Sugar!

[resonant]

Anybody want to give me your most wonderful recipe for a Valentine's day dessert?

Ideally one that doesn't make huge quantities, so that the three of us can eat it all on the day itself and not have leftovers sitting around tempting us later?

Comments

[vee-fic.livejournal.com]

Mmm, cardamom. I'm curious as to why crushing them rather than soaking them in the liquid and then removing them; is it merely a function of the time needed to soak, or is there a difference in flavor?

Me, I don't do fruity mincemeat, but I have been known to use blackberry jam in between two layers of a cake. Especially when the cake is chocolate. For an allspice/nutmeg-flavored cake, maybe apple butter or marmalade or even Nutella would be a good choice.

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

Oh, sorry, that was unclear-- the cardamom was crushed and then thrown right into the batter, along with the rum and brandy. (And it was seeds specifically, not pods, which one usually does soak.)

The spice flavor is not terribly intense with those quantities; I wanted the cake to be fairly mild, so as not to overwhelm the filling. If I were making it without mincemeat, which was heavily spiced, I'd probably double all the spices. I bet it would be good with apple butter, though.