Vanilla and cardamom

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Vanilla + Cardamom
Cardamom's fresh, sweet, more-exotic-than-cinnamon flavor is a mainstay of Scandinavian, Baltic and Indian cooking—but it's worth keeping at the front of your spice cabinet even when you aren't making an internationally inspired dinner. The taste happens to be brilliant with plain old vanilla, as fans of Three Twins Ice Cream know well: The company's otherworldly flavor Dad's Cardamom is its most-tweeted-about item.

Try it: Sprinkle the spice over a bowl of vanilla ice cream, or on top of creamy rice pudding to turn a childhood dish into grown-up dinner-party fare.