Month: March 2023

A rhubarb cardamom cake for myself

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I am writing this from my couch, having taken a fair share of bites of this delectable and moist rhubarb and almond cake spiced with cardamom and subtly flavoured with vanilla extract.
I love it.
It reminds me of something, these flavours and the aroma. Does it smell like my kitchen after having made gulab jamun dunked in a syrup laced with cardamom? Or, does it smell like when I open a box of karachi biscuits? Or is it, the way the house smells when ma makes payasam on festivals?
The slightly crusty edge along the top layer in all its toasted almond nuttiness with the vanilla and cardamom surely feels like a good day biscuit in flavour?
The rhubarb is tarte and moist and blends so well with the cake. I have mixed some in the batter and some on top, like @florashedden did with hers. It is a brilliant method and I have only switched the hazelnuts for almonds, reduced the sugar, added in cardamom and done away with the sesame seeds. I halved it as well as am baking just for one. It has been a couple of years since I baked for one, especially with that one being myself. And this right here, on a sunday night, feels good and just the kind of high I need for the week.

Now, in my absolute desperation to nail what this reminds me of, I have eaten a generous portion of the cake. I can’t have the cake and know what it tastes like too, right?

(taken from my instagram)

On gratitude and snow

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I saw my first snow in Seoul in the December of 2013. I was with K on his business trip and we’d snuck in an extra couple of days and made the most of every evening together while I’d wander off in the day. I remember the moment I first felt the snow because I felt it before I saw it, incredibly light flakes almost mistaken for a drizzle as we stepped out of Myeong-dong station. I remember wanting to scream and no voice escaping me. And soon, we were in a flurry and I remember every encounter with snow after that as if it were yesterday. And yet, every new experience with it, fills me with a renewed sense of wonder and lightness. There is something about – it makes the day bright with its pale bluish white blanket on everything and the world seems light even as you prod through it.
Unlike my first experience with snow, I don’t remember when I got into instagram but over time, it has given me such an incredibly lovely community. I feel really pleased that I know so many of you through a little detail in your life and a conversation in my inbox. Today, I woke up to snow and love and caution from the community on my account being compromised and I cannot tell you how special it all has made me feel. None of you needed to do any of what you did, is what I realize. I have reported accounts in the past and never thought much about it, but today as each of you told me that you did, cautioning me what not to do, it filled me with such joy. And I had snow to celebrate it all.

(taken from my instagram)