Chocolate Cardamom Cupcakes

I was reeeeeally thinking of saving this for Mother's Day. They could be Chocolate Carda-mom Cupcakes.... ha! I crack myself up.  Ma, consider this an early Mother's Day greeting.

I was pretty lucky with this adventure. I only had to bake these cupcakes twice before finding the perfect combination. The first was... less than perfect. I used a devil's food cake recipe and just added the cardamom - I was lazy and you could tell.  The cupcake was dry and the cardamom totally over powered the wimpy chocolate flavor. I didn't even frost the darn things; it wasn't worth it. I ate one and threw them out.  Sad little cupcakes.

The second batch was a pleasant little surprise. I love this chocolate cupcake recipe. It's from the "America's Test Kitchen" magazine, but I changed some ingredients and added the cardamom. It only uses 2 bowls, and no mixer. There are a lot of ingredients, but trust me, this was almost as easy to put together as from a box (and it tastes much much better).  The result is a rich, complex flavor with a perfect balance of dark chocolate, coffee and cardamom.  The texture was moist, not too heavy, not too fluffy. Please make these.

Chocolate Cardamom Cupcakes:
3 oz dark chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot coffee
3/4 cup bread flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cardamom
4 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 eggs
2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, mix together chopped chocolate and cocoa powder. Pour the hot coffee over the top and whisk until smooth. Let this mixture cool in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.   Whisk flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cardamom in a medium bowl - set aside.

To the cooled chocolate, add the butter, oil, eggs, vinegar and vanilla, whisk until smooth. Add the flour mixture and fold in gently until just incorporated.   Pour batter into cupcake pan cups and bake until firm to the touch - about 17 minutes.

Cardamom!

Cardamom: Found in the spice aisle. Comes in pods or the much more elusive ground form. Good in everything. Believe it.

Maybe you need some proof?

Orange Cardamom Madeleines:
adapted from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking

2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cardamom
1/2 cup flour, sifted
2 tsp finely grated orange zest
1/4 unsalted butter, melted

for the glaze:
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
orange juice


* Very important:  before you do anything, take some time and brush room temperature butter into your madeleine mold. Very advantageous to take your time and make sure every crevice is coated. Then dust with flour, making sure it gets into all the aforementioned buttered crevices -  you'll thank me later when your madeleines don't stick to the pan. 
P.S. Don't be silly and attempt to bake these in a mini-muffin tin. It doesn't work.  Trust me.

Preheat oven to 375.  In a large bowl, combine the eggs, sugar and salt - mix on high until pale and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Beat in vanilla and cardamom until incorporated.

Fold in flour until *almost* incorporated. Add orange zest and and half the butter -Fold in gently until *almost* incorporated. Add remaining butter and gently fold in until completely mixed.

Pour batter into prepared molds and bake until the cookies spring back when touched, 8-12 minutes. Immediately invert the pan onto a wire rack to remove the cookies from the mold. Let cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the glaze:  put powdered sugar into a small bowl and add orange juice a teaspoon at a time until it reaches a thick, but dip-able consistency.   Dip the cooled cookies halfway into the glaze and let the excess run off. Place cookie on wire rack to harden up- just a couple minutes.

Next up! Chocolate Cardamom Cupcakes.... get excited. 

new year, new food.

Ah! Doesn't it just feel great to start anew?  January is a time for optimism, a new found stick-to-it-ism, and overall hope.  Is this too cheesy? I hope not, because its about to get worse:

This year, my hope is to keep up the same passion for self-improvement (usually found in the first two weeks of January) all year.  Maybe become a little less cynical and snarky, and become a little more goal oriented. So, as a first step, I am returning to the world of blogging after a 2 month hiatus. It feels good to make time for something that I want to become better at: writing and cooking.

Well, in the spirit of a less-cynical-2011, I'm resisting the urge to say "we'll see...."

Cheers to the new year!