Countdown to Christmas - Swedish Cardamom Wreaths

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...If the aromas coming from fall kitchens give me shivers, I must admit that those drifting from Christmas kitchens make me positively weak-kneed. I think it is the addition of cardamom to the spice mix that does me in. I was raised in a row house that shared a common basement with five other families and during the lead-up to the holidays that basement was the place to be. The baking went on for days at a time, and as the more pedestrian aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg mingled with those of ginger and cloves, the unforgettable fragrance of the spice mix and cardamom actually permeated linens hung to dry. It gave new meaning to the phrase sweet dreams. Our Swedish and German neighbors took Christmas baking to heart and each of them made a version of the cardamom coffee ring I'm featuring today. They differed mainly in the quantity of eggs and butter that was used, but the finished cakes they shared with neighbors were remarkably similar in form and taste. Like many children, I was fascinated with the braiding and twisting that was used to shape the cakes and I loved to see them rise. I suspect my love of bread, the baking and eating of it, had it origins in those kitchens and that basement which captured and held the aromas of Christmas. I, unfortunately, have no vintage recipes to share with today, but this version, which comes from Taste of Home magazine, comes awfully close to the ones I remember. I do hope you'll give it a try. Here is how cardamom wreaths are made.

Swedish Cardamom Wreaths...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Taste of Home magazine

Ingredients:
4-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2-1/4 teaspoons ground cardamom
2 teaspoons salt
7 to 7-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon milk
Toasted sliced almonds
Coarse or granulated sugar or confectioners' sugar glaze

Directions:
1) In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in 3 eggs, evaporated milk, yeast mixture, sour cream, orange peel, cardamom, salt and 6 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
2) Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down; turn onto a floured surface. Divide into six portions. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Shape each portion into a 24-in. rope. Place three ropes on a greased baking sheet and braid. Form into a ring; pinch ends tightly together. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.
3) Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
4) Beat milk and remaining egg; brush over wreaths. Sprinkle with almonds and sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 2 loaves

                    

                                                    Older Posts

             One Year Ago Today:                                                         Two Years Ago Today:

            Cold Oven Coffee Cake                                                             Candied Almonds

                 Three Years Ago Today:                                                Four Years Ago Today: 

                         Bean Burgers                                                                   Pan de Polvo

Countdown to Christmas - Swedish Sugar Plums

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...These cookies should join noodles, pancakes and flatbreads, as another example of how some foods are repeatedly "discovered" in different parts of the world. If you scan the recipe, you'll see just how much like Mexican Wedding or Russian Tea Cakes these Swedish Sugar Plums actually are. I, of course, think they have an edge and infinitely superior to their cousins because these were the cookies of my childhood. I first saw them being made towards the end of WWII when they were made with margarine and cardamom that was shipped from a Swedish Covenant Church somewhere in the South. At that time, margarine came in white blocks with color packets that had to be worked into the gooey mass to make it look more like butter and less like lard. Most adults disliked the chore, but kids, including me, loved this Sawyer-esque chore and volunteers were always available. I was a champion squisher and my prowess got me into Mrs. P's kitchen where I got to watch her Christmas baking marathon. The cardamom sets these cookies apart from their Mexican and Russian cousins, and if you enjoy them and like cardamom, you will love this version of the cookies. If you store them in an air-tight container they will keep for a week, but you will need to re-coat them with powdered sugar before you serve them. This is an easy, near effortless cookie to make, and I know that those of you who try this recipe will not be disappointed. Here is how the Swedish Sugar Plums are made.

Swedish Sugar Plums...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sifted powdered sugar + additional sugar for finishing, divided use
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cold water
2 cups sifted flour
1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds, chopped

Directions:
1) Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Blend in lemon zest, cardamom, salt, vanilla extract and water. Gradually add sifted flour, blending well after each addition. Stir in chopped almonds. Chill dough for 30 to 60 minutes.
2) Move one rack to upper third of oven before preheating oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease two baking sheets and set aside.
3) Using a teaspoon measure, roll dough into small balls and place on prepared cookie sheets. Bake in upper third of oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until just lightly browned. Roll at once in sifted powdered sugar. Cool completely before storing in an air-tight container. Roll in sifted powdered sugar again, just before serving. Yield: 4 dozen cookies.

