Orange Cardamom Muffins with Buttery Orange Curd

About 6 weeks ago I made this Elegant Citrus Tart, when we had people over for dessert and pictures just didn't happen. I had leftover Buttery Orange Curd, which was the filling for the tart, and I was trying to figure out what to do with it. I have swirled leftover curd into ice cream and breakfast cakes/muffins before, so I knew that a muffin would be a good choice.

I made these back in January, when I was doing my month without using butter, so I had to find a recipe that used oil or buttermilk.

I found a Orange Cardamom Cake on myrecipes and knew it would be perfect. I made 1/3 of the batter and made muffins. I filled the muffin liners about halfway with batter and then dropped in a Tablespoon of the orange curd. Then I put a couple more Tablespoons of batter on top and swirled in a little curd on top.

The muffins baked up in about18-21 minutes and they tasted amazing warm. All the orange curd had sunk to the bottom, but it made for an amazing breakfast treat.

I had a great weekend in Miami- thanks for all the well wishes!

Original Recipe for Orange Cardamom Cake
* I made 1/3 of this recipe and it made 8 muffins
* I replaced some of the canola oil with low-fat buttermilk

TWD- Cardamom Crumb Cake Muffins

Tuesday's with Dorie is brought to you this week by Jill and you can find the recipe for her choice, Cardamom Crumb Cake, on her blog right here.

This is one of the things that has always caught my eye when I have flipped through Baking: from my home to yours. I have always wanted to make it because I love cardamom, but for some reason I haven't made it until today.

I decided to turn this into muffins, partly because it makes portion control easier and it also makes sharing easier. I subbed low-fat buttermilk for the coffee and the whole milk, so this turned into something that seemed more like a muffin, than a cake. I also added a couple Tablespoons of orange juice to the batter. I omitted the espresso powder from the crumbs.

These muffins were good. I thought the walnuts in the crumb topping were the dominant flavor, but the muffin itself had a nice texture and taste. Slightly tangy from the buttermilk and orange, with a nice spice from the cardamom.

The full recipe makes 12 muffins. I baked them for 18 minutes and they were done.

Go see what the other TWD'er's thought of these recipe and the variations that they made by checking out the leave your link post!

Roasted Peach Ice Cream with Cardamom

A couple of weeks ago, I saw some tweets going around about ice cream making.
Tracey chose the flavor-Roasted Banana Ice Cream from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop, , and a couple of us joined in- Kayte , Margaret and me.
Except, I didn't have any bananas, so I made Roasted Peach Ice Cream instead.
It is pretty fun to bake/cook/ice cream make along with other people who are on twitter. You can share pics (like the delicious one Tracey took of her bananas getting ready to roast, covered in brown sugar) and talk about how the process is coming along.
This recipe was fairly simple. You roast the peaches or bananas with brown sugar in the oven, blend the fruit with whole milk, lemon juice, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Then you let the mixture chill in the fridge and then you churn. I added a dash of cardamom because I love it and also because I had just made Dorie's Dimply Peach Cake which combines peaches and cardamom and they go great together.
I took the pics before the ice cream had firmed up all the way, so the scoop is looking pretty messy. oh well- this was delicious ice cream!
The roasted banana flavor got mixed reviews- mainly that it was really banana-y. Needed some kind of topping, like peanut butter or something. I might just have to make the banana version-sounds like a pretty good excuse to make peanut butter ice cream topping!

You can find the recipe for Roasted Banana Ice Cream on Tracey's blog

One Year Ago-Fresh Peach Ice Cream in Cinnamon Sugar WonTon Cups

Dimply Peach Cake with Lime Curd Swirl

So, I found myself with a little leftover lime curd from the Tiramisu cake and millions of options of what I could do with it were going through my brain. Cakes, muffins, cookies, ice cream- really the possibilities seemed endless, and then I saw the very ripe peaches that needed to be used too.
Dorie's Plum (but in this case, Peach) Dimply Cake is one of my favorite recipes. I made it the first time for myself for Mother's day-check the post out HERE and found the combination of cardamom, orange zest, brown sugar and fruit to be wonderful.
It wasn't too long before someone chose it for TWD and unlike some things that I decide not to make again, I made this cake again and this time made 2 different variations- nectarine with orange zest and peach with lemon and basil- check out the post HERE.

