Spicy

Today I want to take you on a swashbuckling journey of excitement, adventure and spices more precious than gold.  An adventure spanning centuries, dating back to a time when “time” was still dated B.C. It’s an epic journey known as the Cardamom Streusel Coffee Cake.

Spices, particularly unusual spices have often intrigued me.  They are what add an elegant and mysterious note to so many savory and sweet dishes.  A hint of cinnamon, cloves or nutmeg take us on a mindful trip to the holiday season while a splash of cumin or coriander has us sipping margaritas on a glorious, sandy beach along with friends. Our cat, Lily, would certainly attest to the powers of spice from the way she flips and flops every time I open the pantry and start to bake.  Black pepper and nutmeg are her favorites and she goes crazier than if I had set her loose in a field of catnip. 

What is this magical power of spice?  Battles have been fought on land and sea to protect this valuable commodity, and it’s the main reason America was discovered in the first place.  After the Ottoman Empire took control of maritime trade routes, the folks in Europe were looking for another way to get to India to acquire their herbal currency.  Several expeditions were undertaken, but the one headed up by Columbus is the most famous.  If it wasn’t for the want of spices we might all still be in Europe (and would that be such a bad thing?).

Cardamom is today’s focus.  It comes in pod form (generally) and is a member of the ginger family.  The taste is somewhat citrus-like and a touch antiseptic, leaving a clean taste in your mouth after consumption.  There are various forms of cardamom, which primarily come from India, particularly around Sri Lanka.  It has been traded right along with cinnamon and nutmeg for many years as a very valuable spice, but I find it’s one I rarely use.  I have a jar of it in my cabinet, already ground (it is recommended that you buy whole pods and roast them in the oven for ten minutes or so to release the most flavor, then grind them up) but it just sits in the back, quietly, waiting to be used as the more popular spices are constantly rotating in and out.  Sometimes I think the cardamom might be sad, but not this week.  I took a note from the Indians (the people from India as opposed the American Indian) and used the lonely cardamom, not as medicine to draw out snake venom or the sting of a scorpion, but in a delicious coffee cake recipe.

My online recipe quest was not nearly as exciting as sailing many miles while battling pirates and scurvy, but is one worth noting.  I was in search of yet another fitting winter recipe…something white in fact.  Reason:  the feet upon feet upon feet of snow we received last week.  I have to tell you, I don’t recall ever seeing so much snow in my life, certainly not where I live.  There are drifts up past my knees (and I’m pretty tall), and the mounds which have been moved by the snow-plows are ridiculous; creating walls 8 feet tall in some parking lots.  Trees were laid low, many broken from the weight of the heavy, thick snow.  Even the butterfly bushes in our garden were bent from a stately 7 feet high all the way down to the ground.  It was sad and amazing at the same time.  We are lucky we didn’t lose power and I was able to get some really nice photos, so all in all I didn’t mind terribly.  Walking around in it is a bit of a pain, yet still pretty.  The sidewalks have taken on a maze-like quality with the shoveled paths cutting through 2 feet or more of drifted snow.  It’s magical and frustrating, but the snowmen the neighbors have been making are magnificent.

Anyway, my point is I was looking for something in the vein of winter to create.  Groan if you will, but I did my usual Martha Stewart recipe search looking for “white desserts”.  There were many things that came up, primarily wedding cakes, but nothing really struck my fancy with the time I had scheduled for my weekend baking.  Then, there it was…an article about a dessert for every month called A Year of Cakes.  Well, we know I’m all about seasonal, and if those seasonal items get broken down into months, even better.  The March dessert was none other than the Cardamom Streusel Coffee Cake.

As I am want to take things into work on Monday’s and had started a new job, it seemed only fitting to start things off right with a nice coffee cake to share.  There are really no suprises here other than the addition of cardamom, and yogurt in lieu of sour cream…but fear not, there is still plenty of butter…nearly four sticks!  This cake has everything you want or crave:  buttery richness, spice and the yummy brown sugary crunch from the crumbly topping and filling.  Having this for breakfast or dessert will send you to a happy and tropical place full of island breezes and buried treasure, and really who doesn’t want that right now?

This dessert seems to be an answer to the question, “when will Spring get here?”  It may not look like it outside right now but it’s coming, and in fact is here in the form of pastry.  There are only a few more weeks to hang on before the crocus, daffodils and forsythia bushes will bloom, greeting us once again with a smile of confirmation that the worst is over and we’ve made it through another cruel winter.  I know I can’t wait any longer so I’ll eat cake and pretend I’m sun bathing in the Caribbean.  It’s just who I am.