Roasted Cardamom and Coffee Pound Cake

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

Roasted Cardamom and Coffee Pound Cake ~ this unique pound cake is infused with the fragrant and exotic flavors of Turkish coffee ~ it’s perfect for breakfast, coffee breaks, afternoon tea, or dessert. The flavors of coffee and cardamom went so well together in my TURKISH COFFEE  that I want to keep the vibe going with this aromatic little cake.  I’d already roasted my cardamom pods and seeds for the coffee, so when I saw this recipe for Toasted Cardamom Pound Cake it was a no-brainer— I tweaked it by adding dark rich coffee  and a luscious vanilla bean glaze. Turkish coffee is a method of making unfiltered coffee that starts with very finely ground beans, it is brought just to the boiling point several times before being served.   The result is magical! Cardamom is an Indian spice that comes in the form of pods.  I’ve mentioned it before, but cardamom is the third most expensive spice, by weight, in the world, following saffron and vanilla.  You can sometimes find the whole pods in the spice aisle, I found mine at the spice booth at the farmer’s market.  When they split open they reveal the seeds inside, which can …

Ingredients

• 1½ cups sifted cake flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp toasted and finely ground cardamom seeds (measured after grinding)
• ½ cup sour cream or creme fraiche
• 1½ tsp instant espresso powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 ounces (1 stick) butter (at room temperature)
• 1¼ cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• vanilla Bean Glaze
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• seeds from 1 vanilla bean
• heavy cream (a few Tablespoons)

Method

1. Set oven to 325F
2. Whisk the first 5 dry ingredients together and set aside.
3. Mix the sour cream, vanilla seeds, and espresso powder together, until the espresso powder completely dissolves. Set aside.
4. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Add the flour to the butter and sugar, alternately with the sour cream. Blend until combined, and then spread in a greased loaf pan.
6. Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. For the glaze, mix the sugar and vanilla seeds together, then add the cream, slowly, until you get a thick but spreadable glaze. Glaze the cake when it's completely cool.

View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island