This time I decided to make the cake with peaches, lime zest, cardamom, and then, swirl lime curd into the batter.
Good choice.
I used a jumbo muffin tin and got 6 cakes. I swirled about a Tablespoon of lime curd into the top of each cake and then added 3 peach slices. I baked them for 25 minutes and they weren't done yet, so I kept adding 5 more minutes, until they were finally done.
We ate these for breakfast on a Sunday and my husband loved them! He actually ate 2. There is just something about this cake. It is delicious!

There was still a little bit of lime curd and I turned it into lime curd ice cream, but you will have to wait a couple days to see it- it was fabulous.

Hope you don't mind the little hands- there is always someone trying to steal the food I am taking pictures of!
One Year Ago-Rhubarb Filled Cupcakes, Rhubarb Mini Turnovers, Rhubarb Galette, and Rhubarb Coffeecake

Craving Ellie- MY PICK!!! Curried Butternut Squash Soup and Barefoot Bloggers Bonus- Savory Palmiers, heck why not some Cardamom ones too?

This week's Craving Ellie in Your Belly recipe was chosen by yours truly, Me. I wanted to try her version of Butternut Squash Soup, which is Curried. So, since butternut squash season is upon us, I chose it. I really like this soup, but keep in mind I love butternut squash and I also love curry powder. Some people reported that the honey made this a little too sweet, so I experimented and left the honey out of half of my soup. I liked it both ways, but better without the honey. I used greek yogurt on top, which really helped to calm down a little of the curry. This is a spicy soup and was just what this house of sore throats needed.

The Barefoot Bonus recipe for this week was Savory Palmiers, from Ina's new book, Back to Basics. It was chosen by Becky of Random Musings of a deco lady. This recipe looked really easy and pretty, so I threw it into the cookie plates that I took to a few people in the neighborhood. I also saw these yummy Cardamom-Brown Sugar Palmiers in Sunset magazine and they reminded me of my favorite pastry that I ate when I spent 18 months in Estonia. I decided to do a half batch of each, so I had some savory and some sweet. Super simple, elegant and delicious!

Curried Butternut Squash Soup from The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger

1 Tbls canola oil

1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups) ( I used half shallots)

2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tsps)

one- 2 1/2 pd. butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes

6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth ( I used chicken stock)

1 Tbls +2 tsps curry powder

1/2 tsp salt, + more to taste

2 Tbls honey (I only added honey to half of the soup)

4 tsp plain nonfat yogurt, for garnish (I used greek yogurt)

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the squash, broth, curry powder, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, until the squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat, stir in the honey, and puree until smooth in the pot using an immersion blender or in two batches in a regula blender. Taste and season with salt, if necessary.

To serve, ladle the soup into serving bowls and drizzle with the yogurt.

Savory Palmiers from Ina Garten, Back to Basics
1 package frozen Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, defrosted
1/4 cup prepared pesto, store-bought or homemade (recipe follows)
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese, such as Montrachet
1/4 cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
Kosher salt

Lightly flour a board and carefully unfold one sheet of puff pastry. Roll the pastry lightly with a rolling pin until it’s 9 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches. Spread the sheet of puff pastry with half the pesto, then sprinkle with half the goat cheese, half the sun-dried tomatoes, and half the pine nuts. Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt.
Working from the short ends, fold each end halfway to the center. Then fold each side again toward the center until the folded edges almost touch. Fold one side over the other and press lightly. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat for the second sheet of puff pastry using the remaining ingredients. Cover both rolls with plastic wrap and chill for at least 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cut the prepared rolls of puff pastry into 1/4-inch-thick slices and place them faceup 2 inches apart on sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Bake for 14 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm.

Homemade Pesto from Ina Garten, Back to Basics
makes 4 cups
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 pine nuts
3 tablespoons chopped garlic (9 cloves)
5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups good olive oil
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Place the walnuts, pine nuts, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 30 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the food processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is finely puréed. Add the Parmesan cheese and purée for a minute. Serve, or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.

Cardamom Brown-Sugar Palmiers from Sunset Magazine

Time: 30 minutes, plus chilling time.
Bakers' Tip: As with any super-buttery dough, chilling it makes it much easier to slice.