      

                                                    Older Posts

                          One Year Ago Today:                                               Two Years Ago Today:

                      Chocolate Chip Mandelbrot                                        Greek Lemon Yogurt Mousse

                    Three Years Ago Today:                                                Four Years Ago Today: 

                Quick and Crusty Hard Rolls                                             Sauteed Christmas Peppers

Pulla - A Finnish Cardamom and Raisin Sweet Bread

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...One of the great pleasures of my childhood was the smell of bread baking on Sunday mornings. I spent a good part of my early years in a building that housed 4 adjacent duplex units that shared a common basement. Our neighbors were extraordinarily good cooks and the aromas that wafted into the basement on a Sunday were enough to drive the hungry truly mad. One of our neighbors was Scandinavian and she rose early on Sunday mornings to bake off slow-rising bread that had been refrigerated overnight. Back in the day, it was not unusual for extended families to gather for Sunday supper and the P's clan faithfully broke bread together following Sunday services. The bread, whose aroma I so enjoyed, was part of that Sunday ritual. It was a sweet bread made rich with butter and laced with soft raisins and a liberal dose of cardamom. I learned to make bread watching Mrs. P and Hannie, another of our neighbors, miraculously turn flour and water into breads with wonderfully toothsome crusts. I was too young at the time to realize that nothing lasts forever, so, I only have a handful of the old recipes in my files. Unfortunately, Mrs. P's Sunday bread was not among them. Several years ago, I came across a recipe in Gourmet magazine that came very close to that lovely bread of memory. The Gourmet recipe makes a loaf that is soft and barely sweet, but has that special richness that only butter can provide. The recipe is unusual in that cold butter is cut into the flour, pie crust fashion, before liquid is added to form the dough. The dough is a slow-riser, so factor wait time into any plans you have for serving the bread. The finished loaves keep for several days if well-wrapped and they freeze beautifully for up to a month. The marvel of this bread is the aroma that is released by the yeast and cardamom as it bakes. This is truly a lovely bread that is perfect for special occasions. I'm going to freeze a loaf to serve for breakfast on Valentine's day. I really hope you'll give this loaf a try. It's wonderful. Here's how it is made.

Pulla - Finnish Cardamom and Raisin Sweet Bread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Gourmet magazine

Ingredients:
1 cup light or dark raisins
1/4 cup warm water
1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast ( 2-1/4 teaspoons)
5 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1-1/4 cups warm whole milk ( 105-115 F)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large egg yolks, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions:
1) Soak raisins in hot tap water to cover until plump, about 20 minutes, then drain. Meanwhile, stir together warm water, yeast, and a pinch of sugar in a small bowl. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
2) Stir together flour, sugar, cardamom, and salt in a large bowl, then blend in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in milk, whole egg, and yeast mixture with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead, dusting surface and hands with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until dough is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes.
3) Pat dough into a 9-inch square and sprinkle with raisins. Fold dough over to enclose raisins and pinch edges to seal. Knead, dusting surface and hands lightly with flour, until raisins are distributed. (Dough will be lumpy and slightly sticky; if any raisins pop out, just push them back in.) Form dough into a ball.
4) Put dough in a buttered large bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 2 to 2-1/2 hours.
5) Punch down dough (do not knead), then halve. Cut each half into thirds and roll each piece into a 15-inch rope. Braid together 3 ropes to form a loaf, then transfer to a parchment-lined large baking sheet, tucking ends under. Make another loaf with remaining 3 ropes, arranging loaves 4 inches apart. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
6) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in middle.
7) Brush loaves with egg wash and bake until golden brown and bottoms sound hollow when tapped, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Yield: 2 loaves.

