If you have been traveling like me, or come from a melting pot of cultures like the United States or Canada,, you may enjoy different traditions of the same kind of recipes. A big one is Christmas! For you, I outline some key differences between spice mixes and give you 4 traditional Christmas spice mixes including my two favorite mixes: the French, and the German one. You’ll also find the one from an American website I love, Leelalicious ! Merry Christmas !

Christmas Tastes Similar But Different Everywhere

Did you know why so many recipes taste different at Christmas? That is because the traditional spice mixes are different and contain different spices ! Check out four examples of France, England Germany and the US.

I do have a bias for these countries specifically since these are where I lived the closest to most of my life.

These recipes are not my own. However, I use them in that post to stress the differences between country traditions when it comes to making spice bread and gingerbread cookies at Christmas time.

French Mix Mélange 4 épices

In French recipes, a typical staple is the 4 spice mix. As a French in the United States, I can’t always find the French ingredients preassembled in a jar as when I am home. But it is not all that much of a problem, since all ingredients are at hand ! So, I make my own.

Here is the 4 spice mix I made for myself based on this website’s recipe, and I like it a lot!

Yield: a jar

4 Spice French Gingerbread Spice Mix

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This peppery spicebread mix is traditional to French Christmas spicebread recipes, so beloved at christmas time. Eat with orange jam, dried figs, foie gras ... many sweet or savory things! One of my favorite go-to to bake French Christmas recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes

Mix 1 minute

Label and store Time 2 minutes

Total Time 11 minutes

Ingredients

• 20 g black pepper
• 6 g ground nutmeg
• 6 g ground clove
• 6 g ground cinnamon
• Optional : 6 g ground ginger

Instructions

1. display all ingredient in a jar with a precision scale
2. transfer to jar and label "French 4 spice Spicebread mix"
3. Hunt for recipes and get cooking!

German Christmas Lebkuchen Mix

I have a soft spot for German gingerbread cookies.

I grew up studying German at school, and our German class (from France) would take one trip to Germany every other year. So I grew up associating many things Christmas with German Christmas. recipes and traditions. Then I lived in Germany for three years, which only strengthened this affinity! So now I browse German websites for Christmas inspiration !

Here is the recipe of the mix I use for German recipes, like the famous Elisen Lebkuchen I will post soon:

Yield: -

German Lebkuchen Christmas Spice Mix

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A spice mix that means Christmas in Germany

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 35 g cinnamon 8 g Ground cloves 1 Tsp allspice 2 Tsp nutmeg 2 Tsp cardamom ½ Tsp ginger 1 Tsp ground star Anise

Instructions

1. In a bowl mix together cinnamon , ground cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, anise. If need be, grind your whole spices with a good coffee and spice grinder.
2. transfer into a glass jar.
3. Label "Lebkuchengewürz" or German Christmas Spice Mix
4. Go bake German cookies like the German Elisenlebkuchen!

You need a precision scale to make your spice mix, and when it come to electronics especially online, I stopped buying cheap brands because they brake so much faster. Here is a solid one from Kitchen aid. It’s your money and your choice though !

If some of your spices are in whole form, you can easily grind them ! Here there is a grinder by SHARDOR I 100% recommend for herbs and nuts alike ( I have a separate one to grind coffee beans to avoid coffee taste in my herbs! ). Don’t worry, I won’t recommend items I don’t ( or would) use myself.

German American Recipes

For an American German association, check this out !

Here is my favorite American German-inspired website – Leelaleecious, recipe for Lebkuchen Spice Mix Recipe . Make sure you check out her website, she has excellent recipes there! I invite you to try some recipes there, they truly taste German. I sometimes use her spice mix and love it!

Leelaleecious’ German Gingerbread Mix Recipe

This is very German inspired, as you may notice from the ingredient list above!

• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ginger
• 2 teaspoons cloves
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• ½ teaspoon cardamom
• ½ teaspoon coriander
• ½ teaspoon star anise
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon finely ground black pepper

The English Gingerbread Mix

Now let’s go to England. Browsing a bit on the history of gingerbread recipes, it seems the “ginger” bread originally was not made with even ginger or spices ! Check this website for a fun history of English Gingerbread!

As of today, gingerbread spice mix in England is closer to the American pumpkin spice mix than American gingerbread spice mixes. Here is the link to the English recipe to use in British recipes, for with a real British Christmas flair:

• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoons ground coriander
• 3/4 teaspoon ground mace ( a kind of nutmeg)

I Do not use this mix so I will not post a recipe card for it!

American Gingerbread Mixes

Off to America ! Now you would think that on account of inheritance, Christmas spice mixes would be much more similar. Now you would be wrong! Ingredients are almost the same, but in very different proportions! Only ingredient missing is coriander, and of course mace, which is a kind of nutmeg. But Americans added cardamom, a spice I like a lot too.

Here is one common American Gingerbread Mix :

• 2 tbsp ground ginger
• 3 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves

I use this mix here just for the sake of comparison, because I haven’t yet used it.

This mix is much heavier in cinnamon and ginger than the German mix! I have never used Gingerbread or pumpkin spice mixes myself, so I can’t judge either way! However, I find it fascinating how different spice mixes define a country’s tastebuds….

What is your favorite mix?

Of all spice mixes recipes, needless to say the German is my favorite for soft and hard cookies alike. This is not surprising, as it is by far the richest in the type of spices mixes !

But if there is any French traditional recipe I want to make, I won’t dare use a different mix than the typical one. I haven’t tried to make French spice bread with the German spice mix. But in my experience, it is not a good idea to replace my French mix with a German mix in a French recipe.: Once or twice,. I did get mixed up (pun intended) on spice mixes and it backfired!

Notice that different countries’ traditional recipes also include different ingredients, and that’s probably why spice mixes don’t work well in other recipes? For example, a French spice bread contains much orange marmelade and honey, which combine so well with the traditional 4 spice mix! I am not sure how it would fare with a German Lebkuchen mix…

One Special Ingredient: Allspice

Last year when I went home for Christmas, I checked if I would find all ingredients I had here at my mom’s. One ingredient I realized I couldn’t easily put my hand on in France is allspice. And I soon realized it was not a spice mix, but an unripe berry from, Pimenta dioica or Jamaican pepper. It would be often mistaken for spice mixes! So I travelled to my home with my jar of allspice. Now a loved one that is allergic to cloves discovered she could use allspice and get some of the clove flavor again!

Allspice is present in English and American, and German mixes but as a French it was totally new to me. Now besides making German cookies, I can experiment with it. You gotta love cross cultural richness!

Get good spices!

Now that we have established what kind of spice mixes to go to and their probable why, I invite you to make your own and research some inspiring recipes to make some sweet treats for your loved ones!

Meanwhile if I have any recommendation on where to get your spices, get good ones, It does change a recipe ! My all favorite brand in the US is Frontier Coop. ( this is an Amazon affiliate link but I am no Frontier affiliate – yet!). I get most spices and herbs from Frontier coop as they are EXCELLENT,

What you love, buy in bulk!

Some like cinnamon and cumin, oregano, thyme, I buy in bulk because I use them a lot and they do not go bad within a year or two! You probably know that spice and herbs have health properties so I encourage you to use them to add taste, flair and nutrition to your meals! And as you know, good stuff is always cheaper in bulk…

Let’s get cooking!

If inspired you some creativity, I invite you to try some of my Christmas recipes like the Nürnberger Elisen Lebuchen,, German Cinnamon stars or a French Spice bread I will post shortly! And don’t underestimate simple pleasures like the little Christmas bites made with almond, honey and orange blossom water, or the candied orange peels dipped in chocolate: no spice involved, but that is a French traditional Christmas classic!

Merry Christmas!

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