I can't find words for how much I want to bake RIGHT NOW.  I really can't find them.  'Itching' doesn't come close.  'Desperate' - nope, that's not it.  'Obsessing'... now that's getting closer.  I was seriously contemplating calling in sick just so that I could stay home and bake for the day.  The thought of kids being at school and having the house to myself, to play loud music, drink red wine and get flour all over me was hard to resist.  But I did resist.  Doesn't mean that I'm not still obsessing.  I've got visions of dark, dark, dark chocolate cake, s'mores cookies, ginger-carrot cupcakes and lemon loaf with sugar crackle topping going through my head almost all of the time.
Unfortunately, there is no time this week to get into any baking projects.  This is probably a good thing at the end of the day but its not helping my mood.  We now have a houseful of candy as well.  From Hallowe'en.  Ugh - crappy candy right.  To make the pile even bigger, the weather was so disagreeable here in Toronto that there weren't many kids out trick or treating and so almost many places were handing out larger quantities of candy in order to get rid of it all.  The kids appreciated it.


For Hallowe'en we always leave something simmering slowly and quietly on the stove while we trick or treat and then come back and eat it later.  Usually this quiet, simmering thing is usually chili.  I did in fact make a kickin' chili but I was hankering for something else as well... and as I've already mentioned, I didn't have time for the baking 'hanker'.


So, in honour of my first cabbage of the season, I pulled out the bacon and things just came together from there.  This is so easy I feel kind of lame putting it out here.  It tastes so good though that you'll understand exactly why I did.  I should add that this is my first parsnip haul of the season as well and it should be noted that here, at the end of October, marks me finally and fully embracing a new season.  Braised until it melts in your mouth, caramelised onion and chewy bacon.  Makes you want to curl up on the couch with a blanket, a glass of wine, a magazine and a good movie... and a snuggler.  In fact, once the kids were in bed, that's exactly what I did.  Baking be damned.


Braised Cabbage with Bacon and Mushrooms
serves 4

5 cups cabbage cut into 2 inch slices (i.e. thick)
1/2 cup onion, diced
4 - 5 slices of bacon, diced
2 small parsnips, thinly sliced
2 - 3 cups mushrooms (I used button for this), halved
3 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
2 tbsp honey

Heat a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat.
Add in 2 tbsp of oil and the bacon.  Cook for just a minute then add in the onion.  Cook for about 3 - 4 minutes.  Turn the heat down to med/low and add in the cabbage and the parsnips.  Cook together for another 5 - 7 minutes or until the cabbage begins to soften.
Add the mushrooms and soy sauce or tamari.  Stir well.
Turn the heat down a little again and let things simmer quietly for about 15 minutes.
Add in the honey and check the taste.  Adjust if necessary.
Serve.

There are about 5 things that I want to talk about in depth today.  I can't talk about all five.  They're just rolling around in my head - please tell me that I'm not the only one who has all kinds of crazy thoughts rolling around in their heads... please.  Sometimes it almost hurts.  Sometimes it's just easier to tune it out because I have too much that has to get done and not enough time to do it all and the stuff rolling around in there just makes the 'getting through' of it all the harder.
I've been reading this crazy-ass, awesome, terrifying book.  It's intense.  So intense that there have been times when I don't realize it until I turn the page but I've been holding my breath whilst reading.  Intense.  The mix of emotions runs from fear to frustration, despair to anger.  It's the kind of book that already by page two I knew I would have to read again.  Just the first chapter alone is worth the price of the book.
Then there is work.  I've been ramping up my game.  Getting myself out there more.  Getting my opinions out there more.  Throwing myself into the ring essentially.  What I've realised is that all of this good stuff that's going on means I have to work harder.  I have more responsibilities which require more time.  There are weeks when that is bearable and there are other weeks when it's a complete avalanche.  This week was an avalanche.
Then there is me still pining for summer.  Wishing that the temperatures were just a little warmer, wishing that I could still go out and pick tomatoes.  I'm trying to adjust my expectations but it's hard to motivate myself to get out there for a run or hop on my bike to work when it's cold and rainy.  I'm working on it.  I'm managing to wrap my head around fall and winter veggies again so I'm choosing to look at this as a positive start.
Then, while attempting to post my latest cookie endeavour I discovered that the photo host that google uses couldn't support any more pictures - it was full.  There had not been a notification or anything - it just stopped working.  Although I was totally bummed I set out to fix the problem.  Not being a super-techie it took me a couple of days and set me back with my posts last week.  I was totally bummed about that however, I've figured it out.


