Friend dates are the best, don’t you think? This one was even great because I got this cardamom pound cake out of it.
I mean, sure romantic dates can be nice, too, but they can also be very very not nice (don’t we all have stories…). Date-dates carry with them expectations, whereas friend-dates more often than not mean guaranteed laughs, lots of stories, and no inhibitions because friends don’t require impressing. They love you for you, just as you are.
It’s been a month of good friend dates for me, and last week K and I took the opportunity to check out a new-to-us restaurant in Evanston. For those of you that don’t know, Evanston is a charming little town just north of Chicago that houses Northwestern University. I rarely head north to go up there unless for work, but we took the opportunity to visit The Cellar, and we both left full and happy and glad we did.
And finally, the star of the night, was the grilled cheese sandwich. Yes, a dessert. It goes like this: pound cake-brie-key lime curd-raspberry jam-whipped cream. Ohmygodyes.
While the grilled cheese sandwich was worthy of a recreation, I thought I’d start with the pound cake. Served with a side of lemon curd.
We’ve already made lemon curd, remember? Recipe + 1 tsp fresh chopped rosemary.
Cardamom Pound Cake
Cardamom Pound Cake takes a classic, family favorite pound cake recipe and gives it a flavor twist, with cardamom and lemon for lightness.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups + 2 TB all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 TB ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2/3 cup milk
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 325. Grease and sugar a standard sized loaf pan.
- Step 2 In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the cardamom, salt, zest and baking powder and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat until well incorporated. Add the vanilla.
- Step 3 Alternate adding the flour with the milk, starting and ending with the flour. Mix just until all the ingredients are incorporated, careful to not over-beat.
- Step 4 Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour, 15 minutes. This may vary depending on your oven.
- Step 5 Let cool in the pan about 15 minutes and then turn out on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Wow, that sounds decadent! In what way do your grilled cheese sandwiches made in a pan not come out right?
Thanks! I feel like the cheese doesn’t melt before the bread starts to burn. Any advice?
yuuum! my key for perfect pan grilled cheese is med-low heat, put a well buttered slice down, cheese, and put a lid on the pan, once the steam/heat melts the cheese, put the top piece of bread on, flip.
This is an excellent tip. I will definitely be using this way from now on!