Baking The Book: Earl Grey Cookies with Cardamom White Chocolate Ganache

My oven has staunchly refused to bake anything properly for nearly a month now, and I've just about had it. As soon as I slide a cake or tart in, ready to bake, the lady doth protest too much. The sides are elegantly charred, the top is like volcanic ash. It's almost as trendy as blackened chicken.

Same same, but different.

The only things the oven doesn't set fire to are cookies. Inevitably, the past few weeks have been an endless parade of the little guys: chocolate chip, oatmeal (sans raisins, as my flatmates are not sultana-inclined), lemon bars, and on and on and on.

I'd wanted to make a Malted Vanilla Bundt Cake, a perfectly sweet, tender backdrop for this ganache. However, I knew if I tempted fate and gingerly pushed a beautiful bundt cake into the inferno that is my oven, we would end up eating a hockey puck draped in Cardamom White Chocolate Ganache. For fear, I went for these crisp cookies delicately flavored with Darjeeling Earl Grey tea. So, my friends, feast your eyes (and feed your grumbling stomachs) on these cookies.

Earl Grey Cookies with Cardamom White Chocolate Ganache
Makes 2 dozen

For the cookies:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons Darjeeling Earl Grey tea leaves, ground in a spice grinder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Beans scraped from 1 vanilla pod
8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into cubes
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the ganache:
14 ounces white chocolate, roughly chopped
1/3 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons ground cardamom

To make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together flour, both sugars, tea leaves, cinnamon, and vanilla beans. Add butter and cream until mixture starts to come together. Slowly, pour in the heavy cream. Add vanilla extract and beat until dough comes together in a ball. Divide dough into two balls. Roll each ball into a log and wrap in parchment paper. Freeze for 30 minutes. Slice into 1/4-inch rounds and bake on prepared baking sheets for 10 minutes, until edges are lightly golden and tops are firm to touch. Let cool on a wire rack.

To make the ganache: Place the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Heat gently until white chocolate has melted. Stir in icing sugar, heavy cream, and cardamom. Once cookies are cool, ice them with the ganache. Sprinkle extra tea leaves over top, if desired.