And finally, one of my best friends is moving away this week.  Not like another continent far but Toronto to Ottawa far.  Far enough.  Too far for me and I'm bummed about it but I'm trying to stay positive for him.  My other BFF KT has just gotten another beautiful baby to nurture for the next while.   So our plans to do a belated birthday celebration for the two of us (we didn't have a chance to celebrate either one of our birthdays when they really happened) - a day of just us - is going on hold.  Sure it's a bit of a drag but I'm determined to be happy for her because it's clear that giving these little babies a loving start is what is keeping her going these days.


So with these things 'rolling around' I made bread.  I've been using red fife for everything lately and I promise that in a near future post I will explain why I've fallen in love with using red fife so much.  This bread has combined my fave red fife, my love of honey and KT's favourite - Oats.  I was so sure that she would love it that I gave her the better part of one of my loaves.  She told me that this was by far the best bread I've given her yet.  That's cool.


Red Fife, Honey and Oats Bread adapted from epicurious
makes 2 loaves

2 1/2 cups Red Fife or Whole Wheat flour
2 1/2 - 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tbsp salt
2 cups milk
1 cup oats (not the 'quick cooking' stuff)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp dry yeast (2 packages)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup honey

Butter a bowl for rising and set aside.
Warm the milk just enough to feel warm but not simmering.  Remove from the heat and add in the oats.  Stir to combine.  Cool for about 7 - 10 minutes.  Once cooled slightly then add in the melted butter and 1/2 cup of honey.  Stir to combine.
Warm the water just a little warmer than luke-warm (no where near 'tea' water) and combine with 1 tsp of honey and the yeast.  Stir just to combine and set aside for about 5 minutes to get foamy and yeasty smelling (if it doesn't get foamy then it's no good - start the water thing over).
Combine the Red Fife flour and 2 cups of the all purpose together with the salt.
Once the yeast is all foamy and perfect add it to the milk and honey mixture.
Add all of the liquid to the flour and mix well to form into a wet dough ball.  Add a little more all purpose flour here if necessary.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 6 - 10 minutes.  I ended up using about 3 cups of all purpose at the end of the day just to give you a ball-park for what you might find you need to add.  Add all purpose flour a little at a time and keep the surface lightly floured.  Once the dough ball  is firm but still a bit tacky to the touch place the dough into the buttered bowl.  Turn it over so that the whole ball has been greased.  Cover with a clean cloth and let rise in a warm, draft free spot (my oven with the oven light on) for anywhere from 1 - 1 1/2 hrs or until doubled in size.
Butter 2 med/sm loaf pans.
Punch it down and knead just enough to divide it into 2 balls.  Form each into a loaf shape and place into a buttered loaf pan.  Cover each and let rise for another hour - or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 375˚F.
(Optional: Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with oats)
Bake the bread for about 35 - 40 minutes or until nicely golden brown and sounds hollow when you knock on it.
Let it cool for 15 - 20 minutes before slicing.

It's time to talk about birthdays.  If you've been reading any of the drivel that I manage to churn out two or three times a week then you'll know by now that birthdays are important for me.  I can go without any other gift giving holiday without blinking... but not the birthday.  I've always wondered at people who don't celebrate, don't feel like it's a big deal, don't care or (horror of horrors) simply forget.  I've wondered if it's age, if it's nature, if it's nurture (you know I had to go there).  I never took long to wonder about it before moving on to think some more about my own birthday.  Then a funny thing happened...
Last year was really not a great year for us.  Finances were down... way down.  This is not irregular in a house with two musicians.  Might be a little more irregular in a house with two lawyers, right?  Either way, we were kinda crunched.  My last birthday I didn't really have the spirit in me to do anything big. Too much other stuff going on, too tired, too broke and quite frankly, I just didn't need anything.  Then our anniversary rolled around and we didn't remember until we got a card in the mail from my Mom.  It just totally passed us by.  I think that was the point when I realized that I had made a significant paradigm shift around presents and stuff.
So when this birthday came around (almost a month ago - I'm sorry) I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  I didn't want any big jewellery or bags or clothes or shoes or furniture or... I wanted chocolate.  That's all I asked for.  Chocolate.


