Yesterday blew chunks.
It shouldn't have blown chunks.  It should have been amazing.  I'm on vacay from work, we've been doing fun things, we even got the bikes out yesterday and started tuning up and biking a little bit.  But the day just totally blew for me despite everything else.
Let me reverse for a moment... back to 1994.
I'm in University.  I have the Moosewood Cookbook as my favourite, most beloved and (nearly) most used cookbook.  I'm broke.  I want to make this cake.  Cardamom Coffee Cake it's called.  It calls for a whole pound of butter, 2 whole cups of sour cream and 4 eggs.  I'm broke.  I can't spend that kind of money on one cake.
Fast Forward to 2011.  I still want to make the cake.  I'm not as broke but I ain't rollin' in it.  I'm still balking at the pound of butter.  I decide that nothing sounds better to me than a lovely, light, cakey coffee cake infused with cardamom spice.  I decide to go ahead and try it because the world is potentially falling apart and this could be my last chance... and I have to use up this damned sour cream.  I make the cake and.... it BITES!
yeah... totally BITES.  Total and utter disappointment.  My poor family suffered the rest of the day with me in a depressed angry funk.  I had two people taste test it for me just so that I know I'm not crazy.  Those people told me that it wasn't as bad as I've described but I'm sure that they're just being nice.


Here is the synopsis:
1.  I think that it simply has too much butter.
2.  I think that brown sugar might not be the way to go.
3.  I think that between the brown sugar and nut mixture and the butter in the cake it's too overpowering and the cardamom is completely lost.
4.  It needs more cardamom!


I don't want to include the recipe because I'm angry at it (ok and yeah... I adapted it a little bit).  I can't eat the cake because I'm mad.
Moosewood is still my favourite cookbook and I've made some lovely desserts from the book.  This one however, won't be a repeat for me.  Ugh... I've gotta find something good to bake to make up for this disappointment and boost my bruised ego.


Cardamom Coffee Cake adapted from The Moosewood Cookbook

1 lb (2 cups) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups packed light brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp powdered cardamom
2 cups sour cream (yogurt or buttermilk)


Nut Mixture:
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan.
Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside.
In a large bowl beat the butter and brown sugar until it's light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs (one at a time, mixing each one in) and then the vanilla.  Beat well.
Add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream - beginning and ending with the flour.  Don't overmix.
Combine the nut mixture in a bowl.
Spoon 1/3 of the batter into the pan.  Sprinkle with half the nut mixture.  Spoon another 1/3 of the batter over that.  Sprinkle the other half of the nut mixture.   Spoon the remainder of the cake on top.  Spread lightly.
Bake about 1 1/4 hrs or until a tester comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for about 15 min. or so and then remove to a wire rack to cool.