One Year Ago Today: Snickerdoodle Blondies

Two Years Ago Today: Homemade Nutella Spread

Three Years Ago Today: Warm Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce

Orange-Cardamom Sugar Cookies

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...The cardamom in these lovely tea cookies convinced me they could fairly be included in the series of recipes I'm highlighting to celebrate the feast of St. Lucia. While the cookie is not a Scandinavian heirloom, it reflects Scandinavian sensibilities and would fit right in with the other confections found on a Swedish holiday table. These sugar cookies have crisp brown edges and soft chewy centers and the combination makes a perfect treat to serve with coffee or tea. I made a couple of small changes to the original recipe which can be found here. I used more cardamom and less orange zest than the developer suggested. I didn't want the oil in the orange zest to completely overwhelm the taste of cardamom, so I altered the recipe to personal taste. My changes are highlighted in red below. I also used freshly ground cardamom because I had the pods on hand for my holiday baking. This is a lovely, not too sweet, sugar cookie. It has the added advantage of being very easy to make, but because the dough must be chilled twice before it can be baked, additional time must be factored into your baking plan. I think those of you who try the recipe will be very pleased with the results. Here's how the cookies are made.

Orange-Cardamom Sugar Cookies...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of drbabs and Food52

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom (I used 1-1/4 teaspoons freshly ground cardamom)
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 yolk of large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one medium orange (I used 1 teaspoon orange zest)

Directions:
1) Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom and set aside.
2) In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix butter and sugar together till just combined, about 30 seconds. Add egg and egg yolk; mix lightly  to combine. Mix in vanilla extract and orange zest.
3) Add dry ingredients a little at a time, mixing just until combined, about 30-45 seconds. Chill dough until it can be shaped, about 30 minutes.
4) Scoop dough with a tablespoon and roll into balls. Place evenly on cookie sheets and flatten slightly with back of a spatula. (If dough is still very soft, it may be easier to do this after dough is chilled.)
5) Place cookie sheets in refrigerator and chill dough for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. If you're baking one sheet at a time, place oven rack in center of oven. If you want to bake two sheets at one time, place racks so that oven is divided into thirds. Bake for 5 minutes. Reverse cookie sheets front to back (and switch shelves if you're using 2 shelves). Bake for 5-7 more minutes until cookies are brown on edges and still soft in the center. Place cookie sheet(s) on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove cookies with spatula and place them on wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 30 cookies.

One Year Ago Today: St. Lucia Crown - A Special Bread for the Feast of St. Lucia

Two Years Ago Today: Holiday Breakfast Round-Up

Three Years Ago Today: Kris Kringle Ginger Cake and the Baby Jesus Birthday Cake

Pecan Streusel Coffee Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I tend to shy away from overly sweet desserts, but I must admit I have a real weakness for coffee cake. I've been testing recipes this past week in an attempt to find something new to serve for breakfast or brunch during the holidays. Fortunately, I'm still in meeting mode, so I have lots of testers and I'm getting lots of feedback about my efforts. When I saw a photo of this cake on the Huffington Post, I knew I had to try it. The recipe was originally developed for Food and Wine magazine and I backtracked to their site for the recipe. At first glance, the recipe appeared overly involved, but as I stepped through it I could see that is was divided into three distinct parts, and none of them was difficult. I decided to give it a try. The finished cake is quite nice, but I found it to be a bit dry. I will be making it again because the flavors are delicious, but I plan to use less flour in the cake and I want to cut back on the amount of streusel that's used to top it. I never thought I'd say a cake has too much streusel, but I've meet my match here. The pecan and cardamom crumbs are delicious, but I think they weigh the cake down and contribute to its dryness. Less would be more. I hope I haven't discouraged you because this is a wonderful coffee cake and I hope you will give it a try. Here's how it is made.

Pecan Streusel Coffee Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Food and Wine magazine

Ingredients:
Crumb Topping
2 cups pecans
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Glaze
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons whole milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to350 degrees F. Position a rack in center of the oven. Butter a 9-by-13-inch metal baking pan.
2) To make crumb topping: Spread pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 8 minutes, until browned. Let cool, then coarsely chop nuts. In a medium bowl, stir melted butter with both sugars, cardamom and salt. Add flour and stir until clumpy. Stir in chopped nuts.
3) To make cake: In a large bowl, whisk flour with sugar, baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with milk, melted butter and vanilla. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Scrape batter into prepared baking pan, smoothing the surface. Scatter crumbs in large clumps over cake; crumb layer will be quite deep. Bake for about 55 minutes, until crumbs are golden and firm and a tester inserted in center of the cake comes out clean. If crumbs brown before the cake is done, cover the cake loosely with foil. Transfer pan to a rack to cool.
4) To make glaze: In a bowl, whisk all of glaze ingredients together. Drizzle glaze over cake; let cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature. Cake can be kept covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. Yield: 15 servings.

