Gingerbread Spice: The Best Fragrant Homemade Recipe
·Prep the spices in the pan
Tip the star anise, allspice, aniseed, fennel seeds, cloves and coriander seeds into a dry, cold pan. Pop the cardamom pods open and shake out just the black seeds, adding those in too. Add the Ceylon cinnamon sticks, breaking them up into smaller pieces with your hands as you go.
Toast until fragrant
Now put the pan over medium-low to medium heat. Toast the spices, stirring constantly, for about 2-3 minutes, until everything smells wonderfully fragrant. Keep a close eye on it — the spices mustn't burn, or they'll turn bitter.
Let it cool completely
As soon as the spices are fragrant, tip them straight from the hot pan onto a cold plate. Let them cool down completely. Don't skip this step — warm spices would create condensation in the grinder and lose that true aroma.
Grind and sieve
Tip the cooled spice mix into a grinder (coffee or spice grinder) or crush it in a mortar and pestle. Grind it as finely as you can. For an really smooth powder, it's worth passing it through a fine sieve. Any bigger bits can go back in for another grind.
Mix it all together
Add the dried ground ginger to the ground spice mix. Finally, grate in the nutmeg using a fine grater. Stir everything together thoroughly with a spoon and you're done! Store in an airtight jar.