Cardamom Coffee Concentrate

Author Notes

A trip to Denmark in the mid '90's prompted a love of all Nordic things: amber, clogs (they even sold them in some of the supermarkets there), and food. Upon returning home, I churned out traditional remoulade, copied pastries I had eaten, and made renditions of my friend Simon's mother's recipes. Hearing of friends' travels to Finland hastened another recipe frenzy which included a Christmas where only cardamom scented pulla yeast braids were given as a present. For this challenge out of the box thinking was in order. I had about two cups of leftover strong coffee lurking in the fridge and some cardamom seeds (sans pods) in the cabinet. I had read about Rhode Island coffee milk which is basically strong sugared triple brewed coffee concentrate (a few tablespoons) stirred into cold milk, like chocolate milk. As soon as it heated up on my stove with sweet musky cardamom coffee whiffs coming into the next room I couldn't help myself but to sip it undiluted from a spoon. Enjoy it in cold milk or added to ice cream. I am thinking of pouring it over a freshly baked banana bread also. —testkitchenette