Chocolate from this place.  I love it but I never get there.  It's not far but just far enough for me not to get there as much as I would like.  So D got me chocolate.  Flourless chocolate cake, chocolate truffles, chocolate with red pepper and salt, old fashioned chocolate and two more bars of amazing, gorgeous dark chocolate.  I'm pretty sure that they had to significantly restock after D left the place.  I was thrilled and determined to do something amazing with some of that chocolate.


Well, here it is... something amazing.  Cookies.  They're gorgeous and I'm happy.  I feel like I've celebrated my birthday all over again.  Rich goes without saying but that's ok because you don't want to eat a lot of these.  You want to savour them lovingly.  I made them with dark chocolate chunks because, well it's my party and I'm into simplicity at the moment.   You can use whatever you would like on the inside of yours.  So long as the quality is top notch 'cause that will make a huge difference with these.


Chocolate Brownie Drops adapted from Alice Mendrich in 'Hello' Magazine
makes about 2 doz med/small cookies

4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into chunks
8 oz dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids), chopped
1/3 + 1 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 cup (less 2 tbsp) sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 lg eggs
3/4 cup dark, milk or white chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350˚ F - make sure that your racks are place in the top and bottom thirds of the oven.
Line a cookie sheet or two with parchment or a silicon liner.
Get a small amount of water barely simmering in a pot that is wide enough to have a bowl set over it.  In a heat proof bowl add the butter and 8 oz of dark chocolate together.  Stir until it's just melted and warm.
Whisk together the flour and baking and set aside.
Once the chocolate/butter is ready whisk in the sugar, salt and vanilla.  Add in the eggs and whisk until completely mixed.  Add the flour and continue stirring (wooden spoon is recommended here) until the batter starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and is glossy smooth.  Making sure that the batter is completely cooled stir in the last of the chocolate (if the batter is warm then... yeah, it will melt).
Spoon by tbsp's onto the prepared cookie sheet leaving some room to expand between the cookie mounds.
Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until the surface has cracked but it still has some give when you press it gently.
Place on cooling racks and store in air tight containers.

The fall is here and you know it for sure when you get a bunch of sage and a butternut squash in your kitchen.  I'm not sure how I feel about fall just yet and to be honest I haven't given myself the time to think about it.  What matters most to me in the moment is how I deal with the food that the season brings me.


Butternut squash.  I've said it many times throughout numerous blog posts just how challenged I feel by winter veggies.  I'm sure that I'm not alone.  We've all (at least in North America) been programmed to eat our '5 a day' fruit and veggies.  How the hell are you gonna do that in the middle of winter?  In fact, in my part of the world it's impossible to do that for most of the year.  Answer: ship it in.  From Brazil, Honduras, Chile... wherever.  Ship it all in.  Blueberries fresh from... Argentina.  Strawberries fresh from Venezuela.  Tomatoes fresh from California.  You get the picture.  Tearing yourself away from that isn't easy and we allow ourselves a little 'treat' once in a while.  Most of the time though our fruit is of the home canned variety or over-wintered apples and pears.  Veggies are harder though.  I've got a freezer full of summer vegetables that have been par-boiled and flash frozen but it's not enough to get me through.  So I made a decision last year to get friendly with winter vegetables.  The kind we've all forgotten about (or purposely obliterated from our memory).  Last year I made a good dent in my mission.  I got really well acquainted with cabbage and turnip and rutabaga.  This year I want to get squash and celeriac into my life.  The best part of the mission is that it's good for you.  I mean really good for you.  All those root veggies are packed with good stuff.


This recipe is my first 'fall' try.  I'll be honest with you, I didn't love it.  I browned the butter a little too long and it kinda turned black and then when I added it to the flour to make the béchamel it turned grey.  Ick.  Then the butternut stuff got too gloopy and I really didn't have enough time to make it all into the kind of food magic that I was hoping for.  The fam have been eating this with no problem.  I'm still wrapping my head around it.  I still like it in principle and I want to try it out again making some variations before I give up on the idea completely.  I've made a couple of changes to the recipe already and have reflected them below.  I toyed with the idea of not posting this at all but I think that in the spirit of what I do 'When I'm not at Work' and also desperately needing to get another post out there, it was important for this one to be here.  I'm hoping that you get inspired and write to me with some things for me to start making.  Fall, Here We Come.