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cardamom

1 sheet (8.6 oz.) frozen puff pastry dough, thawed according to package instructions
1. Combine brown sugar and cardamom in a small bowl. Unfold dough flat on a work surface and sprinkle evenly with half the sugar mixture.
2. Using a rolling pin, lightly roll sugar into dough so that most of sugar sticks, being careful not to change the shape of the dough. Turn pastry over and sprinkle evenly with remaining sugar.
3. Beginning with the side closest to you, fold in dough, 1 in. at a time, to the center of the rectangle. Repeat with the opposite side. Fold one half on top of other as if closing a book. Wrap dough airtight and chill at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 400°. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 1/2-in. slices. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and lay slices on flat sides about 2 in. apart. Bake slices until doubled in size and golden, about 10 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on trays.
Make ahead: Unbaked palmiers can be frozen up to 2 weeks; baked palmiers may be made up to 2 days ahead and kept airtight at room temperature.

Coming Tomorrow- Butter Cookie Dough- 1 dough turned into 3 Christmas Cookies

Reduced Milk with Cardamom and Mango

I can't even begin to describe how delicious this was! It completely hit the spot as a great dessert after the tofu. We ate it warm and it was sooo good! A couple of people sprinkled cinnamon on top, but I stuck with the cardamom. You have got to try this- seriously it is amazingly delicious! Take it from someone who is not a fan of rice pudding!
Reduced Milk with Cardamom and Mango from Cooking Light
6 cups whole milk

1/3 cup uncooked basmati rice

1/2 cup nonfat sweetened condensed milk

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups chopped peeled mango (about 2 large)

1. Combine whole milk and basmati rice in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium, and gently boil 40 minutes or until mixture thickens. (Mixture will be a chowderlike consistency.) Stir in sweetened condensed milk, cardamom, and salt; cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Spoon 1/2 cup rice mixture into each of 8 dessert bowls. Top each serving with 1/4 cup chopped mango.

Dimply Plum Cake

I wouldn't say this was a complete failure, but it didn't come out exactly as I would have liked. It was still very delicious, but being the overanxious person that I am, I couldn't wait to try it.

This is from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from my home to yours, and it is a breakfast cake. I think my plums halves were too wide and I tried to stuff too many of them into the pan. This caused the baking time to increase and the cake fell apart when I tried to unmold it. All that being said, it was delicious!

Dimply Plum Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cardamom

5 Tbls unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 cup canola oil

grated zest of 1 orange

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

8 purple or red plums, ( don't try to fit all of them, slices might work better then halves)

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 8-inch square baking pan. Put it on a baking sheet. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom. Beat butter at medium speed until soft and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add sugar and beat for 2 more minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. On medium speed, beat in oil, orange zest, and vanilla. The batter will look very light, and smooth, almost satiny. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until incorporated. Run a spatula around the bowl and under the batter, just to make sure there are no dry spots. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Arrange plums, cut side up, in the batter- jiggling the plums a tad just so they settle comfortably into the batter. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top is honey brown and puffed around the plums and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 15 minutes, during which time the plums juice will return to the fruit, then run a knife around the sides of the pan and unmold the cake. Invert and cool right side up.

Cardamom Banana Bread with Pistachios

My brother was begging me to make banana bread with the quickly deteriorating bananas at his house. We went to Cooking Light and found 2 types we wanted to make. This banana bread was delicious and the flavors were excellent together. I know the banana pictures are kinda gross, but they were leaking banana juice all over the countertop!

Cardamom Banana Bread with Pistachios (adapted from Cooking Light)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup egg substitute

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/3 cup finely chopped pistachios

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
Place sugars and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, sour cream, and cardamom; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in pistachios. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool bread completely on wire rack.

Cardamom-Lime Sweet Rolls

I love Cardamom! So, now I am taking every chance I can find to use it. These rolls were delicious. I used the 3/4 tsp of ground cardamom because I love it, but if you are new to the taste try using a little less.

Cardamom-Lime Sweet Rolls

Dough:1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)

1/4 cup warm water (100° to 110°)

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (about 10 1/2 ounces), divided

Cooking spray

Filling:1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon grated lime rind

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

2 tablespoons butter, melted, divided

Glaze:1 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

To prepare dough, dissolve yeast in warm water in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes.
Combine sour cream and next 5 ingredients (through egg) in a large bowl, stirring until well blended. Gradually stir yeast mixture into sour cream mixture. Lightly spoon 2 1/3 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 2 cups flour to sour cream mixture, stirring to form a soft dough.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel slightly tacky).
Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.)
To prepare filling, combine brown sugar, rind, and cardamom.