One Year Ago Today: Baked (American) Indian Pudding

Two Years Ago Today: Broccoli Pesto and Pasta with Pesto and Peas

Three Years Ago Today: Cranberry Bread Pudding with Orange Hard Sauce

Orange Blossom Tea Cake with Grapes and Olive Oil

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...My palate favors barely sweet European-style pastries, so, when I saw this recipe on the blog, Just A Smidgen, I knew I had to give it a try. I already have several recipes for grape cakes and, collectively,  they've all claimed places on my list of family favorites. While these cakes are delicious, they are probably not meant for mass consumption. If you take a quick glance at the ingredient's list, the quantity of olive oil that's used in this recipe is an indicator of just how different this cake truly is. It also calls for another strong and flavorful ingredient called orange blossom water. Most of you will not be able to find it in your local markets, but it is available on-line and this article will do a great job of explaining just what it is. It is difficult to find a workable substitute, but, in a pinch,  a 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract mixed with a teaspoon of lemon juice will come close enough. I love the way French and North African flavors are combined in this recipe. The cake is boldly flavored, but remains sweet enough to serve for dessert or tea. Those with more sophisticated tastes, and those whose palates are simply tired of ordinary desserts, will love the bright bold flavors of this delightful tea cake. I've made it 3 times now, twice without incident. Obviously, I have a caution to share with you. It is tricky to tell when this cake is done and if you pull it from the oven before its time,  you'll have an unmistakeable wet streak in the middle of your cake. Following my first less than stellar attempt, I increased the baking time by 15 minutes and had fantastic results. I love the blend of flavors in this cake and I'll be making it often. I hope you will give it a try. It is a wonderful cake for the slightly adventurous. Here's the recipe.

Orange Blossom Tea-Cake with Grapes and Olive Oil...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Barbara Bamber and Laura Calder

 Ingredients:
5 egg, separated
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 orange zest only
1-1/2 teaspoons orange blossom water
1 teaspoon crushed cardamom seeds
1 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
9 ounces seedless red grapes
3 tablespoons warm honey
2 tablespoons coarse baker's sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
coarse white sprinkling sugar and regular sugar

Directions:
1) Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Rub bottom and sides of a 9″ springform pan with a little olive oil then line with parchment paper.
2) Gently crushed dried green cardamom pods with a rolling-pin to remove black seeds inside. Discard outer pod. Continue crushing pods until you have 1 teaspoon of black cardamom seeds.
3) Beat egg yolks and sugar until sugar dissolves and thick, pale ribbons of batter form. Mix in olive oil, lemon juice and zest, orange zest and orange blossom water. Add cardamom seeds to batter.
4) Beat egg whites and salt in another bowl until stiff peaks are formed.
5) Sift cake flour into another bowl,
6) Add flour to egg yolk batter. Then gently fold in beaten egg whites, taking care not to deflate egg whites. Fold in half of the grapes.
7) Pour batter into prepared springform pan. Bake for about 20 minutes, then open oven and scatter remaining grapes over top. Using your finger, gently press the grapes to partially submerge them into cake. Leave some more exposed than others. Close oven door and continue to bake for an additional 25 minutes or until a skewer poked in middle of cake comes out clean.
8) Remove from oven and transfer pan to a wire rack to cook. Leave the cake in springform pan and gently brush warm, spreadable honey over top. Sprinkle coarse baker's sugar over top and finish with a dusting of regular sugar. Allow cake to cool completely in springform pan, then gently remove and transfer to a cake plate. Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

(adapted from French Taste, by Laura Calder)

