Mixed Spice is a popular spice blend in the UK, traditionally used to season baked goods like Christmas Cake as well as some savoury dishes.
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Mixed Spice gives a warm, sweetly spiced depth to any recipe, however it can be challenging to source in North America, a bit like Pumpkin Pie Spice and Poultry Seasoning are hard to find here in England. Bespoke spice blends can also be quite expensive when they are not purchased in their country of origin.
How To Make Mixed Spice – Hints and Tips
Like most spice blends, there are lots of different recipes out there. Mixed Spice is traditionally made up of a combination of ground allspice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace, coriander (cilantro) and ginger. Different recipes have evolved based on individual tastes. One benefit of making any spice blend yourself is that if you don’t like one of the components, you can adjust the flavours to suit your preferences by leaving that particular spice out.
If you cannot find mace, or feel that it is too expensive, feel free to just bump up the amount of nutmeg you use. Although the flavour will be slightly different, nutmeg and mace come from the same plant, so it’s not the end of the world. Nutmeg is the fruit of the nutmeg tree Myristica Frangrans. Mace is the red webbing like substance that surrounds the nutmeg.
I generally buy Mixed Spice as it actually works out to be more economical than buying all the ingredients. However I do have a very well stocked spice cabinet, so if I find I have run out of it, this is the way I make it.
Mixed Spice – Printable Recipe
Mixed Spice
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons ground allspice
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander (cilantro)
- 1 teaspoon ground mace, optional I sometimes leave this out and add an extra half teaspoon nutmeg instead (mace and nutmeg are different parts of the same plant)
Instructions
- This recipe makes roughly 4 tablespoons or ¼ cup mixed spice.
- Put all of the ingredients in a small bowl and mix together with a fork.
- Store in a sealed jar or container at room temperature.
Recipes
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My sister lost our mom’s recipe (she hailed from South Wales) and this looks closest to it I’ve found….having a hard time dealing with weights instead of cups….I would just use the proportions but since raisins weigh more than crumbs would this be a problem? Or, just use the proportions of flour crumbs and sugar then wing it on the fruit? Also, ours used molasses which she called treacle and I dont see why adding some would be a problem if the consistancy is ok. Your thoughts???
Hi Susan,
I’m not sure if you are talking about the Christmas cake or Christmas pudding here as you have commented on the mixed spice recipe. I will say I have only ever made both the recipes according to the weights, and it’s difficult to convert them to cups. I wouldn’t recommend winging it on anything as it might not work. Kitchen scales are fairly reasonable to purchase and I’d recommend you follow that route. I always make recipes that are measured in cups in cups, and for recipes that use weights, I use a scale.
If it is the Christmas pudding recipe you are talking about, if you go through the comments, one reader did add molasses (known as treacle in the UK and elsewhere) and it was okay. I can’t guarantee the results as I have never done it.
Also if it is the Christmas pudding we are talking about, it is very close to the time to be making it. It will be okay, but the pudding should ideally age for at least a couple of weeks, so the flavour may not be quite as good if you make it now.
I hope this helps. I’m sorry not to be more help. Recipes like this are a bit like alchemy and if you don’t follow them exactly the results can be very unpredictable. Merry Christmas!