Divide dough into two equal portions. Working with 1 portion at a time, roll dough into a 12 x 10–inch rectangle; brush with 1 tablespoon butter. Sprinkle half of filling over dough. Beginning with a long side, roll up jelly-roll fashion; pinch seam to seal (do not seal ends of roll). Repeat procedure with remaining dough, 1 tablespoon butter, and filling. Cut each roll into 12 (1-inch) slices. Place slices, cut sides up, in a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Uncover dough. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack.
To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring until smooth. Drizzle glaze over warm rolls.

Yield: 24 rolls

Lots-of-Ways Banana Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Drizzle- featuring my 2 latest obsessions, Baking with Dorie and Cardamom

I know, I know. This is the 10th cake that I have made in less than a week. But it is addicting! And this time, I had a good excuse. I was making dinner to take to someone who just had a baby, so that means we only had half as much cake to eat.
This recipe comes from Baking, from my home to yours- by Dorie Greenspan. To say that I am in love with this cookbook, wouldn't really be a lie. She writes foolproof recipes and they are so easy (so far) and delicious.
The inspiration to make this cake, came to me when I read her words above this recipe, " The inspiration to bake a banana cake always seems to strike when a bunch of bananas are mottling on the counter." I had 4 black bananas that had a very small moment of opportunity left in them. Also, this recipe comes with so many options, you can make it with whatever you have on hand. It calls for nutmeg, but I used Cardamom instead, because everytime I open that little spice jar, I am seriously transported to another place.

Lots-of-Ways Banana Cake
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsps baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (or cardamom-this suggestion is from me!)
1 1/2 sticks (12 Tbls) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar (or granulated sugar)
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 Tbls dark rum or Malibu coconut rum (optional) I used 3 tsp rum extract
About 4 very ripe bananas, mashed (you should have 1 1/2-1 3/4 cups)
1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk, regular (stir before measuring) or "lite" (or whole milk, buttermilk, sour cream, or plain yogurt)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, preferably toasted (or an equal amount of moist, plump fruit, such as currants, raisins, chopped apricots, cranberries, blueberries, or halved cherries, or a combination or coconut and dried fruit)

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-x-2-inch round cake pans, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. (I used Crisco Baking Spray with Flour). Put the pans on a baking sheet.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg together.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fit with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugars and beat at medium speed for a couple of minutesm then add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, followed by the vanilla and rum. You'll have a beautiful satiny batter, Now lower the speed and add the bananas-the batter will curdle, but that's fine; it will come back together as you add the remaining ingredients. Still on low speed, add the dry and liquid ingredients alternately, adding the flour mixture in 3 portions and the coconut milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients). Mix just until everything is incorporated. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently stir in the coconut. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans.

Bake for about 45 minutes (mine were done in 42), or until the cakes are a deep golden brown. They should start to pull away from the sides on the pans and a thin knife inserted into their centers will come out clean. Transfer the cakes to a cooking rack and cool for 5 minutes, then unmold and invert onto another rack to cool to room temperature right side up.

You can frost this as a 2-layer cake, but I just sprinkled both with powdered sugar and then thinned out my leftover Strawberry Buttercream (recipe located in earlier post) with a couple Tbls of milk, drizzled it over the cakes, added a dollop of whipped cream and a couple strawberries. Delicious! It is a good thing we gave one layer away because the one we had left disappeared quickly. Yummy!

Beautiful Golden Brown Color

Our Delicious Dessert- Thank you Dorie!

Zucchini Pistachio Cupcakes and Praline MIni Bundt Cakes

Praline Mini Bundt Cakes (from Betty Crocker)
These mini cakes are a doctored-up cake mix. Start with a yellow cake mix and mix according to directions. Fold in 1/2 cup chopped pecans and 1/2 cup toffee bits. Bake in a mini bundt pan that is greased and floured, for 18-23 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely.
In a 1-qt saucepan melt 1/4 cup butter over medium-high heat. Stir in 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 Tbls corn syrup, 1 Tbls milk, and heat to a rolling boil-stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and immediately whisk in 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Immediately drizzle over mini cakes and sprinkle with additional toffee bits.

Zucchini Pistachio Cupcakes

I saw these cupcakes a while ago in EveryDay with Racheal Ray and have been wanting to try them ever since. I finally got the chance and they are delicious! Click on the link above and try them. They use a yellow cake as a base and the spices mixed in will drive you wild. My kitchen smelled so good after these got out of the oven!