One Year Ago Today: Turkish Shepherd's Salad - Coban Salatas

Two Years Ago Today: Chocolate Babka

Three Years Ago Today: Easy New England Clam Chowder

Craig Claiborne's Cardamom Crisp Cookies

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This lovely adult cookie is Maida Heatter's riff on Craig Claiborne's Cardamon Crisps. The recipe for the cookies  first appeared in his book, An Herb and Spice Cookbook, and she included it in her  book, The Brand-New Book of Great Cookies.  The cookies have an unusual taste and a unique texture that comes from the addition of cardamom and cream of tartar. Their texture is a bit like that of a ginger snap, but they taste more like the Dutch spice cookies called  speculaas. Maida  Heatter's recipe calls for grinding  fresh cardamom seeds. If you really enjoy European cookies, I hope you will try her recipe as it is written. The cookies are wonderfully fragrant when made with the freshly ground spice. Unfortunately, my life doesn't always afford me  time to grind the seeds, so I can assure you the recipe works well even if you use a commercial  spice powder.  The cookies should be rolled and cut, but I have found it faster and much easier  to form the dough into small 1-inch balls that can be  flattened directly on cookie sheets that are lined with parchment paper. I use the palm of my hand or a cookie embosser  to flatten the balls to a thickness of  1/4-inch.  Baking time must be increased if you make your cookies any thicker thicker than that. The cookies are great keepers when stored in an  airtight container, but I suspect they'll be gone long before they can stale.  They are wonderful with afternoon coffee or tea,  but I love them with a cold glass of milk. I give myself permission to dunk, though I swear I can hear my mother's voice admonishing me whenever I do so. I was never a good listener. I hope you'll try these cookies. Here is Maida Heatter's recipe.

Craig Claiborne's Cardamom Crisp Cookies...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Craig Claiborne and Maida Heatter

Ingredients:
A few teaspoonfuls whole cardamom (to make 3/4 teaspoon ground)
2-1/4 cup sifted unbleached flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 packed cup light brown sugar
1 large egg

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with baking parchment or aluminum foil, shiny side up; set aside.
2) The cardamom pods may be green or bleached. The green will have a little more flavor than the bleached, but they're both good. To prepare them, work on a cutting board. With a sharp knife cut a few teaspoonfuls of the pods in half the long way. Then either shake the seeds (they will be black and/or gray) out of the shells, or, if necessary, use the point of a small knife to nudge them out. Discard the shells. Grind the seeds in an electric grinder; you could use a coffee grinder or a pepper mill (I use a Cuisinart Mini-Mate). Strain through a fine sieve. Measure 3/4 teaspoon; set aside.
3) Sift together the flour and cream of tartar; set aside.
4) In the small or large bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter until soft. Add the ground cardamom, baking soda, and salt; beat to mix. Beat in the sugar, then the egg. Finally, on low speed, add the sifted dry ingredients and beat until incorporated.
5) Flour a pastry cloth and a rolling pin. Work with half the dough at a time. Roll out the dough until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut with a round cookie cutter (I use a 2-inch round cutter). Place the cookies 1 1/2 inches apart on the lined sheets.
6) Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes, reversing the sheet front to back once after 5 minutes. The cookies will rise and puff up during baking, and then they will begin to settle down a bit just when they are done. When done, they will be a light-golden honey color all over.
With a wide metal spatula transfer to racks to cool; when cool, store in an airtight container. Yield: 3 dozen cookies.

One Year Ago Today: Celery and Apple Soup

Two Years Ago Today: Light Rye Sandwich Buns

Cream Scones with Blueberries, Cardamom and Masa

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I have been working my way through the gift basket and recipes that I received from McCormick for participating in their Flavor Forecast this year. As often happens, I find it hard to drop a good thing when I'm on a roll, so, despite the fact that my obligation to them had been met, I continued to test and experiment with the new flavor combinations when time permitted. I was intrigued by McCormick's suggested pairing of blueberries with cardamom and corn masa and it immediately called to mind a recipe for cornmeal scones that I had originally seen on the the blog, Joy of Baking. I really liked the scones and the recipe lent itself to a simple ingredient swap that would allow me to test the new combination. So, corn masa replaced stone ground cornmeal, frozen blueberries took the place of currants, and cardamom was added to the dry ingredient list. The changes to the recipe were minimal but the flavor profile was completely different. While the addition of cardamom took these scones to another level, they still retained the nuttiness and hint of grittiness that was characteristic of the original recipe. Because of the temperature at which these bake, the scones have a crisp crust that belies their soft and tender interior. They really are lovely, though less sweet than many might prefer. These are very easy to make and can be on the table within an hour. They will not disappoint. Here's the recipe for those of you who would like to give this new flavor profile a try.