Butternut Squash Lasagna Roll-Ups adapted from "How Sweet It Is'
serves 6 - 8

12 - 14 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente
3lb butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cut into chunks
olive oil
3/4 cup onion, sliced
3 - 4 cups mushrooms (the wilder the better) sliced
2 cups (about 3 large leaves) Kale, chopped
1/4 cup sage, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup cream
1 tsp salt
1 cup (200 g) goat cheese

Bechamel:
12 sage leaves
6 tbsp butter
6 tbsp flour
3 3/4 - 4 cups warm milk
1 veggie boullion cube
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp pepper sauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter a large, high sided baking dish and set aside.
Toss the chunks of squash in enough olive oil so that everything is nicely coated.  Place on a baking sheet and roast for about 40 minutes or until nicely browned on the outside and very soft.  Remove from the oven and set aside.
Meanwhile:
In a heavy bottomed saucepan heat the butter over medium heat and add in the sage leaves.  Cook the sage in the butter just until they start to get crispy then remove them and set them aside.  Add the flour to the butter and whisk until it forms a paste.  Slowly add in the warm milk, whisking continuously, until all the milk has been added.  Continue to whisk over med/low heat until the liquid starts to thicken.  Then add in the boullion cube, salt, honey, nutmeg, ginger and pepper sauce.  Check the taste and adjust if necessary.  Set aside.
Heat a large pan and saute the onion and mushrooms in a bit of olive oil until both are soft and the onion is beginning to brown.  Add in the kale and sage and cook just until the kale has wilted.
Place the butternut squash in a bowl and mash (or use a hand blender) until it's completely mushy.  Add in the sautéed onion mixture and mix well.  Add in the cream and salt and mix.  Check the taste and adjust if necessary.
Put a little bit of the béchamel sauce in the bottom of the baking dish.
Take a lasagna noodle and spread it with 4 tbsp (or so) of the squash mixture.  Sprinkle a little of the goat cheese on that.  Roll up the lasagna noodle.  Place the noodle sideways in the baking dish.  Continue until all of the squash mixture is finished.
Pour the rest of the béchamel over the noodles.  Sprinkle the top with the crispy sage leaves that were set aside.
Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until golden and bubble on top.
Let it rest for about 15 - 20 minutes before serving.

I am in rambling mode at the moment.  So rather than make this post about any one thing in particular I'm going to shoot out my thoughts in no particular sequence other than how they pop into my head.

1.  I'm tired of politics.  I don't even live in the U.S. and I'm tired of politics.  Maybe if there was a real difference between the political parties than I might understand some of the conviction and vehemence. However, realistically there isn't much difference and it seems kinda, well, silly from the outside looking in.  I'm saying this as a Canadian where we are essentially in the same boat except we have 3 parties instead of 2 - big diff.  BTW, don't we all know the game?  It's all just grand standing.  I love how Peabody put it.
2.  Every year I tell myself I'm going to get better organised about clearing up my garden.  Every single year.  And then it's the middle or end of October and I'm looking out at wilted tomato plants still in the ground.  Why is it so hard to get out there and pull the damn plants up?
3.  It still makes me agitated when I see people putting out there that they are boycotting certain 'food' products because they contain High Fructose Corn Syrup or Hydrogenated Palm Oil or some kind of Soy concentrate thing.  It amazes me that after all this time we are still convinced that pre packaged food is easier or more convenient.  Guess what, make real food and then you pretty much don't have to worry about that crap anymore (with a few exceptions ;-)
4.  Even though I'm kinda working toward less and less sugar in my life (does that count against #3 BTW) I still have a boat load of birthday chocolate to bake my way through.  And yes, I do dream about the brownies and chocolate chip cookies the chocolate will make.


5.  I made cookies today for the first time since the summer (and even then I think I only made one or two batches of cookies for the whole summer).  I love making cookies.  My BFF KT has said goodbye to a beautiful little bundle that she and G fostered for the last 6 months.  The little bundle is 6 months old so they've been there since the beginning.  I can't imagine having to give that gift away so soon.  It's hard not to be utterly and completely depressed I think.  However, KT is one of the most emphatically positive people I know (I think that she likes me because we are such polar opposites) and if there is a way to put a positive spin on this than KT will find that way.  I think that some of her favourite things in the world include molasses, oatmeal and ginger so I'm going to take some of these fantastic cookies (and trust me, they are fantastic... or maybe I just haven't been eating many cookies lately) over to her and see if they don't just help to kick start the 'positive spin' machine.


6.  I like things that aren't mucked up too much.  This recipe originally called for chocolate shavings and dried apricot.  I couldn't do it.  I wanted to straight up ginger cookie.  I wasn't disappointed.  And yeah, I ate the cookie.


