SPICING UP LIFE WITH CARDAMOM & CAKE...A Cardamom-spiced Cake

?Variety's the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavor?
William Cowper

I think this is a tea cake, full of spices, quite perfect for 'chai' or tea, warm with spicy flavours. The method is also entirely different from most of the cakes I've tried before. It's got a crumb base, & then the batter on top that makes the cake. The boy loved it & couldn't stop asking for me (tch, tch), but the daughter wasn't too excited about it to begin with. But I guess it grows on you, as it grew on her, & soon enough she was back asking for seconds & thirds. Browned Butter Caramel Frosting, (recipe from an earlier Daring Bakers challenge) on top added to it's appeal, or then the dollop of chocolate ganache within, which ensured runaway success. I think this is a pretty versatile cake indeed. The original recipe used pistachios, my favourite nuts (for colour, taste & beauty), but I used almonds here as an alternate as the recipe suggested. Pistachios are quite highly priced here, & I didn't want to weep over precious wasted nuts just in case the cake was a disaster. Other nut substitutes suggested are walnuts, hazelnuts or pecans. If you aren't a huge fan of cardamom, I think the cake might work well with just cinnamon & nutmeg, in which case just omit the cardamom to make a 'Spiced cake'. Another idea might be to omit the spices altogether, & add some chocolate chips with the nuts to make an entirely different version. Think on...

An updated version of the Armenian nutmeg cake, this cake uses different spices and is more like a slice having a cake-like topping.

As adapted from Cooking Class CAKES, The Australian Women's Weekly, pg 103
Ingredients:

1 cup self-raising flour (I used 1 cup flour + 1 tsp baking powder + a pinch of salt)

1 cup flour

1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp ground cloves (I forgot this completely)

125gms cold butter; chopped

1 egg

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup almonds; chopped

Preheat oven to 180C/moderate oven. Grease a 20cm X 30cm Lamington pan, & line the long sides & bottom.

Process the flours, sugar,spices & butter till the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Transfer to a bowl. firmly press 1 1/2 cups of the flour mix into the bottom of the pan.

Use a fork to combine the egg, soda & milk in a jug, add to the remaining flour mixture with nuts, mix well with a wooden spoon. Pour mixture over base in pan, & spread evenly.

Bake cake for about 1 hour (mine took about 45-50 minutes). When done, cool on rack for about 10 minutes. then turn out of pan gently. Cut when cool.