Cream Scones with Blueberries, Cardamom and Masa...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, inspired by Joy of Baking and McCormick Flavor Forecast 2012

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup masa harina (instant corn masa flour)
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup half and half or whipping cream
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Glaze: Cream

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and place oven rack in center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2) In a large bowl, whisk together flour, masa, sugar, baking powder, salt, cardamom and orange zest. Add frozen blueberries to flour mixture and stir well. In a small measuring cup, whisk together cream, egg, and vanilla extract. Add this to flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together.
3) Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat, or roll, dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round and about 1-1/2 inches thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 4 pie-shaped wedges (triangles). Place scones on baking sheet. Brush tops of the scones with a little cream.
4) Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Yield: 8 scones.

You might also enjoy the recipe for Blueberry Cardamom Corn Muffins on the blog, Jersey Girl Cooks. They sound delicious.









One Year Ago Today: Chow Fun















TwoYears Ago Today: Focaccia

Norwegian Christmas Bread

Pride is a fearsome thing and ego can be an absolute killer. The pair nearly did me in yesterday when the counter on my site meter went berserk. By ten in the morning it registered twice the normal traffic and an hour later activity had tripled. My first thought - indeed my first word - was "finally." I really felt loved! I basked in the sheer glory of it all until my left brain kicked in, and, ignoring pride and ego, forced me to take a hard look at the data. My left brain is a real spoiler. At any rate, the counter was right, but the folks visiting my sight weren't looking for me, they were looking for Ming Tsai. He had just done a crock-pot demo on Barbara Walters show, "The View". I have a crock-pot recipe for Asian ribs on my blog and in the comments Ming Tsai's name was mentioned. That was all the search engine needed. It directed all those folks looking for his recipe to mine --- which, by the way, is most excellent. "Sic transit gloria mundi." Fortunately, I can laugh at myself --- humor, once again, trumps pride and ego. Today's Christmas bread is one Bob's favorites. I've adapted the recipe from an old neighborhood favorite to better suit today's needs and equipment. It's easier to make than panettone and its shape makes it easier to store. This recipe makes a lot of bread, but it can be frozen. The cardamom scented loaves make great gifts to share with friends and neighbors. Julie, who blogs at Peanut Butter and Julie slices her sweet breads before freezing them. The slices can be thawed and table ready in minutes. I like the idea - a lot. I'm sending photos of this bread to Yeast Spotting, a blogging event sponsored by Susan at Wild Yeast. This is a really nice recipe. I know you'll enjoy it.

Norwegian Christmas Bread

Ingredients:
3-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 large eggs, beaten
10 cups all-purpose flour plus 1 cup for kneading
1 tablespoon salt
5 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup plumped dark raisins
1/2 cup plumped light raisins
1/2 cup candied orange peel
3 tablespoons candied lemon peel

Directions:
1) Place the milk in a large microwave container. Microwave on HIGH temperature for 2 minutes, or until milk bubbles at edges and container is warm. Add butter, sugar and cardamom to milk. Set aside.
2) Place 10 cups flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
3) Beat eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer, using paddle attachment. Slowly add milk mixture and beat until mixed.
4) Switch to dough hook attachment. At low speed, add flour and fruit in alternating spoonfuls. Keep mixing until a smooth, elastic mass is formed.
5) Spread 1/2 cup flour on work surface. Turn dough onto flour. Sprinkle top of dough with 1/4 cup. Knead until just smooth. The dough will be slightly tacky. Place in a large greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in bulk.
6) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray four bread pans with nonstick spray. Punch dough down. Let rest 10 minutes. Cut into four pieces, shape into loaves and place in bread pans. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double.
7) Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush tops with butter. Let sit for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on a rack. Yield: 4 loaves.