Vanilla Bean Cardamom Bundt Cake with Chai Tea Syrup

My future sister-in-law, Andrea, just came back from a trip to Madagascar, and she sent me whole vanilla beans. When I got them, I was SOOOO excited. I've seen vanilla beans used on cooking shows and I have always wanted to use some myself, but they tend to be pretty pricey. When I received these, my first thought was "I have to find a recipe!" This is what I came up with: Vanilla Bean Cardamom Bundt Cake with Chai Tea Syrup from http://weekofmenus.blogspot.com

You gotta smell this cake

I've never cooked with cardamom and didn't even know what to expect, and wow, its some strange stuff. I bought a jar (the stuff is pretty expensive) and got to work. Here is the recipe:


Cardamom Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake with Chai Soaking Syrup
Makes 10-inch bundt cake, serving 12 to 14

Cake
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons ground cardamom powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds removed (empty vanilla bean used for the syrup)
1 cup sour cream

Syrup
Ingredients
⅓ cup water
⅔ cup granulated sugar
2 chai tea bags (whatever you like)
Leftover vanilla bean pods (for extra flavor)

Method
Place rack in center of oven, and preheat oven to 350. Grease and lightly flour inside of 10 inch bundt pan.

Whisk together flour, ground cardamom, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

Using either a stand mixer (paddle attachment) or a hand mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add sugars and beat at medium-high speed until the mixture is light in texture and color, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating for 30 to 40 seconds after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Beat in vanilla bean. At low speed, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with sour cream. (Add a bit of flour, a bit of sour cream, a bit of flour, a bit of sour cream, a bit of flour.)

Scoop batter into pan and spread with spatula. Smooth with spatula.

Bake cake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then invert it onto another rack. Place the cake, on the rack, over a baking sheet.

While cake is baking, make syrup. Combine water, sugar, teabags and empty vanilla pod in a small non reactive saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Using a pastry brush, dab syrup generously all over surface of the warm cake, allowing it to soak into the cake before reapplying. Let the cake cool completely.

Finished product... yummy

Busy Weekend Part 1: Hibiscus Tea

So it was a busy weekend in my kitchen...

I don't know where exactly I first got it in my head to make hibiscus tea, but I did. After some quick internet research I learned that I could buy dried hibiscus flowers online or in certain food stores. So on Friday night, I ventured out to the oriental market. They didn't have them. Then I went to the global market and buffet down the street. They had them (from Lebanon). Then, while I was at publix later, I found them there too. At publix, they were in the Jamaican/Haitian section (in S. FL we have a Jamaican/Haitian section next to the Asian foods).

Hibiscus flowers taste like a cross between citrus, berry, pomegranate flavors. It supposedly has some great health benefits, such as lowering blood pressure and tons of vitamin C.

To make the tea, just take about 2 cups of the dried flowers and 1/2 cup of brown sugar, and steep in 4 cups of boiling water for 10 minutes. Add another 4 cups of cold water and chill. You can also add some sliced oranges and cinnamon (many of the traditional recipes call for cinnamon sticks to be steeped with the flowers).

Yumm

This tea is pretty strong, but its also good mixed with one cup of plain green tea or cut simply with water.

Kale Chips, Butternut Squash Fries, and Bubble Tea

Happy Summer! I haven't been doing much baking lately, mostly because when I come home I don't feel like doing much besides this...

"mmmm, so cuddly"

But otherwise, I've just been lazy. I been wanting to make a few items that I bought ingredients for, but just haven't gotten around to it. As my father always told me (sarcastically, after seeing me bringing home my flute every night but rarely ever practicing) "All good deeds start with good intentions." So, in the same line of thought, I tend to buy ingredients for projects but it takes me awhile to get around to making it.

But veggies can only wait so long. This week, I had a few free nights so here's what I made.

Kale Chips

I saw this recipe somewhere online a few weeks ago and was immediately intrigued. Kale chips? All you have to do is wash the kale, pat it dry, spread it on a baking sheet (mine was lined with foil so I didn't have to wash the pan... ah laziness), mist with pam (or other spray oil) and sprinkle it with salt or other seasonings (I recommend garlic powder), and bake it for ~5-10 minutes in a 425 degree oven. The kale comes out crispy, light, and AMAZING. It has the taste of slightly overcooked potato chips. Its surprisingly good and satisfying. They're so easy to make and very healthy. You can eat the whole pan and its only about 50 calories.

Also on the same night (once the oven is hot I like to go with it...)

Butternut Squash Fries!

Butternut Squash fries are just like sweet potato fries. Similar texture and taste. Just cut them thin, spray with oil and sprinkle with seasoning, and the bake at 425 for ~30 minutes. I like them dark and toasty. This picture was taken after I flipped them. I didn't get a picture of the finished product as I was too busy inhaling them.

Last, I made bubble (boba) tea. If you're not familiar, brace yourself.

Bubble tea is a popular drink in Asia (at least from what I hear. I've never been there). Its a drink made from tea, juice, watered down smoothy, or whatever you want with "bobas" at the bottom. The bubbles, which look like what I imagine octopus eggs look like, are made with tapioca pearls. They come in a variety of colors, usually black, but the ones I found at my local oriental market (a fun place to spend a few hours, trust me) are green:

Bubbles! aka tapioca pearls

I followed the direction on the package, basically boiled water, dropped them in and let them boil until they floated, then reduced heat to medium and left them with the top on for 5-6 minutes. At the same time I made a simple syrup (1 c. water + 1 c. sugar, boiled) and put the bubbles into the syrup to cool. 

Finished bubbles

To make my finished drink, I put the bubbles in a cup, poured a few T. of the syrup on top, added milk, and cool peach green tea and mixed together. To drink, you need a big straw (I got this one from Panera... they use them with their smoothies). Yumm. The bubbles have a fun chewy texture and the drink is refreshing!

Ta-daa!