Ginger Cookies adapted from 'SuperNatural Everyday' by Heidi Swanson
makes about 2 dozen med/small cookies

1 cup whole wheat or red fife flour
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsulfured blackstrap molasses
2 tbsp ginger, peeled and freshly grated
1 egg
3 - 4 tbsp coarse grain sugar, in a bowl and set aside.

Combine the flours, baking powder, ginger and salt together.  Mix well and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment or a silicon liner and set aside.
Melt the butter - only just - and combine with the sugar by removing the butter from the heat source and mixing well with the sugar.  That way the sugar will melt into the butter well.  Add in the grated ginger and the molasses.  Mix well.  Make sure that the mixture isn't too hot - should be just barely warm at this point.  Add in the egg and mix well.
Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the wet ingredients.  Mix just until everything is incorporated.  Form the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls (approximately).
Roll each ball in the sugar that was set aside.  Place each on the cookie sheet and press down just a little.
Bake for anywhere from 7 - 12 minutes depending on your oven and the size of your cookies.  The cookies should be just golden on the bottom.
Remove to a cooling rack and store in an airtight container.

We had an interesting conversation around the dinner table today, Kid #1 and I.
It was one of those existential things.  Kid #1was telling me about what she thinks about when she's bored in class.  On one hand I'm alarmed that my kid is bored in class often enough to know what she thinks about when she's bored.  On the other hand, I'm glad that she's not just thinking about what jeans she wants to buy or who she's going to text as soon as school is done.
So apparently Kid #1ponders mysteries like:
 - I can't believe that I am a person on this planet.  I exist in this space.
 - How did I get here?
 - What if I wake up one day and remember a past life?
 - What if I don't?
 - What if religion has the afterlife wrong?
 - What if it has it right?  Ack.
 So all of this kind of conversation reminded me of my own crazy/awesome thoughts when I was younger (I think as you get older the conversation still happens you start brooding over it more - it gets darker).  I remember staring at myself in a mirror and wondering at the person staring back at me.  That was me.  That was the 'me' that people understood when they heard my name.  I would stare at the skin on my hand and think about how weird limbs are as extensions of our brains - our thoughts.  I was totally overwhelmed by the question of how differently I would understand myself if I had never seen myself in a mirror or in pictures (that is actually a pretty cool thing to think about for a while).  I became fascinated with the idea of waking up someday and finding that I am my baby self in my bed.  I would discover that I had dreamt my life and now had the chance to live it over again.  The coolest thing is how you feel when you have these thoughts.  It feels like you must be the deepest thinker ever.  You're pretty sure that nobody has ever asked those particular questions before.  It takes a while (and probably a couple of undergrad philosophy courses) to realize that you are not alone.  We all wonder these things.  It is, in fact, one of the things that connects us all.  How we connect to our 'self', how we feel about the length of our life and our desire to extend that life.


It was a pretty cool conversation.
We ate Lamb Meatballs while we had the conversation.  Novel first off because I wasn't eating salad and secondly because the meatballs were delicious.  Absolutely delicious.  I wish I could eat them all over again.  I wish that I could wake up and realize that I dreamed the whole thing and then enjoy them all over again.  The reality is that I'll have to just find my way back to the farmers market and get some more ground lamb and make them again.  Damn reality.

Lamb Meatballs in spicy Eggplant and Tomato Sauce adapted from Bon Appetit
serves

Meatballs:
1 1/2 lbs ground lamb
1 egg
2/3 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1 tbsp each parsley, oregano and basil
1 tbsp honey

Sauce:
4 - 5 cups fresh tomato, chopped
3 cups eggplant, diced
1/2 an onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 lg red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1/3 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper sauce
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar or honey
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
a little parmesan for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicon (non-stick) mat.  Toss the eggplant in some oil (a generous amount that I brushed onto the eggplant so that it wouldn't just soak in a be gone), sprinkle with salt and spread out on the baking sheet.  Bake for about 12 - 15 minutes.  Add the red pepper and toss with the eggplant.  Bake for another 12 - 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and remove from the baking sheet.  Set aside.
Meanwhile, combine all of the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl and mix it all together (give your hands a good wash and then dig in).  Once everything is well incorporated form the meatballs into 1 1/2 inch balls (or so) and place on the same baking sheet.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until they're looking a little bubbly and maybe just slightly turning brown.  Remove from oven and set aside.  Keep the oven on.
In a large, heavy bottomed saucepan heat a little olive oil over medium heat.  Add in the onion once the oil has heated.  Cook for about two or three minutes.  Turn the heat down to med/low and add in the tomato.  Cook together for about 5.  If the tomatoes are bubbling too much you can turn the heat down a little more.  Cook for about 10 minutes altogether and then add in the eggplant, peppers and garlic.  Cook together for a few more minutes.  Add in the herbs, salt, pepper sauce, honey and Worcestershire.   Check the tastes and adjust if necessary.
Combine the sauce and the meatballs in a baking dish.  Cover and bake for about 20 minutes.
Cool for about 15 minutes before serving and sprinkle with a little parmesan if that strikes your fancy.

