Speculaas spice mix

Speculaas spices are an absolute must-have in your kitchen, especially, if you are Dutch, from mid-November to December 5th. Speculaas spice mix is used in speculaas and pepernoten and is amazing in other recipes such as cake, cookies and stews!

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One of the oldest recipes for speculaas spices that I have been able to find was in a cookbook called ‘de Schrandere Stichtse Keuken-meid’. This book, written in 1754, was such a success that it was still published fifty years later under the name of ‘De Nieuwe, Welervarene Utrechtsche Keuken-meid’.

The most interesting thing about the older recipes is that at that time pepper was added to the mixture. Most modern recipes are without this ingredient. They used an old pepper variety called cubeb or tailed pepper in this cookbook. This pepper has a more floral taste than regular black pepper but can be hard to find.

There are also a few ingredients missing that we now almost always use such as mace, cloves and ginger. My recipe is a mix between the old recipe from 1745 and the modern one.

When you’ve combined the ingredients, store your speculaas spice mix in an airtight container. For example, small glass jars or put the mix, in empty, clean old spice jars. This way your speculaas spices will keep for months.

Can I use this spice mix to make speculoos?

No. Speculaas and speculoos are not the same thing. Speculoos is a cookie that is flavoured with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, mace and cloves. It is a traditional cookie in the Netherlands and Germany. Speculoos or Biscoff is a cookie from Belgium that only contains cinnamon or no spices at all.

I can’t wait until it is November and all the shops and bakeries are filled with the scent of speculaas! What is your favourite time of the year?

Speculaas spice mix

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Ingredients

• 8 tbsp cinnamon 
• 2 tbsp nutmeg
• 1,5 tbsp cloves
• 1 tbsp ginger
• 2 tsp cardamom
• 2 tsp aniseed
• 1 tsp mace
• 1 tsp black pepper or cubeb/tailed pepper

Instructions

1. Put all the spices in a bowl and mix them well.
2. Store the speculaas spices in an airtight jar.

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