Cardamom Shortbread

"Nika," my cousin Harper begins, "You are so obsessed with cardamom!" I cannot deny the accusation. I put cardamom in nearly everything (as sparingly as I can though because it's a bit pricy). I've put cardamom in ice cream, macarons, strawberry meringue tarts, chocolate ganache, lassis, and most recently shortbread, and I won't apologize for any of it.

I even warmed up some milk and put a dash of cardamom in. It's not just an accessory that spices up a relatively plain base, it's an integral part of the dish and completely transforms your experience.

I hosted a small gathering for the student newspaper that I've been editor-in-chief of for the past two years yesterday, and lured the journalists there with the promise of not only pizza but a homemade runcible spoon dessert. But when I woke up that morning and discovered that I had 1 hour to make something with whatever I had in the house, I realized that I was probably better suited buying some pastries on my way there and pretending that I had made them the previous night.

Instead of deceiving my guests though, honest as I am, I found Tea and Sympathy's recipe for shortbread, which required flour, sugar and butter (all of which I owned). A thought popped into my head the minute I realized that I could successfully whip up this shortbread in a matter of 40 minutes: cardamom. To begin, I creamed 1 cup of butter and then added 1/2 cup of sugar.

Finally, I added 3 cups of flour and then I stopped the mixer, added 1 tsp of cardamom and kneaded the very dry dough until the ingredients were fully incorporated. I took out my trusty ceramic rolling pin, and flattened the shortbread until it was about 1/4 inch thick and then cut the dough into small rectangles and poked the surfaces with a fork.

I had previously set my oven to 300 F and buttered a tin, and I then put the cookies in for 20ish minutes at that temperature. Since I was in a hurry, I increased the oven temperature to 350 F for the last ten minutes. They were slightly overdone, but it didn't seem to affect the flavor (of the one I tasted before my guests consumed the rest in a fit of gustatory madness). It's a serious condition that I seem to facilitate often.

The shortbread brought people from far and wide (meaning students not involved with the paper) to the classroom we were occupying, searching for the cardamom shortbread whose smell permeated the halls. Now that school is over, I promise to post more frequently and cook more savory meals (for the sake of variety and my health), but I also assure you that I will continue to use cardamom and will find a way to incorporate into unthinkable dishes.

                                     

                                     

Orange Blossom Macarons with Buttercream Frosting

Another macaron post, but in my defense,  this time I was held hostage by a group of ravenous beasts, determined to extract all the inspiration I had out of me in the form of cookies. To quell their madness in the interest of self-preservation,  I not only made them orange blossom macarons with buttercream frosting, I taught them how to do it themselves so that in the future, an unsuspecting chef might be spared the trauma that I suffered at their hands.

Once the cookies were assembled, they decided that their loot was sufficient and sent me on my way through the blistering heat of the city with only five macarons to my name.

Nina, Alexi and Nika (me)

Alright, in actuality, I had a play-date today with three friends, Alexi, Amelia and Nina. Our plan was to watch as many Sherlock (BBC) episodes that we could cram into an inconsiderately busy Sunday and make macarons.

These are by far my highest demand cookies and I plan on selling them in the near future. Macarons go for $3.00 in some posh bakeries and so if I sell them for a little less than that, medical school is covered!

My future business plan aside, I packed up my entire kitchen into my Norwegian day pack (my leather backpack that has that logo imprinted on the flap) and trudged nearly a mile to my friend's house.

I was extremely nervous about using an unfamiliar kitchen but as it turns out, their stove is much better than mine and they have a copper bowl for mixing egg whites. I am completely ignorant about the chemistry behind that, but the meringue certainly looked beautiful juxtaposed to the metal.

Nina and Amelia sifted the almond flour and the confectioner's sugar together while I separated the eggs. After whipping the eggs until they formed peaks, I added 1 1/4 tsp of orange blossom water and a few drops of red food dye (this made the cookies slightly pinker than I was anticipating, but they became more orange in the oven much to my delight).

Amelia and Alexi

The macaronage (incorporating the dry and wet ingredients) was next and I deflated the egg whites while trying to find the perfect consistency. My pastry bag was a big hit and Alexi filled it up so that I could, as I mistakenly said "pipette the cookies onto the tins."

That Freudian slip was quickly followed by my realization at how much time I spend in the lab at NYU. "We pipe the cookies," I reminded myself out-loud.

I continued to squeeze them out of the pastry bag until my entire arm was covered in macaron batter, which my friends promptly scraped from the bowl and ate (not recommended by the way). Each girl rapped a tin on the counter to expel any lingering bubbles and then we proceeded to poke the stubborn bubbles with fork prongs. Good thing none of us are perfectionists (ahem).

