Cardamom Seeds?

I was thinking of making Chocolate Mousse with Cardamom Seeds from What We Eat When We Eat Alone, but I'm stuck on the cardamom. I thought they meant pods, but they only ask for 1/4 tsp. How do you get the seeds out of there? Just smash 'em open with a hammer? I'd rather not go to the Spice House for one recipe.

Thanks!

Heat the pods up slightly and press lightly with a roller (a dough roller). You should be able to remove the seeds easily that way!
Hope this helps!

You can buy powdered cardamom. If you take it out of the pod then you need to crush it in a mortar and pestle.

I'm pretty sure they don't want powdered. They mention "this mysterious aromatic crunchy stuff". But here's the recipe:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009 ... ecipe.html
If I do use powdered and they meant seeds, would I use 1/8 tsp?

Hi Pie Lady,

I think you are right. I am a lover of cardamom but it does not strike me it would be good in a chocolate mousse. Let us know if you like it and how it turns out.

Really? It sounds quite lovely to me. I love cardamom in all sorts of sweets, and it works well in chocolate, too. At least in my opinion.

They said to use up to 70% bittersweet. Is that what you'd recommend or is that too dark?

For a chocolate mousse 70% bittersweet is usually what I use. It may be intense for some people, so this really is a matter of taste. I'd start with that and see how you like it.

You can usually buy decorticated cardamom seeds at Indian grocers -- probably your cheapest source -- and I'm certain the Spice House would have it.
It'll remain fresher than the powder. Note the word "decorticated." You can try to scrape the seeds out of the pods if you're patient, but they'll be in a sticky resin. If it's only a little you need, and you're going to mortar and pestle it, you're probably fine, but if you need any quantity, try your neighborhood Indian shop.

I bought cardamom seeds (whole, out of the pod) from Penzey's http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyscardamom.html a fourth of a cup for $4.85. That said, I don't find taking the seeds out of the pod that difficult, I just open the pod with my fingernails (white and green pods, never tried the black) and separate the parts, the seeds kind of fall out.

If I were putting cardamom seeds in a mousse, I would slightly crush them with a mortar and pestle, not leave them whole -- whole seems like too much crunch in a weird size. I agree that whole seeds, crushed or not, will be much better than powder -- cardamom loses a lot of flavor when it is powdered.

[edited to fix the link]

I made a cardamon cherry chocolate ice cream a few weeks ago and all I did was pound the little suckers whole with a mortar and pestle--the hulls were easy to remove after that and the remaining seeds were the perfect texture (a bit powdery, a bit still big enough to be "crunchy") for the ice cream. Loved the combo too by the way.

boudreaulicious wrote:...all I did was pound the little suckers whole with a mortar and pestle--the hulls were easy to remove after that and the remaining seeds were the perfect texture....

Yea, verily. I always have a stash of the whole pods on hand and regardless of quantity needed, I virtually always pound the whole pods in a mortar. You can pick out the pieces of the pod(s) fairly readily and, to the extent they're too small, you won't taste them anyway. I usually end up grinding the seeds finely fine and I've always found this method quick and easy.