Put this in your shaker, baker

If there are certain flavors that sing of the holidays -- nutmeg and cinnamon, ginger and cloves, a dash or two of good bourbon -- cardamom is certainly not on the list.

For most of us, cardamom is that exotic, elusive note in so many of the Indian dishes we love. We have a vague notion that it comes in a pod and requires some special handling, and, well, who needs to think about that at this time of year when there’s baking -- serious baking, and mounds of it -- waiting to be done?

But, dear baker, this is a mistake. Take a chance, just once, with a batch of butter cookies, or maybe a dish of ice cream. Cardamom adds a powerfully sweet, somehow magical note to the simplest pastry or dessert. It’s deeply, transportingly aromatic, and maybe that’s why it’s so perfect for holiday baking: It’s like a gift the magi could have brought. Somehow, cardamom seems celebratory.

In Scandinavia and Germany, cardamom is traditionally used in cakes and breads and cookies. American bakers and cooks are flummoxed, though, by the idea of cardamom.

But in the course of developing recipes using cardamom, something very simple struck us: You can reach for cardamom whenever you would use cinnamon. It’s that versatile.

Over the course of a few weeks, we found ourselves amazed by the results. We made traditional, yeasted sweet rolls using cardamom instead of cinnamon, and they were suddenly something very special and festive. We made spritz cookies with a sprinkling of cardamom and pistachio that quickly became addictive.

You might think adding it to Italian panforte sounds odd, but this too made us swoon.

Easiest of all: We sprinkled some freshly ground cardamom and a drizzle of honey over vanilla ice cream. It was an instant hit -- and so sophisticated and wonderful that you could serve it at a dinner party and hold your head high. Now we’re thinking about French toast, creme brulee, Madeleines....

There are just a few things to know before you start baking.

First, there are three kinds of cardamom: green, white and black. Green cardamom is the one you want. Bakers should avoid the other two types: White cardamom is actually green cardamom that’s been bleached, a process that leaches out flavor and makes it inferior. Black cardamom is not true cardamom; it’s a bigger, rougher pod with an aggressive camphor flavor. It’s used mainly in savory Indian dishes.

Green cardamom, a relative of ginger, is grown in southern India and other tropical areas including Asia, the Pacific and South America.

When you buy it, look for plump pods; they have the most flavor. Inside are three compartments containing small seeds -- about 15 or 20 total. When the cardamom is fresh, the seeds are slightly sticky. Although you’ll find green cardamom in a good supermarket, the best place to buy it is an Indian or Middle Eastern market, where it’s available in bulk and more likely to be fresh.

Although some recipes for stews or rice use pods added whole, pastry recipes call for ground cardamom. Always grind it yourself -- the essential oils responsible for the beguiling flavor and aroma dissipate soon after grinding.

But that’s a good thing: Crush the seeds using a mortar and pestle, and that heavenly, pungent fragrance will fill your kitchen. Using a coffee grinder dedicated to grinding spices is also an option, but that deprives you of some of the sensory pleasure.

Before you grind, lightly crush the pods with a rolling pin. Pull the pods apart and scrape out the seeds, then go at it with the mortar and pestle or grinder. Store uncrushed pods in a tightly covered container.

Freshly ground green cardamom seeds are used in each of our recipes. The cardamom sweet rolls have a double dose, with some spice incorporated into the dough and some sprinkled along with sugar as a filling. Serve them warm from the oven -- and plan to hang around the kitchen while they bake so you can enjoy the marvelous aromas.

In the butter spritz cookies, cardamom marries beautifully with the crushed pistachios and big sugar crystals that get sprinkled on top. A box makes a great gift.

Making these cookies means rediscovering the cookie press -- a time-saver during holiday baking marathons. This inexpensive tool, which is widely available, allows you to pump out a dozen cookies in a minute. Be sure your dough is room temperature when you load the press. Experiment with sizes and shapes by adjusting the disks.

Our California farmers market panforte combines sage honey, pistachios, almonds and locally grown dried fruits for an L.A. version of the dense Italian confection. There’s very little flour in this recipe, just enough to bind the ingredients. The result is a chewy, rich cake with a haunting floral note -- thanks to the cardamom. Serve it in small slices.

The candied citrus peel that is stirred into the panforte dough is a treat on its own; you might want to make a double batch. Serve the extras alongside the sliced panforte or with a cup of good strong coffee.

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Cardamom sweet rolls

Total time: 50 minutes, plus 2 1/2 hours rising time

Servings: 12

Note: From Donna Deane, Times Test Kitchen director

2 packages active dry yeast

1/2cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)

3/4cup milk, divided

1/2cup butter, cut into pieces

2 1/2 teaspoons cardamom seeds, crushed using a mortar and pestle, divided

1/2cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

4 - 4 1/2 cups flour

1/4cup butter, softened, plus some to butter a bowl, divided

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/2teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons toasted chopped hazelnuts

1. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and stir to dissolve. Let the yeast mixture stand while preparing the remaining ingredients.

2. Heat one-half cup of the milk in a small saucepan to just simmering. Remove it from the heat and add the cut-up butter, stirring until melted. Stir in 2 teaspoons cardamom, one-half cup granulated sugar and the salt. Allow the mixture to cool to warm.