We left in search of lunch and came back an hour later to find that the macarons had grown perfect skins (thickened coats), which are ideal to push the air bubbles out of the feet instead of exploding the tops of the shells. We put them in the oven at 300 F for 18 minutes and went to watch Sherlock, which is possibly the best show to have ever existed.

To my ever increasing delight, every single macaron was perfect. You heard me. 100% perfection. They were smooth, footed, and tasting of orange blossoms. There is nothing as satisfying as mastering (well kind of) what is perhaps the most persnickety cookie in existence.

I know that this success does not guarantee a future success rate of 100% but I would like to call this day, May 20th, VM day (Macaron Victory Day). Gotta get my kicks in somewhere.

Nika and Nina

We also made buttercream frosting for the perfect Creamsicle flavors using 1 cup of unsalted butter and about a bag of confectioner's sugar. The hand mixer was not equipped to deal with this level of intensity, so we resorted to using a potato masher, which was surprisingly efficient and undoubtedly cathartic for Amelia.

It was wonderful to enjoy a Sunday afternoon with three lovely ladies, making cookies, going to a street fair and watching hours of brilliant dialogue. Just like Watson came to Sherlock even though he was told that it might be dangerous, when I told my friends that there might be danger involved in the macaron making, they all showed up. Both casts of characters, I might mention, were not intimidated by the enormity of their tasks.

Cardamom Ice Cream

Ice cream. Cardamom. The final frontier. Well, no, but I still can't get over the fact that I can make ice cream as if it's some super human power that I was bestowed, by none other than my father (as a birthday present). It actually transforms a bowl of milk and sugar into a scoopable solid. Remarkable.

I have an obsession with ice cream. It's unfortunate but I really don't want to try overcoming it...yet. And I don't want to brag or anything, but I'm something of an ice cream connoisseur. The following statements are all subjective truths of course, but take my word for them. The best gelato in the city is at Grom, which has about three locations throughout Manhattan. If you happen to be on Shelter Island for some reason, look up Redding's and try theirs, it's insanely good.

Pinpointing the best ice cream shops in New York is a behemoth task, one that I don't feel entitled to execute. But I'm perfectly fine giving you some of my most frequented venues. Van Leeuwen Artisan ice cream in the East Village (7th Street between 1st and 2nd) and Greenpoint is wonderful and they also have a truck that drives around the city selling flavors like rose water, espresso, cane sugar and earl grey. Finally, Marlow and Sons on Broadway between Wythe and Berry in Williamsburg has flavors like basil and lemon verbena (don't knock the basil before you try it).

I also had amazing cardamom ice cream at the now defunct Puffs and Pastries in Hampden, Baltimore two years ago and ever since I've been trying to find a substitute. When I went back last November, while I was interviewing at JHU, my mouth watering for cardamom ice cream, I discovered that it had turned into a burger joint.

So I took it upon myself to make my own cardamom ice cream using this recipe with minor variations (I increased the amount of cardamom and I didn't add the lemon zest). This turned out to be a two day process, although it is quite possible in one day, don't despair. I began by adding 2 cups of milk and 1 1/2 cups of sugar to a saucepan and stirring in 2 tablespoons of flour. I let this thicken, mixing it occasionally, until there were small bubbles but it wasn't boiling. Simultaneously, I whisked 4 egg yolks in a separate bowl (glass or metal) and poured in 1 cup of my milk/sugar/flour mixture and whisked vigorously so I didn't make scrambled eggs.

I left this to the side and then returned to the saucepan. I added three cups of milk, 1 tsp. vanilla extract and 3 tsp ground cardamom (I wimped out and used already ground spice). Then I added the other bowl to the saucepan and kept it on a medium high heat until it boiled. I covered it with saran wrap and put it in the refrigerator overnight. It has to be really cold, so don't be impatient.

The next morning, I added 3 cups of heavy cream and whisked it all together. My dad assembled the ice cream maker after I gave up in complete frustration (we've now got it down to a science), and I added the mixture (all of it) to the bowl. It's amazing! The bowl has liquid surrounding it that freezes after it sits in your freezer for a minimum of 15 hours. I set the kitchen aid (this is an accessory for it) to stir speed 1 and let it run for 30 minutes. It's only soupy after this, so I put it in the freezer for a few hours and poof there was delicious and simple cardamom ice cream.

There are so many flavors to try and I can't wait to get started. My great aunt Jean had a best friend for a very long time named Olive P. Cummings who would order pints of ice cream from her local creamery and have it delivered to her house every week...until she was 98. That is my goal.