From MY Rasoi: Rose-Scented Yogurt Cake with Cardamom Vanilla Syrup

I poached a batch of peaches awhile back, with a vanilla bean and cardamom pods floating in the sugary syrup. The peach taste isn't very strong, but the skins of the white peaches dyed the syrup pink. It's actually the color I think of an Indian Barbie pink, because it perfectly matches the sari "owned" my mother's vintage 1960s Barbie. The vanilla bean and cardamom left tiny black flecks from their seeds--and a lot of flavor. So when it came time to assemble my entry for the From My Rasoi Indian Dessert Challenge, I couldn't resist reaching into my fridge for the leftover jar of Indian Barbie pink syrup.

The cake is excruciatingly simple. It's Clotilde's yogurt cake, of which I've also made a tangerine version. Follow either link to get the recipe. In this iteration, I substituted rosewater for the rum, and replaced half the sugar with my poaching syrup.

NOTE: Stay tuned for the roundup of the other, excellent From My Rasoi entries.

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Cardamom Vanilla (Peach) Syrup

I started by poaching peaches for an unrelated dish, but you could just as easily make the syrup without the peaches and use a bit of food coloring instead. That said, the peaches are great eaten cold in yogurt for breakfast, or warm with ice cream for dessert.

While the cake is baking, combine in a heavy-bottomed saucepan:
3 cups water
3 cups confectioners or superfine sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
6 cardamom pods, crushed

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and add 8 peaches, cut in half, if you have some use for them. Simmer peaches until soft, then remove with a slotted spoon. Continue to simmer syrup gently until it thickens slightly. Let cool, then serve poured pooled around a slice of the rose-scented yogurt cake. Don't worry about the fact that the syrup is ultra-sweet; the cake is quite mild and unassuming.