Cardamom: Fresh ground or pre-ground ?

When a recipe lists an ingredient without special notation, the safest policy is to use the most common version available at an ordinary supermarket. This is not specific to Food52, it pertains to any recipe online or offline (including those in a cookbook sitting on a bookshelf).

These days when I bake with cardamom, I use decorticated cardamom. I lightly toast this then grind with a mortar and pestle. This produces something that is unmatched by pre-ground cardamom. One should reduce the cardamom amount when using freshly ground.

As for this recipe I agree with QueenSashy's assessment that 2 teaspoons may be overwhelming.

Read the comments ***VERY*** carefully. The reviews are extremely mixed and more than one person stated that the cardamom is overwhelming.

Personally I would opt for a more reliable yeasted cinnamon bun recipe and add a little cardamom. But that's just me...

Best of luck.

Pre-ground or fresh ground, 2 teaspoons of cardamom is a lot. It's a very strong spice. I would start with 1 teaspoon, especially if it is freshly ground.

The point of using any spice in a recipe is for the flavor- more or less to fit your own tastes. I personally avoid using pre-ground spices as much as possible, because so much flavor is lost in the process. I routinely use less spice than is called for in some recipes, because fresh ground is more flavor packed, and I don't stress over that at all. Neither should you. If you can, buy whole spice and grind yourself. If you can't do that, for whatever the reason, find a good quality source of the pre-ground, and buy small amounts that you can use in a reasonably short time. Season to taste, and have faith in your ability to determine what is the best way to go and amount to use.

Recipe doesn't say (neither here nor other versions online), but I'm thinkjng cardamom bought already ground, as that is more commonly available.
Probably best to start with less if you are grinding fresh. Bake a test roll and add more if needed.