adventures in baking

[mizkit]

Well, my instinct on the maple syrup cake turned out to be right. I’d thought, as I was mixing it up, “I should throw some cinnamon and spices in here,” but then I thought, nah, first time, I’ll follow the recipe. And it turned out to be a very nice, mild, very sweet cake with a texture and flavor like a spice cake someone hadn’t put the spices in

Comments

[bellinghman]

What is it with you Americans and cinnamon? I've even heard complaints from some people that if you don't like cinnamon, food in the US is a real problem, it's so ubiquitous.

I mean, it's OK as a spice - I will use it on occasion - but you all go absolutely mad for it, and I'm wondering where that came from. You even consider it apart from other spices, as your own phrasing shows.

[mizkit]

You know, I even noticed I was putting it apart as a separate spice and considered undoing that, but then thought "nah." :)

I have no idea what it is with us and cinnamon. Possibly it's that the melting pot aspect of America has introduced to us every culture in the world that uses it, so we have a lot of foods that use it? Though really, I can only think of half a dozen off the top of my head that you'd find anywhere that had cinnamon (french toast, apple pie, sopapillas (probably), many kinds of doughnuts (ok, I can think of four, anyway), but the idea that it'd be difficult to eat if you don't like it seems...unlikely to me.

[bellinghman]

Breakfast cereals? Coffee?

And yes, I merely forward reports regarding the difficulty, and I suspect it's mostly breakfast that's the problem for them. I'm OK with cinnamon, but as I say, for us it's just another spice, not the spice.

(I suspect that the spice would be pepper.)

Putting it in apple pie is an Americanism for me. If I want a proper apple pie, I leave it out. If I want an American-style one, I'll put it in. But mostly, when I use cinnamon, it's one of many spices in a curry sauce, or similar.

(Hmm, I think I'll make a pie tonight. I have the apples that I need to use up.)

[ramurphy]

I dunno. I personally only use cinnamon in sweet things, like oatmeal cookies, apple pies, spice cake. I know there are those who think it gives a particular frisson to savory dishes, but I'm not one of them.