It's Thanksgiving weekend in Canada.  It's the perfect kind of fall weekend.  It's kind of grey but the trees are the brightest shades of crazy.  The breeze is blowing just the way you would expect a fall breeze to blow with the just the right amount of bite to it.  It gets dark at precisely the right time now, about 7p.m. 'ish'.
With everything that has been going on lately we all don't feel terribly celebratory but still managed to fit in a lovely dinner with my parents.  I realized that when it comes to these kinds of holiday weekend things I have two terrible habits:
1.  I don't post things here in enough time for you to make them should you desire to do so.  That sucks.  It also explains why desserts from my last two years of Thanksgiving posts have gotten so many hits lately.
2.  I choose to make a dessert that I have never tried before.  That renders the whole thing an experiment.  I'm not sure that it's fair to my family to experiment on them all of the time.  It's pretty much all that D and kid #1 and #2 get these days so they're pretty used to it.


As far as bad habits go this is a pretty tame list I suppose.  As far as experiments go this one was mostly successful.   As far as you making this in time for any Thanksgiving celebration... well, if you live in the U.S. then it will be no problem.


Cardamom and I don't have a happy history but I can't resist how it smells.  The thought of that smell along with some coffee flavour hooked me in.  The cake itself is quite dense and once it cooled from the oven I realized that it was pretty thin.  So thin in fact that I decided to cut the cake in half and pile it on top of itself instead of lengthwise (thereby making two VERY thin layers).  The result was a cake that 6 could devour quite easily - so you won't be looking at a whole lot of leftovers.  Down side: people might think that you've left half of the cake somewhere else or you just got hungry before you served it.
I would spice this a little more.  Hit it with a little more cardamom in the cake and make sure that the coffee is very strong.  I would also add a little vanilla to the cake.
All around though if you want something that isn't disgustingly sweet and has a nice hit of spice to it then this might be worth a go for you.  If you want a 'whole' round cake then I might suggest doubling the batter and making two cakes.
If you are celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend then I wish you all the best bounty of the season.  If you are celebrating next month then you can sit back and relax for a bit still.  If you don't celebrate at all then enjoy the time you have until the next big holiday to organise and prepare.  If you are already sick of dry turkey then feel free to come over... I'm making lamb stew.


Cardamom and Coffee Sponge adapted from BBC Food 
makes 1 round cake
serves 8

3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
3 tbsp strong coffee (I used instant espresso)
8 cardamom pods, broken, seeds removed and finely ground
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Cream Filling:

1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp strong coffee
3 cardamom pods, broken, seeds removed and finely ground

Glaze:

1/2 cup icing sugar
2 - 3 tbsp strong coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter and flour a 23cm round cake pan (I used one that's a springform) and set aside
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Mix and set aside.
Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs and continue to beat until almost frothy.  Add in the coffee and the freshly ground cardamom seeds.  Beat together briefly.
Whisk the flour mixture into the liquid until the flour is all mixed in.
Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake for about 25 - 30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
I did a little drop of the baked cake onto the counter top a couple of times just to try and remove as much air as possible... the cake will sink less.
Once the cake has completely cooled remove the cake from the pan and with a sharp knife cut sideways through the cake until it has a top and a bottom.
Filling:
Whip the cream until it's fluffy and getting firm.  Add in the icing sugar and continue to whip until it's quite firm.  Stir in the ground cardamom seeds.  Plop the whipped cream on the top of the bottom layer of the cake.  Make sure that the cream is evenly spread.  Place the top layer of the cake over the cream.
Glaze:
Combine the icing sugar and coffee and whisk until it forms a pourable mixture.  Pour over the top of the assembled cake.
Serve.