Cinnamon powder

What dishes can cinnamon powder be used in?

Explore the sweet and warm flavors of cinnamon

With its sweet and round aromas, cinnamon is the spice of childhood! A small madeleine of Proust, it takes us back to apple pies at snack time, hot chocolate, cookies, and of course gingerbread and speculoos!

The advantage of this spice is that it can be used in both desserts and savory dishes (just look at Moroccan pastilla or even Indian curries!).

Cinnamon contains coumarin which, in high doses, can be dangerous to health. The tolerable daily dose should be less than 4.8 mg per day for a 60 kg adult.

How to use cinnamon powder?

Our recipe ideas to use cinnamon in your cooking:

· butternut squash soup with cinnamon : sprinkle a few pinches of cinnamon in your soup before enjoying;

· cinnamon ginger cod: add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder to your fish broth;

· Swedish cinnamon rolls / Cinnamon rolls: spread brown sugar, butter, and 3 teaspoons of cinnamon on your dough (find the complete recipe below);

· apple pie: sprinkle 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder on your apples before placing them on your dough;

· cinnamon shortbread cookies: add 2 teaspoons of cinnamon powder to your shortbread dough and knead by hand;

· pear caramel tart : sprinkle 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder on your pears before placing them on your dough.

Click here to discover the homemade curry recipe with cinnamon powder

The aromas of Ceylon cinnamon

Sweet, lemony, and warm all at once, cinnamon has intense flavors that leave sweet, soft, and lemony flavors in your mouth that warm up once tasted.

The spice of Sri Lanka

How does Ceylon cinnamon grow?

Ceylon cinnamon, native to Sri Lanka, is the bark of the cinnamon tree, a tree in the Lauraceae family, coming from the same family as the avocado tree or the bay tree.

Cinnamon, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, which requires very precise harvesting, comes from a tree that can reach between 10 to 15 meters high.

New branches are cut and stripped of their fragrant outer bark, which is the spice we all have in our cupboards: cinnamon.

Once the bark of the tree is dried, it becomes cinnamon sticks that can be used directly in cooking or ground to produce cinnamon powder.

The cinnamon tree is mainly grown in Sri Lanka, but also in other tropical regions of the world.

What is the difference between Chinese Cassia and Ceylon Cinnamon?

Chinese Cassia, also known as fake cinnamon, comes from the same family as Ceylon Cinnamon, the Lauraceae family, and yet they have several differences. Cassia cinnamon is originally from China, while Ceylon Cinnamon, also known as Cinnamomum Zeylanicum or verum, comes from Sri Lanka.

On the flavor side, Ceylon Cinnamon is sweeter, more delicate, refined, and less spicy than Cassia Cinnamon, which is stronger and more powerful.

Cassia Cinnamon represents almost 90% of the cinnamon available on the market, and it is less expensive, while Ceylon Cinnamon is more expensive and rare to find due to its superior quality.

The history of Ceylon Cinnamon

Cinnamon originated in Ceylon. In antiquity, cinnamon was surrounded by many legends. The Egyptians, who used it for embalming, believed that it grew according to secret rites in a mysterious and distant land. To uncover this mystery, Queen Hatshepsut sent an expedition to the country of Punt, the "Land of God," which is now Ethiopia, and opened the route of spices.

In Rome, there was a rush for luxury Indian products such as pepper, cinnamon, ginger, pearls, and ivory.

During the Renaissance, the Portuguese, English, and Dutch engaged in a war to monopolize these spices, which they spread all over the world.