Semlor everywhere right now. Have you had one yet? These are some of my favorite variations, spotted on Instagram. Which one should I bake first?
01. My perfect semla, from Svedjan Bageri – where all the dairy products come from a local farm, and Pär and Johanna make the most wonderful milk, cream, butter, and cheese. 02.Semmelpannkakstårta – a layered crêpes-cake, almond paste, and whipped cream. 03.Prinsess-semla – I’m not quite sure exactly how these are assembled, but imagine this: a soft cardamom bun, raspberry compote, almond filling, and loosely whipped cream. I have to try! 04.Semmelsnittar – crisp, golden slices of semla-flavored cookie dough, made for dipping into softly whipped cream. 05. Krumel’s semla cookie – cardamom, chunky bits of salted almonds, and filled with vanilla cream and almond past. 06. Doma’s glassbåtssemla – a take on the classic, with the crisp shell of an ice cream boat, filled with almond filling and ice-cream.
When I decided to write about cardamom ice-cream, I knew I had to begin by tracing the spice’s origins in Swedish baking. And it’s been a journey, one possibly even longer than cardamom’s itself!
From what I’ve been able to gather, its path to Sweden is shrouded in mystery, starting in the distant lands of South Asia and the Middle East. As trade routes expanded, the spice eventually found its way to Europe and the Nordic countries, carried by the Moors, perhaps, or by Roman or Byzantine traders.
Magnus Nilsson, chef-owner of the – closed – restaurant Fäviken, wrote that “cardamom is a spice that has been used in the Nordic countries since the Middle Ages, most likely because of trade links with the East. It was and still is a very expensive spice, and historically it was a marker of wealth and status.” (Nilsson, 2015, p.96).
Fast-forward many centuries, and cardamom has found a home in every Swedish kitchen. From kardemummabullar to semlor, from pepparkakor to vörtbröd, cardamom is most definitely not used scarcely.
Is it its warming and pungent flavour that pairs so perfectly with the harsh winters. Or Sweden’s history as a trading nation, where spices like cardamom, cinnamon, and saffron were highly sought after?
Whatever the reason may be, there is one thing I know for sure. Cardamom’s journey as a staple in Swedish baking is as fascinating as it is delicious.
From Hjelpreda I Hushållningen För Unga Fruentimber, Cajsa Warg (1755)
In a recipe for små pepparkakor [small gingersnaps] she writes about cardamom – cardemummor [modern spelling: kardemumma] along with cinnamon, lemon zest, and bitter orange zest.
For a reason I quite can’t grasp the name of these spices are written in a different typography and other ingredients – like flour or cream of tartar – are not.
“Make a sirup using 5 pounds sugar and one liter water, which is beaten in a trough. Then, add 5 pounds good flour in there and mix immediately with 1 1/2 lod* cardamom, 1/2 lod mace, 1 1/2 lod cinnamon, 1/2 lod cloves, 3 lods broken bitter orange peel, 3 lods broken lemon peel, 1 1/2 lod grains of paradise, and 1 1/2 lod cream of tartar, which is first strained and mixed with rose water. Then stir it all into the syrup, while it is still warm, for a full hour using a wooden pestle, and let it ferment for half a day.”
ー Hjelpreda I Hushållningen För Unga Fruentimber, Cajsa Warg (1755)
* Lod: an old Swedish weight unit, approximately 13 grams or 1/32 pound.
Spring is very much on the way in Northern Sweden. Today my raised beds made an appearance for the first time in months – just last week they were coevred in over half a meter snow. Of course, spring only means one thing: rhubarb – although I must admit it won't grow up here until well into the month of May. In Sweden, rhubarb is almost always paired with cardamom, a combination that is so beloved it's alsmot become a tradition. This cardamom ice-cream is the perfect à la mode accompaniment for your favourite rhubarb cake or crumble.
Notes
– I like to use both cardamom seeds and green cardamom pods when making cardamom ice-cream as I find it creates a more complex and layered flavour profile. By combining the two, a delicate balance between the warm pungency of the seeds and the sweet floral tones of the pods is achieved.– I will always freshly grind the cardamom seeds – there is no comaprison between freshly ground and shop-bought-ground. You can easily do this using a mortar. I like to pass my ice-cream base through a sieve coarse enough to let the small ground seeds through but catch the cardamom pods. – In case you couldn’t get your hands on cardamom seeds, simply use a total of 1-2 tablespoons of cardamom pods, depending on how strong you want your ice-cream to be.
Author: Fanny Zanotti
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time10 minutesmins
Total Time25 minutesmins
Makes 1.4L ice-cream base
Ingredients
500gwhole milk
500gwhipping cream
2tspcardamom seedsfinely ground
1tspgreen cardamom podscoarsely crushed
200gegg yolks
200ggolden caster sugar
a pinch of sea salt
Instructions
Bring the milk, cream, and ground cardamom seeds and crushed pods to the boil. Cover and allow to infuse for one hour.
Bring to the boil again.
In the meantime, combine the egg yolks, sugar and salt in a bowl using a whisk. When the cream has boiled, pour it over the egg yolks, whisking as you do so; then return the egg yolk mixture back into the pan.
Heat gently, mixing with a heatproof silicone spatula until the ice-cream base is 81°C – thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Pass through a coarse-sieve – you just want to remove the cardamom pods.
Immediately transfer into a heat-proof container. Clingfilm to the touch and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
Churn the ice-cream according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
