This is the best smelling Cake I’ve ever made.  Cardamom is by far my favorite dessert spice.  I know that there are already a ridiculous number of Cardamom desserts on this blog, but I just can’t help myself.  I have more cardamom desserts on the way too!  My love is endless.

Last fall, I puppeteered with a smart, talented actress (and puppeteer) named Catherine Gowl in Hagoromo at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.  Catherine also loves cardamon.  When cardamom is mentioned she a dreamy expression of longing fleets across her beautiful face.  I really wanted to make her some Cardamom Rosewater Shortbread cookies as a closing night gift, but my hand was very injured and I wasn’t doing any cooking.  So Catherine, I belatedly dedicate these cakes to you.  Please come over for tea sometime.

This is the first time I’ve tried making a financier with Coconut oil instead of butter.  It worked well!  The coconut flavor is welcome here and you melt the butter in a financier anyway.  In addition to their beautiful scent, these cakes have a wonderful spongy texture and a bit of a sugary crust on top that goes well with the coconut.  CARDAMOM ORANGE CAKES WITH COCONUT TOPPING

• 5 tablespoons coconut oil (or butter), plus extra for greasing the tin
• 1/2 Tablespoon of orange blossom water
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 3/4 cups sugar, divided in half
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour (plus a little extra for flouring the tins)
• 1/8 cup tapioca starch
• 1/8 cup arrowroot starch
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (depending on how much you like cardamom)
• the zest of 1/4 to 1/2 orange (depending on how much you like orange)
• 1/2 cup room temperature egg whites (from about 4 eggs)
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup shredded or flaked dried coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Oil or butter 12 muffin tins.
2. Melt the coconut oil or butter and then remove it from the heat.  Stir in the orange blossom water and set it aside to cool
3. Combine the almond flour and 3/4 cups sugar mixture with the brown rice flour, tapioca starch, arrowroot, orange zest and ground cardamom in a large bowl.
4. In another clean large bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form.  Add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar in a steady stream, beating until the mixture forms soft peaks again.
5. Starting with the dry mixture and ending with the melted, cooled butter, alternately fold the dry mix and the melted butter into the egg whites, one-third at a time.
6. Pour 1/3 cup batter into each prepared muffin tin.  Depending on how fluffy your egg whites got you may have less than 12.  If that’s the case just put a bit of water in the empty tins, so they don’t scald.  Top them all with the coconut and bake for 20-25 minutes.  A cake tester should come out clean and the coconut should be just slightly golden. Don’t overtake these cakes! Let then cool for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edges of each tin and pop them out.  Eat them warm or at room temperature.

MORE CARDAMOM DESSERTS…