Christmas Cookie Cardamom Ornaments

Deck the halls with beautiful edibles that double as party favors, too.

While you are baking up a batch of  holiday cookies, consider making a few extras to adorn the tree or use as personalized party favors.  Your home will be filled with wonderful scents, from cinnamon to vanilla.

Design an edible vignette to decorate a table; or gather items in a pretty box or basket. Find pieces you can dress up for the holidays. For example, a red ribbon can turn a stoneware tureen into a cookie holder. Or display cookie cutters in a vase or jar. Trays of candies, fruits and nuts make beautiful displays. Look no further than your kitchen to find easy ways to decorate and please the senses at the same time.
The Snowflake, the Ornament and the Bell cookie cutter make great shapes for the Cardamom Cookies. Visit annclark.com.

Cardamom Cookies
Makes approx. 18
Note: Cardamom is a pungent spice available as whole pods, seeds, or finely ground. It’s best to buy pre-ground, but make sure it’s fresh.

Beat with an electric mixer until blended:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened

Add and beat until fluffy:
½ cup light brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar

Add and mix until completely incorporated:
1 large egg yolk, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk together and add:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour,  1 teaspoon ground cardamom, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt

Mix just until all ingredients are well blended; do not overmix. Chill dough for 3-4 hours before rolling. Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll dough out on a lightly floured counter to 1/4-inch thickness and cut, then transfer cookies onto cookie sheets that have been lined with parchment paper or silicone liners. Cut decorative patterns in the cookies if desired. Using a pastry brush, brush each cookie lightly with water, then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly colored. Let cookies cool slightly on cookie sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost, if desired, with royal icing.

Royal Icing
In a mixing bowl, combine 1 lb. confectioners’ sugar, 3 Tablespoons meringue powder, and 6 Tablespoons warm water; mix on medium speed for 5 minutes. Icing will be the right consistency for piping.

A Passionate Tale

If we could add a word to the title of Romantic Homes it would be “passion.”

Not the salsa dancing, late night, Miami Beach kind of passion but rather the artistic sense of the word. We profile creators enraptured by the process of being caught in the vortex of their craft. Perhaps they run their own online bedding store or they are moms who can make a plate of meringues look like high art. Regardless, their language is spoken through design, crafts, flowers, fabric, food, living.

Noel Solomon has such passion. She can get lost with a pair of scissors and some really great French paper. The once-blank sheets blossom into flowers on a beauty spurt. A dozen of these paper creations, adhered to the wall, widen the dramatic effect. So opulent, the effect is a formidable competitor to a Bergdorf window display.

Noel is a good read on inspiration, and we are devotees of those who inspire. Passionate people take risks. They will give up the nicely paying finance job so they can transform wire and ribbon into bird ornaments. They loosen the grip of reality to follow their desire Passion.