Spices for desserts and sweets
Gingerbread, kheer, halwa, spiced cakes and the sweets of festival tables.
Dessert is where sweet spices are at home. Cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, ginger, saffron and rose flavour puddings, cakes, biscuits and confectionery in nearly every cuisine.
Milk and rice puddings
Kheer in India, firni in Iran, muhallebi in Turkey and rice pudding in Europe are all gently spiced, with cardamom, saffron, rose, cinnamon or nutmeg.
Baking
Gingerbread, speculaas, Lebkuchen, mince pies, apple pie and cinnamon buns use warm spices. Baklava and other Ottoman sweets use cinnamon and clove, and Latin American sweets use vanilla and cinnamon.
Confectionery
Halwa in the Middle East and South Asia, gaz in Iran and Turkish delight take cardamom, rose, saffron and mastic.
Desserts and sweets on EveryMasala
The spices written up so far, best known first.
馃嚘馃嚬 Austria and 5 moreCaraway
The crescent-shaped fruit of a carrot-family herb, used to flavour breads and spirits.Seed 路 Anise and liquorice 路 Sharp and pungent
馃嚠馃嚛 Indonesia and 3 moreNutmeg
The dried seed of a tropical evergreen tree, prized for its warm, pungent flavor.Seed 路 Warm and sweet-spiced 路 Sweet and mellow
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 2 moreCardamom
Aromatic seeds from spindle-shaped pods used in sweet and savory dishes across Asia and the Middle East.Seed 路 Sharp and pungent 路 Warm and sweet-spiced
馃嚘馃嚭 AustraliaWattleseed
The edible seed of Australian Acacia trees, traditionally ground into flour by Aboriginal Australians.Seed 路 Sweet and mellow 路 Earthy and deep
馃嚬馃嚪 Turkey and 5 morePoppy seed
The tiny kidney-shaped oilseed of the opium poppy, used in baking and cooking across Europe and South Asia.Seed 路 Earthy and deep
馃嚬馃嚪 Turkey and 2 moreMahleb
A ground cherry seed used to sweeten Middle Eastern baked goods with an almond-cherry note.Seed 路 Sweet and mellow 路 Bitter
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 3 moreAnise
The sweet, licorice-flavored seed of an annual herb from the Mediterranean basin.Seed 路 Sweet and mellow 路 Anise and liquorice
馃嚘馃嚬 Austria and 5 moreCaraway
The crescent-shaped fruit of a carrot-family plant, used to flavour rye bread and spirits.Seed 路 Sharp and pungent 路 Anise and liquorice
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Caraway: Slick, CC0, source
- Anise: David Monniaux, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wattleseed: division, CSIRO, CC BY 3.0, source
- Mahleb: Steve Hurst @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database, Public domain, source
- Poppy seed: Odedr, Public domain, source
- Cardamom: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nutmeg: Herusutimbul, CC BY-SA 4.0, source