‘Cardamom, the queen of spices, is included in ceremonies to symbolize purity and love’
Wednesday class was cardamom and golden raisins scones with a blueberry vanilla compote. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I simply love anything Cardamom. In fact, Carda-mom was my nickname at culinary school as I added it to everything and acted like a mom by having band aids, tissues and cough drops for anyone who needed them. So, I thought it only appropriate that I introduce my culinary kids to this magical spice.
Cardamom acts as a great counterbalance to anything with sugar in it, so I add it to anything sweet. There isn’t too much added sugar to this, but the raisins do sweeten it up. The kids (half of which said they didn’t like jelly) really loved the blueberry vanilla compote, especially as the fragrance permeated the room. The kitchen is in another room, otherwise they would have had the same experience with the scones. When we cut the scones, their eyes got wide, and they were quick to gobble down as much as possible. You couldn’t taste the cardamom, but you could smell it.
Sorry for the picture again, class was busy and so I took a quick snap before the last student left the room.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, or pastry flour
- ½ cup raw cane sugar, or granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. cardamom powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 8 tbsp. butter, cold or frozen
- ½ cup, cold cream, plus extra for brushing
- 1 egg
- ½ cup golden raisins
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Cardamom Sugar (optional)
- 1 tsp. granulated sugar
- 1/8 tsp. cardamom powder
Method
- Preheat oven to 400F
- In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cardamom powder.
- Whisk the egg. Set aside.
- Grate the frozen butter.
- Add the grated butter to the flour mix. Using your hands, work the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse sand.
- Mix in the cold cream and egg.
- Halfway through mixing, add the golden raisins. Fold a few more times.
- Dump the ruffly mixed dough into the tabletop. Using your hands, shape the dough into a round disk-like shape with a thickness of about 1½” (4cm) and a diameter of about 6″-7″ (15-18cm). Work quickly to prevent melting the butter.
- Make the cardamom sugar mix to sprinkle on top. Set aside.
- Cut into 8 pieces. Brush each piece with milk or cream and sprinkle the cardamom sugar on top. Transfer to parchment paper and put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes (skip if you are teaching this in class).
- After 30 minutes, transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Make sure you have about 2″ (5cm) of space between each scone. They will expand as they bake.
- Bake for about 18-25 minutes, depending on your oven. They should look light golden brown on top and around the edges.
- Let them cool for a few minutes before enjoying.
Notes
- Make sure the butter is very cold. I like to put it in the freezer for up to an hour before grating it.
Blueberry vanilla compote
- 3 cups blueberries
- 3 tbsp. brown sugar/maple/honey
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp. water
- 1 tsp. lemon juice (optional)
- Add all the ingredients to a pan, heat until simmering then bring down to a medium low heat
- Stir to make sure the compote doesn’t burn
- The liquid will reduce, and the mixture will concentrate
- Cook for 10-15 minutes. It will also thicken somewhat in the container.
