Imagine your favorite hot beverage. Let the sweet aroma kiss your nostrils. Feel the warmth seeping through the porcelain mug (or paper cup as it may be), soothing your December-numb fingers. Savor the wave of heat washing down your catarrh-stricken throat. Oh, yeah. That’s right. It’s December and you’ve got catarrh. That’s the old-timey version of a scratchy throat and cough. Isn’t that so much more romantical than “scratchy throat and cough”? Like, isn’t dying of consumption way cooler than dying of tuberculosis-ew! who wants to die of tuberculosis?
When you’ve got catarrh, there’s nothing better than your favorite hot beverage. Unless you can get your favorite hot beverage in cupcake form. Then for gosh sakes, get it in cupcake form! Far less danger of spilling and scalding that way.
That’s what this here recipe means to me. On the rare occasions when I visit that flagship of American capitalism, Starbucks, chai lattes with soy milk get me through the ordeal unscathed. Could Isa & Terry encapsulate that very special blend of spices and milky goodness in one of their recipes? Sure they could! Really, it’s all about the spices: cinnamon, ginger, cloves, black pepper, cardamom. All are standards of my kitchen cabinet, except that last one’s the tricky biscuit, or I would have made this recipe a long time since. Finally I found the cardamom in the spice aisle at Yes! Organic Market (yes!), where everything’s in big jars and you measure out how much spice you want yourself, and where I met a fellow shopper who also was after cardamom. We had a lovely chat about how difficult it is to find in most grocery stores. See how cupcakes bring people together? And these weren’t even baked yet!
When I did bake them, they turned out light and spicy, and best of all, they really do taste just like my favorite hot beverage. Terry & Isa suggest going light on the toppings here, dusting with confectioner’s sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I went a little fancier with some drizzly vanilla icing – the same icing that went on the Pumpkin Chocolate Chippers (126), minus the cinnamon. Either way, these are faboo. Friends and co-workers agreed. So don’t wait for your next bout of catarrh to try ‘em!
2 Comments
December 24, 2008 at 12:58 am
mmmmmmmmmmmmm…hope you are still in the cupper-making mood when you come home…:)
January 5, 2009 at 12:33 am
hope you just happen to have some of these hanging around your place when i happen to be there next weekend!