3. Pour the warm milk mixture into the large bowl of an electric mixer. Add the yeast mixture. Beat in the eggs one at a time, and then beat in 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Add enough of the remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

4. Lightly flour a board and turn out the dough. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.

5. Put the dough into a buttered bowl, turning to coat all sides of the dough with butter. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

6. Roll the dough with a rolling pin into a h 18-by-12-inch rectangle. Spread 2 tablespoons of the softened butter to within half an inch of the edge of dough. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar combined with remaining 1/2 teaspoon cardamom.

7. Using your hands, roll the dough up tightly from the long side to form a cylinder. Slice into 12 rolls. Place the cut rolls in a buttered 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Bake in a 350-degree oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

8. While the rolls are baking, make a glaze by combining the powdered sugar, the remaining one-fourth cup milk, the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the vanilla. Stir until smooth.

9. Remove the rolls from the oven and let them stand for 5 minutes, then drizzle with the glaze and sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts.

Each serving: 426 calories; 7 grams protein; 68 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 14 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 68 mg. cholesterol; 215 mg. sodium.

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California farmers market panforte

Total time: 3 hours, plus 1 hour cooling time and overnight soaking for the panforte; 2 1/2 hours plus 3 hours drying time for the candied peel.

Servings: 18

Note: From Carol Penn-Romine.

Candied citrus peel

3 oranges

3 lemons

2 cups sugar, divided

1. Peel the oranges and lemons in strips with a vegetable peeler. Scrape away any white membrane from the inside of the peel with the back edge of a paring knife. Cut the peel lengthwise into strips about one-fourth inch wide.

2. Place the peel in a saucepan with enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Drain. Repeat these steps but simmer gently so the peel does not disintegrate.

3. Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar and three-fourths cup water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. Add the peel. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. Drain the peel in a colander.

4. Place the remaining half-cup of sugar in a shallow bowl and dredge each piece of peel in the sugar, then spread on waxed paper to dry, approximately three hours. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for no longer than one week.

Panforte

2 cups candied citrus peel

1/2cup Grand Marnier

1 cup shelled pistachios

1 cup shelled almonds (not blanched)

3 cups loosely packed, chopped mixed dates, dried calimyrna figs and dried apricots

1/2teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds, crushed using a mortar and pestle

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

1/2 tablespoon butter for coating pan

1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for dusting

3/4 cup sage honey

1. Soak the candied citrus peel in the Grand Marnier overnight, stirring occasionally when possible.

2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Toast the pistachios for about 12 minutes and the almonds for about 25 minutes, or until lightly browned and crunchy. Cool, then chop. (If chopping in a food processor, chop the pistachios and almonds separately, then mix.) Reduce the oven heat to 300 degrees.

3. Drain and coarsely chop the soaked peel and mix it with the nuts and dried fruit. Sprinkle the nut and fruit mixture with the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and cloves and stir to mix. Sift in the flour and mix.

4. Butter the sides of a 9-inch springform pan and dust with flour. Set aside.

5. Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar and the honey in a heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a boil over very low heat, stirring continuously to prevent scorching. When the sugar-honey mixture reaches the soft-ball stage (about 245 degrees on a candy thermometer), remove the pot from the stove and stir in the fruit and nut mixture, coating well.

6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, and smooth out the top using a small offset knife dipped in water.

7. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, taking care that the panforte does not brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan. Run a knife around the edge of the springform pan, then remove the ring from the bottom. Lift the panforte off the bottom of the pan. Dust the top with the remaining sugar. The panforte will keep indefinitely, stored in an airtight container.

Each serving: 394 calories; 5 grams protein; 78 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams fiber; 8 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 1 mg. cholesterol; 4 mg. sodium.

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Cardamom spritz cookies

Total time: 1 hour

Makes: 5 dozen

Note: From Mary Ellen Rae. This dough works best in a cookie press when it is freshly made. If you must refrigerate it, bring it to room temperature before pressing out the cookies. Cookie press disk sizes vary; baking time given is for 1 1/2- to 2-inch cookies.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled

1/2cup superfine sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 egg yolks

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cardamom seeds, crushed using a mortar and pestle

1/4 cup sparkling decorative sugar

1/4 cup chopped pistachio nuts

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat for one minute. Add the vanilla extract and egg yolks and beat an additional minute.

2. Sift together the flour and salt. Spoon the flour mixture into the butter mixture and add the cardamom. Beat on low speed, then increase to medium and mix until the batter is combined.

3. Spoon the dough into a cookie press and press out onto ungreased baking sheets. In a small bowl, combine the sparkling sugar and the pistachio nuts, then sprinkle some on each cookie.

4. Bake just until the edges of the cookies start to turn a pale golden color, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the baking sheet immediately and cool on a wire rack. The cookies will firm up as they cool. When they are completely cool, store in an airtight container. They may be kept frozen up to two months.

Each cookie: 57 calories; 1 gram protein; 6 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 4 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 15 mg. cholesterol; 20 mg. sodium.