CARDAMOM CREAM CAKE

"Pound cakes flavored with cardamom are popular in Scandinavia. It's best to grind your own cardamom, because the kind that is sold ground quickly loses its flavor. This cake is adapted from a recipe in Scandinavian Feasts by Beatrice Ojakangas."

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon freshly-ground cardamom*
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom, and salt in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Blend in eggs at low speed. Add cream; beat at high speed, scraping bowl, until batter is texture of softly whipped cream. Turn batter into a buttered and floured 9-inch tube pan.

Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in pan. Invert onto wire rack; cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

*Cardamom pods are sold in jars in the spice section of large supermarkets or in Swedish or Indian markets. The pods can be finely ground in an electric spice grinder or coffee grinder.

Servings: 10
Source: Ethnic Chicago Cookbook edited by Carol Mighton Haddix