
Helps you heal faster from muscle related sports injuries
Findings on Remedying Gout
They are good for preventing gout. It is said, “six cherries a day” will keep the gout away, and it is certainly a delicious remedy to try. Research indicates that cherries have urate lowering properties. Uric acid crystal buildup is indicated in the onset of gout. (This is not medical advice, but information about the research results on the benefits of tart cherries).
Additional Health Benefits
Tart cherries are loaded with antioxidants that are believed to relieve the pain of arthritis and gout and help fight cancer and heart disease.
At more than 12,000 ORAC units per hundred grams of fruit, cherries have a higher antioxidant capacity than grapes, oranges, plums, raspberries and strawberries combined.
They’re also especially high in the antioxidant melatonin, which may help prevent or reduce brain deterioration associated with aging. And to top it off, they’re high in vitamin A and beta-carotene. [1]
Did You Know about these Facts?
Dried cherries are made from the tart cherry variety. They have iron, potassium, calcium, magnesium, folate, vitamin C and beta-carotene, as well as some melatonin- which is a hormone important biologically.
More Facts about Pie Cherries
Pie cherries keep their bright red color when cooked, naturally
Sour cherries, like the sweet, are picked ripe
Look for cherries that are plump and brightly colored, cherries do not ripen off the tree.
Store in the refrigerator and rinse just before using
Cherries are highly perishable: Their shelf life is about four days in the refrigerator.
2cupsfresh or frozen pitted tart or "pie" cherries- lightly drainedreserve 1 cup juice
1/2teaspoonpure almond extract
1/2cupchopped nuts -walnut | pecans | or hazelnuts
Cherry Sauce (see recipe)
1cupcherry juice
1tablespooncornstarch
1/2cupgranulated sugar
1/4teaspoonpure almond extract
1tablespoonbutter or margarine
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
In a medium-size bowl, combine butter or margarine, egg, sour cherries, almond extract, and nuts: add to flour mixture.
Bake, uncovered, in an ungreased 9-inch square pan 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cut into squares.
Prepare Cherry Sauce.
In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine cherry juice, cornstarch, sugar, almond extract, and butter or margarine
Cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
Serve the Cherry Delight Cake with Hot Cherry Sauce and whipped cream.
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