“Mixed Spice” Blend

I am gearing up for Stir Up Sunday which falls on the 26th of November this year, and preparing some of the ingredients I will need for my winter holiday baking. Today I made a pint of mixed spice and thought I would clean up the old post with the recipe and share it again.

If you are like me and stranded on the North American side of the pond, you can’t just pop off to the store to buy mixed spice.  You can substitute pumpkin pie spice, but it’s not the same. A proper mixed spice blend has a broader depth of flavor due to the wider variety of ingredients.

Using spice blends like this in baking is simply a continuation of the practice of cooking with spice mixes you find in medieval books on cookery. I discussed this before when I wrote about how to make powder forte for savory cooking.

Mixed spice reminds me of fine powder receipts that pop up in medieval cookery books. The spices in these undoubtedly improve the digestion of heavy dishes like Christmas puddings and mincemeat.

Fine Powder. Grind white ginger (9 parts), selected cinnamon (2 parts), lump sugar (2 parts), cloves and grains of paradise (1 part each).

Le Viandier de Taillevent ca 1380

At some point mixed spice became “a thing.” It was a simple blend at first. Some of the earliest references I have found refer to mixed spice as a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon and mace powdered together. I have to say that this is the blend of spices I think about when I think about the holidays at home. My parents didn’t have the money for a huge closet of spices, but we always had these three. Perhaps it is a bit of cultural history preserved in my family practices?

This product became popular enough to become marketed as a convenience. In An Encyclopedia of Domestic Economy (1845) we are told “it may be proper to observe that it is the practice of London shops to sell what they call mixed spice which consists of a portion of all the above-mentioned [pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, allspice] spices ground together; this is much used about Christmas time and is convenient for many purposes.”

Once it hit the market as a commodity, it didn’t take long for it to evolve into something that would be easier to buy from Borwick’s than to mix yourself. You saw it in all sorts of recipes from plum pudding to cooking eels.

Today the ingredients most typically included in “mixed spice” are some combination of allspice, cinnamon, coriander seed, caraway, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and mace. Allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon are usually the prominent ingredients with the other spices taking a back seat. I have seen recipes that call for cardamom but that seems like a recent addition.

No two blends are really the same. So, that means you can make the recipe your own. This first one is mine. I love coriander so I bump that up a bit, and I leave the ginger out altogether.

Stephany’s Mixed Spice
1 Tbsp ground allspice
1 Tbsp ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground mace
1 tsp ground caraway seed

Variation II – Here’s a more standard recipe for those who would prefer to keep it traditional and omit the coriander and caraway. (This baffles me because I won’t buy it unless it has the caraway.)

4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 tsp ground allspice
4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground mace
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger or galangal

Once you have your spices ground and mixed to your liking, you can store them in an airtight tin or jar. It will keep for at least a year if you start with whole spices, but I think it’s best if you use it within a few months. There are lots of things you can do with it besides baking.

“Sweeten” your morning porridge with mixed spice instead of sugar. Grind equal amounts of walnuts or pecans together and use it to top your oatmeal or your custard covered pudding.

Add a bit of spice to a beverage. To make a pot of spiced tea I combine 3 tbsp of loose tea with a teaspoon of mixed spice and brew them together. I like to add a dash of pepper to this as well. You can also just sprinkle it on top of a cup of tea or coffee.