Believe it or not, it is time to start thinking about stocking up on fresh spices for the fall baking season. I personally am looking forward to baking with pumpkin. That means I will need to have plenty of pumpkin pie spice on hand.
Imagine what pumpkin pie would taste like without all of the warm spices included in pumpkin pie spice. Pretty bland…right? What about pumpkin bread, pumpkin cake, and pumpkin ice cream? Too many people think there is only one thing to use pumpkin pie spice for, and that’s pumpkin pie. No so.
Like every other spice out there, it is very important to use it before it gets too old. Spices start to lose their strength and do not provide enough flavor as time goes on. What I like to do is put a date on the bottle when I get it home from the store. That way I can keep track of how old the spice is. There really isn’t a set life span for spices, so the best way to know if it is still good is to smell or taste it. If the odor is too faint, then throw it out and buy new.
If you don’t have a jar of pumpkin pie spice on hand it is very easy to make your own. You probably have all of the spices it takes to make some right in your pantry. There are many different blends out there, but this recipe is pretty standard:
4 T. ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
4 teaspoons of ground ginger
3 teaspoons of ground allspice
Mix all of these spices together and store in an airtight jar. Once again, be sure all of your spices are fresh to get the best aroma.
Interestingly enough, apple pie spice contains all of the same spices as pumpkin pie spice, except in different amounts. You can even substitute pumpkin pie spice for garam masala in some Indian recipes. Garam masala contains some of the same sweet spices in pumpkin pie spice.
Fall is a great time for baking. I hope you will keep pumpkin pie spice handy and use it often during the holidays. It’s one of the spices I actually use up quickly and have to replace often.
Happy baking,
Pam
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