Homemade British Mixed Spice
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This famous British spice blend has been enjoyed in Christmas baking and beyond for several centuries. With both sweet and savory applications, you will love this deliciously versatile homemade Mixed Spice recipe!
I’m a huge fan of homemade seasoning blends. For flavor and freshness the store-bought versions just can’t begin to compare. I’m also a fan of traditional British baking and first fell in love with it when I lived in England. I lived for nearly 7 years and continue to go back at least once every year, all the while sampling traditional bakes from the different regions in the country. Many of these bakes call for Mixed Spice, something that is very difficult to source outside the UK. Your search ends here. This wonderful homemade blend will add so much flavor and fragrance to all your traditional British bakes!
What is Mixed Spice?
The term “mixed spice” for this popular British spice blend has been referenced in cookbooks since at least the early 1800’s. It’s especially popular in baked goods (thus also called “cake spice”) during the Christmas season where it’s used in a variety of holiday baked desserts including English Christmas pudding, thus also commonly called “pudding spice.” Mixed spice is similar to gingerbread and pumpkin spice blends in other countries in its choice of spices and has a warm and sweet-spicy flavor and fragrance.
If you enjoy British holiday baking, Mixed Spice is absolutely essential to have in your spice cabinet. It can be challenging to find it outside of the UK and commonwealth countries. Many people here in the U.S. for example will just substitute gingerbread spice or pumpkin spice but as I mentioned before, it is not the same. The difference is subtle but there is a difference and if you’re after that authentic British flavor, stick with Mixed Spice.
How to Use It
Mixed Spice is used in a variety of cakes, puddings, pies, breads and buns, cookies, pancakes, cupcakes, gingerbreads, and fruit salads. For a unique flavor boost, you can substitute this blend for anything that calls for cinnamon. You can also get creative with savory dishes like adding it to stuffing mixes for your turkey or using it as a seasoning for roast chicken. Here are a few traditional recipes that call for this blend:
Mixed Spice Ingredients
Mixed spice commonly includes cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and/or mace, cloves, ginger and coriander. Some modern adaptations may include spices like cardamom and star anise but adding those crosses over into the territory of German gingerbread spice (Lebkuchengewuerz) which is fine, but I prefer to keep the two separate and distinct. In other words, when I’m making traditional British baked goods for Christmas, I want them to taste distinctly and authentically British. So I stick with the more traditional spices for this classic spice blend.
There is no standard rule for the ratios of spices in Mixed Spice. Generally the cinnamon is slightly more prominent than the other spices but feel free to customize the ratios to feature the spices you want to be dominant in whatever particular dish you’re making.
Homemade Mixed Spice Recipe
To make this blend, simply combine all the ingredients together in an airtight container and keep it store in a dark, cool place.
Spices ideally should always be ground from whole spices that have been toasted – that will always yield a stronger flavor and aroma. But as long as you’re using fresh pre-ground spices, you’ll have a fabulous mixed spice blend to feature in your delicious British holiday baking.
The fragile oils of spices (the source of the aroma and flavor) evaporate and weaken over time, so I usually make just enough to last me for a couple of recipes and then make another fresh batch. It takes less than 5 minutes to make a batch, so there’s really no reason not to!
Enjoy!
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Homemade British Mixed Spice
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon quality ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground allspice
- 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoons ground coriander
- 3/4 teaspoon ground mace
Instructions
- Combine all spices in an airtight glass jar and keep store in a dark cool place for up to several months.Makes about 1/4 cup of Mixed Spice.
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
Thank you for this recipe. One improvement motion here: It’s a pitty the quantities are given for already ground produce, while the recipe encourages to use whole spices, tost them and grind. With that you do not really know how much corriander or mace or cinnamon you’d need in whole pieces to end up with a spoon of the ground ingredient for the final product. I really would appreciate these amounts to be incorporated in the list (or at leas a photo of appropriate hole spice amount). I reckon using the pre-ground ingredients is just a shortcut.
