Pumpkin spice blend

In autumn, everything revolves around Pumpkin Spice. Lately I've noticed that a lot of people misunderstand this phrase. Today I'll explain in more detail what it means when a dish is “Pumpkin Spiced”, and share a recipe with which you can turn just about any dish into an autumn masterpiece.

If a recipe name says “Pumpkin Spice”, it doesn't mean the recipe contains pumpkin

Also called Pumpkin Pie Spice, it's really just a blend of 4-5 spices that most of us already have in our pantry. The blend is made from cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg, and some people also add allspice, aniseed or cardamom as desired. Dishes named with this phrase are really just dishes that contain this spice blend. But why is it called “Pumpkin” Spice if there's no pumpkin in it?

This spice blend was traditionally used when baking pumpkin desserts – such as pumpkin pie, muffins, cakes and biscuits. The flavours of pumpkin and winter spices go together beautifully and give a cosy autumn-winter feel. That's why people very often combine this autumn spice blend with pumpkin – but pumpkin is still not a requirement for a dish to be called “Pumpkin Spice”.

The blend is made from cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg

Today I'll show you my version of the pumpkin spice blend that I use in my recipes. Add a pinch of this blend to your morning coffee or cocoa, mix a teaspoon into your baking creations, sprinkle it lightly over cream, cereal, porridge or sliced fruit, or add it to a shake for a top-notch autumn aroma.

Looking for recipes that use the autumn spice blend? Click HERE!

On the blog you'll find loads of recipes that are perfect for autumn and winter. The ingredients I love using most in the colder half of the year definitely include apples, plums, pears, pumpkin, sweet potato and, of course, all the autumn spices we used in this recipe. If you'd like to create autumn dishes too, check out the selected recipes by clicking on this text.