For Kris Wrede, natural perfumer, cook and proprietor of Kismet Potions, memories of the holidays always start with spices — cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutmeg. Her family is Norwegian and Swedish, so those are the flavors and aromas that always played a big part in her childhood holiday kitchen.

Cardamom, she says, always took center stage, flavoring not only baked goods but also coffee and meats. "I always wondered how this traditional Indian spice made it all the way to the frigid Scandinavian territories," she writes in a recent e-mail. "I imagine the Vikings must have done some pillaging in India and brought this sweet earthy spice back with them to warm themselves up in the freezing winters." Since the spice also has a reputation as an aphrodisiac, she adds, she assumes it also helped pass the time in the land of the midnight sun.

When she was young, she says, she loved going to the back porch all bundled up with a hammer and a clean white dishcloth to prepare the cardamom for the dishes. "We cracked open the pod and took out the seeds and gently crushed them with the hammer," she writes. "The fragrance was truly intoxicating and helped make cardamom one of my favorite spices to this day."

A master of using essential oils — the highly concentrated extracts of fruits, seeds, herbs, flowers, barks, leaves and roots — to make lotions and potions for body and home, Wrede also is expert at cooking with these natural essences to intensify the scent and flavor of both sweet and savory dishes. On Dec. 13, she will share some of her favorite recipes in "Aromatic Culinary Holiday Gifts," a hands-on class at Las Cosas Kitchen Shoppe in DeVargas Center. Among the aromatic gifts participants will make are Grandma Gena's Swedish coconut cookies with lavender and lemon essential oils; honeydew-infused honey with bergamot, lemon and cardamom essential oils; a spicy chocolate with black pepper, cardamom and blood-orange essential oils; and an aromatic holiday spice mist that can be used to add extra allure to both food and body. The group will also make Grace's pumpkin dip with cinnamon, orange and cardamom essential oils — and ginger cookies to dip with — to enjoy during the session.

Not surprisingly, most of Wrede's recipes include cardamom, including the one she shares here with New Mexican readers. "If you are not familiar with (the spice)," she writes, "you will be amazed at the incredible richness and depth of flavor that it adds to any recipe."


Wrede suggests serving this warming chocolate blend over sorbet with fresh berries and nuts — mango sorbet with raspberries is especially wonderful, she says. "Take the time before you put this rich delicious nectar in your mouth to savor the intensity of the fragrance and enjoy the feel on your mouth and tongue. It is truly an experience you will never forget!"

CHOCOLATE CALIENTE

12 ounces good, dark, semisweet chocolate (like Ghirardelli or Scharfenberger)
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Scant 13/4 teaspoons chile powder
10 drops black pepper essential oil
24 drops cardamom essential oil
12 drops cinnamon essential oil
75 drops blood orange or orange essential oil
6 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Melt chocolate over low heat in a medium saucepan.

In another saucepan bring cream to a boil. Add the cream gradually to the melted chocolate and then slowly add sugar. Stir constantly until all ingredients are blended and not grainy. Then add chile powder and mix well.

Then add the essential oils. Keep stirring constantly (more like a mashing) while adding the oils, then add vanilla and mix that in well.

Store leftovers in a glass jar and heat in water before serving.

May also be used in milk as a wonderful hot chocolate beverage as well as a dessert topping.