I made this a year ago and we love it! My husband is originally from Yorkshire and the smell from the jar is amazing everytime I pull it out. This has completely replaced any other cinnamon mix I use in baked goods. Need to create it again this week so it is ready to start our holiday baking! Thank you!
Thank you, Deb! I agree, it’s so much more interesting than cinnamon alone and I often reach for this for anything that calls for cinnamon!
I love your website and I would like to ad the treasured Dutch combination of spices for cookies in honor of Saint Nicolaas. The name of this mixture is speculaas as the cookies were made to depict all kind of items of daily life. Speculum is the latin word for mirror.
This mixture is made of the following spices:
8 teaspoons cinnamon powder
2 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, ground
1 teaspoon anise seed, ground
1 teaspoon ginger powder
¾ teaspoon cardamom, ground
I also have the recepy for the “Speculaasjes” the nema of the cookies.
190 grams butter, at room temperature
225 grams of yellow caster sugar
½ lemon, the zest
½ teaspoon salt
45 milliliters of buttermilk, at room temperature
400 grams of flour
3 ½ tablespoons speculaas spices
1 ½ teaspoons of baking soda
Also needed:
rice flour to dust the speculaas board
Place the butter, yellow caster sugar, lemon zest and salt in a bowl and mix together. Mix in the buttermilk and then add the flour, speculaas spices and baking soda. Sifting the dry ingredients together makes processing a little easier. This ensures that the herbs in particular are better distributed. Knead everything into a dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 60 minutes. Preheat the oven to 170º Celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper. Knead the dough briefly. If you use a gingerbread board, you must first dust it with a thin layer of rice flour to prevent the cookies from sticking to the board. The easiest way to do this is to sprinkle with a tea strainer and tap off the excess flour (tap the board on the work surface). Press the dough firmly into the mold and cut it with a sharp knife or string. Turn the board over and gently tap it on the work surface to get the gingerbread cookies out of the mould. Place them on the baking tray with sufficient space between them. If you use a cutter, you should roll out the dough to 3-4 centimeters. Bake the gingerbread cookies for 14-18 minutes. Let the cookies cool on a rack.
For almond speculaas, first place some almond shavings on the baking tray before you place the dough on it.
Thank you so much for sharing these recipes, Daan, and for the compliment. I’m sure our readers will enjoy these!
My favorite cake is the sugar-free carrot cake from BBC Food. It calls for “Mixed Spice”, and, being a Yank living in Mexico, I didn’t know what that was until I found your recipe.Thank you for a delicious spice blend recipe!
Fantastic, Kathleen, thank you! I know, the name “mixed spice” is pretty nondescript and could mean practically anything, lol :)
HELLO MAAM I THOUGHT CORRIANDER IS ASSOCIATED WITH SAVOURY FOOD SPICE? MAYBE I AM WRONG
THANKS
Hi CJJ, coriander has long been associated with both savory and sweet applications in a number of cuisines around the world.
Well done ma’am,could u pls give a savoury spice blend that will not include coriander. Will like to include ginger,turmeric, garlic,,cinnamon.
My mincemeat recipe calls for 4tsps mixed spice as well as 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg. Is it okay to add to mincemeat as well as mixed spice
Thanks
Hi Carol, I’m not entirely clear on what your question is. If your mincemeat calls for mixed spice then yes, this recipe for mixed spice is exactly what you need. And yes, adding the additional cinnamon and nutmeg is perfectly fine too.
As was doing cakes and I did not have mixed spice and as I came across this recipe and I loved the flavour and it very nice
Thank you, Tony, I’m happy you enjoyed it!
I don’t have mace, is it important?
Hi Linda, it’s an important component yes, but if you absolutely cannot find it then just omit it.
Mace is the outer covering of the nutmeg. You can use a similar amount of nutmeg to substitute.
It’s the magic ingredient in the taste of Welsh Cakes.