Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend

Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend: Guide and Culinary Uses

Pumpkin pie spice is an American spice blend — typically cinnamon (dominant), ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, sometimes with allspice — designed to season pumpkin pie, the quintessential American Thanksgiving dessert. The blend was developed commercially by McCormick in the United States and became enormously widely used as a convenience formulation. In Britain it is less well-established than in North America, though the "pumpkin spice" flavour — dominated by cinnamon and ginger with nutmeg and clove underpinnings — became globally familiar through Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL), introduced in 2003 and now one of the most commercially successful seasonal drinks in coffee culture history. The blend's warm, sweet, autumnal character suits a wide range of applications beyond pumpkin pie.

Culinary Uses

Use in pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake, pumpkin muffins, and pumpkin bread. Season butternut squash and sweet potato dishes. Add to hot drinks — stir into latte, hot chocolate, and chai. Use in oatmeal and porridge. Season roasted pumpkin and squash with a small quantity alongside olive oil and salt. Add to spiced granola and trail mix. For those who stock individual spices, blend two teaspoons ground cinnamon with one teaspoon ground ginger, half a teaspoon each of nutmeg and allspice, and a quarter teaspoon cloves for an approximate equivalent.