Mixed spice is very popular here in England. It’s used mostly in baked goods, to give a sweetly spiced flavour with depth. However it’s pretty hard to find in North America, a bit like Pumpkin Pie Spice and Poultry Seasoning are hard to find here in England.
Mixed Spice is traditionally made up of a combination of ground allspice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace, coriander (cilantro) and ginger. If you cannot find mixed spice ready made, you can make it yourself. Be sure to use dried, ground spices in all cases. I leave out the mace when I make mixed spice as I prefer it without.
2 tablespoons ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground ginger
Mix the spices together and store in a clean, dry airtight container in a cool dry place.
If this all seems like too much trouble, or you don’t want a big jar of mixed spice hanging around, another combination that works is to just use cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in place of mixed spice. Again, it doesn’t give exactly the same flavour, but it still works very well. In that case, for every two teaspoons of mixed spice called for, just use 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, half a teaspoon of ginger and a quarter teaspoon each of ground nutmeg and cloves.
Leave a Reply