this month the recipe redux ladies encouraged us to pull out creepy, spooky, all-together ooky spices.
not in a gross way, but in a “i have no idea how to use this spice” kind of way.
being that i move a lot, i don’t have many spice jars that get crammed in the back of a pantry and go unused. most all the spices i have, i also use a lot. however, my mother-in-law brought me a kit of spices from south africa a while back filled with a rainbow of different spices… pink and green peppercorns, whole cloves, edible dried rosebuds, cardamom pods, vanilla beans, pink salt, and mace blades.
{cue the record scratch}… mace blades? that sounds more like a weapon than a spice.
though i’ve heard of culinary mace, usually in really old cookbooks, the first thought that comes to mind is the canister my dad made me carry around in my teenage years to fend off potential bad guys or annoying boys. you know the mace i’m talking about.
that mace has nothing at all to do with this mace.
mace is the red-headed stepsister of nutmeg. they actually come from the same plant… nutmeg, you see, is a stonefruit and we use the seed as “nutmeg”, grating it into our foods. within the plant, the seed is covered in a bright red webbing, which dries into a golden “blade”, mace.
mace has a milder nutmeg-like flavor and can be used alongside or in place of nutmeg. ground mace is relatively available, but the blades i’d not seen before. they are best used infused into sauces and liquids, both sweet and savory.
a simple, seasonal flan with mace was a perfect pair. infusing coconut milk with mace blades, a cinnamon stick, and whole cloves gives this flan the flavor it needs without using ground spices.
my son and husband were fighting over this dessert last night.
see… not so ooky at all.
pumpkin coconut flan
Ingredients
- 1 13.5-ounce can full-fat unsweetened coconut milk
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 pinches mace blades or 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
- 3 whole cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 5 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
Instructions
- Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until mixture begins to simmer. Remove from heat, cover, and let infuse for 45 minutes. Remove lid, and strain mixture into a bowl discarding solid spices; set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Sprinkle 1/3 cup sugar evenly over the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until sugar melts and becomes golden.
- Meanwhile combine pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Stir in warm coconut milk mixture, being careful mixture isn't so hot it will cook eggs. Stir well with a wire whisk.
- Pour batter into 9-inch pie plate on top of caramelized sugar.
- Place pie plate into a roasting pan. Fill roasting pan with warm water, enough to rise halfway up the outside of the pie plate. Be careful not to spill water into your batter.
- Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes or until set. Insert a knife into the center of the flan to check for doneness. Knife should come out clean.
- Allow flan to cool; cover and chill overnight. Run a thin knife around the sides of the flan; invert onto serving piece. Top with spun sugar, if desired.
