Mixed spice
Also known as pudding spice, british mixed spice, cake spice
Quick answer
The British baking blend, and a name that means nothing outside Britain. It is not pumpkin spice, though the two overlap enough that recipes are swapped between them and the result is usually acceptable and never identical.
In essentially every version: Cinnamon or cassia, Coriander seed, Nutmeg, Allspice, Cloves, Ginger.
2distinct versions are recorded below. None of them is presented as the correct one, because there isn’t one.
What goes in it
The defining core first, then the versions. Roles are recorded so it is clear what each ingredient is doing.
| Ingredient | Role | How essential |
|---|---|---|
| Cassia (ground)Almost always the largest component. British packets say cinnamon and usually contain cassia, which is the ordinary state of affairs for cinnamon in retail. | base | defining |
| Coriander seed (ground)The component most likely to surprise someone reading the label. Coriander seed is citric and sweet-warm here rather than savoury, and it is a real point of difference from pumpkin spice, which does not use it. | primary aromatic | usual |
| Nutmeg (ground) | primary aromatic | defining |
| Allspice (ground) | primary aromatic | usual |
| Cloves (ground) | supporting aromatic | usual |
| Ginger (ground) | supporting aromatic | usual |
| Mace (ground) | supporting aromatic | optional |
Commercial British mixed spice varies in whether it includes coriander seed, mace and caraway, and in how heavily it leans on cinnamon. Some older recipes include caraway, which is rare now and noticeable when present. What is consistent is a cinnamon-led warm blend with nutmeg and allspice, milder and broader than pumpkin spice and used at larger quantities. Where a recipe says "mixed spice" it means this; where an American recipe says "apple pie spice" it means something close but with no coriander and usually no allspice.
The versions
Each attributed, with how firm its proportions are stated plainly.
Standard British
commercial typicalCommon British commercial and household composition · proportions representative · low confidence
Cinnamon-led with coriander seed, the version most packets hold.
| Ingredient | Parts | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Cinnamon | 4 | 41% |
| Coriander seed | 2 | 21% |
| Nutmeg | 1 | 10% |
| Allspice | 1 | 10% |
| Ginger | 1 | 10% |
| Cloves | 0.5–1 | 8% |
Recorded at low confidence. Commercial blends do not publish proportions and vary; this is the shape rather than a formulation.
Older British, with caraway
documented historicalHistoric British household practice · proportions reconstructed · low confidence
Caraway appears in older recipes and is rare in commercial blends now. It is assertive enough to be noticed immediately, which is probably why it fell out of use — and it is the reason a Victorian seed cake tastes unlike anything a modern packet produces.
| Ingredient | Parts | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Cinnamon | 4 | 44% |
| Coriander seed | 2 | 22% |
| Caraway | 1 | 11% |
| Nutmeg | 1 | 11% |
| Allspice | 1 | 11% |
Reconstructed rather than documented. SpiceHQ holds no source giving proportions for a caraway-containing mixed spice, and records the shape at low confidence rather than presenting a historic recipe it cannot cite.
Using it
Christmas pudding, mince pies, hot cross buns, fruit cake, bread pudding, spiced biscuits and apple dishes. Used generously — a teaspoon or more in a cake — which is the practical difference from pumpkin spice as much as the composition is.
Warm, sweet-spiced and broad, led by cinnamon with nutmeg and allspice behind it. Milder than pumpkin spice and less ginger-forward, with a citric lift from the coriander seed that is the clearest way to tell the two apart by taste.
None. The ginger contributes warmth rather than heat.
Scaling: Scales linearly with one caution: cloves. They are the component that takes over a blend at a few per cent, so keep them at or below the proportion given regardless of batch size.
If you have none
Cassia with Nutmeg and Allspice and Coriander seed
Good matchUse: ~1× by volume — Four parts cinnamon, two ground coriander seed, one nutmeg and one allspice, at the same total volume.
The coriander seed is the ingredient people leave out and the one that makes the reconstruction taste right — it is citric and sweet-warm here rather than savoury, and it is the clearest point of difference from every American equivalent. Without it this becomes apple pie spice, which is a perfectly good blend and not mixed spice.
| Flavour | Aroma | Colour | Heat |
|---|---|---|---|
| close | close | very close | n/a |
Works for
- Christmas pudding, mince pies, hot cross buns, fruit cake
- Anyone outside Britain following a British recipe
Does not work for
- Recipes that also call for coriander seed separately, which would double it
This is the substitution most people actually need: "mixed spice" is assumed without explanation in British recipes and means nothing on an American shelf.
Pumpkin spice
AcceptableUse: ~0.75× by volume — Rather less than the mixed spice called for. Pumpkin spice is punchier, mostly from ginger.
Works, and is noticeably gingery. Mixed spice is used generously in British baking — a teaspoon or more in a cake — and pumpkin spice at that quantity is assertive, so reduce it. The coriander lift is absent and the result is narrower.
| Flavour | Aroma | Colour | Heat |
|---|---|---|---|
| close | close | very close | n/a |
Works for
- Fruit cakes, buns and puddings where a warmer, gingerier result is acceptable
- An American kitchen following a British recipe
Does not work for
- Delicate baking where the ginger would dominate
- A recipe that also calls for ground ginger, which would compound
Storage
Good for: 6–12 months (typically 9 months)
Cool, dark, dry and closed.
Stale mixed spice is a quality matter. Kept dry it does not become unsafe; a very old jar simply contributes almost nothing.
Culture and origin
Britain, where it has been a standard baking blend for long enough that recipes assume it without explanation. The name is a description rather than a tradition — "mixed spice" is what it is — and there is no protected or canonical formulation.
Britain
Mixed spice is assumed rather than explained in British recipes, which is why the question "what is mixed spice" is asked mostly by people reading British recipes from elsewhere. Its calendar is Christmas and Easter — pudding, mince pies, hot cross buns — and a jar in a British cupboard is often bought once a year.