Due to its pleasant aroma, cinnamon has become part of many nations’ cuisine. In the Middle Ages, it was a symbol of wealth, but today it is available to everyone.
Cinnamon is used worldwide to flavor both desserts and savory dishes. The purpose of this article is to investigate what fruit cinnamon goes well with.
Cinnamon pairs well with a variety of fruits. It is most often combined with - pumpkins, - butternut squash, - apples, - quince, - cherries, - pears, - plums, - prunes, - citrus fruit such as oranges, lemons and limes, - various nuts, especially almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts. Cinnamon is an excellent spice for flavoring fruit pies and strudels, as well as compotes. It is often paired with cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and vanilla.
In Western countries, it is hard to imagine Christmas without the aroma of cinnamon, but it has been among the most common spices in the Middle East and the Balkans for centuries.
Below are some well-known examples of cinnamon and fruit pairings from around the world.
Apples and cinnamon are the best pair
Cinnamon is a common spice in apple pies, compotes, and strudels. There are many well-known apple-cinnamon desserts around the world.
The American-style apple pie consists of a pie crust with an apple-cinnamon filling, with a top crust or lattice. Dutch and Swedish apple pies are also spiced with cinnamon.
Turkish apple pies are small, almost cookie-sized desserts, made from yogurt shortcrust pastry with a cinnamon-flavored, grated apple filling.
Viennese apple strudel (Apfelstrudel) is a popular dessert in several European countries. The strudel dough is filled with grated apples, cinnamon, sugar, and semolina or biscuit crumbs.
Pumpkin and butternut squash taste good with cinnamon
Pumpkin pie is traditionally made in autumn and winter. In the United States and Canada, it is associated with Thanksgiving and Christmas. Pumpkin pie spice is made up of several spices, including cinnamon.
Similar to Viennese apple strudel, pumpkin strudel is also made in many European countries. Its filling contains grated and sauteed pumpkin or butternut squash, flavored with sugar and cinnamon.
Cinnamon is the perfect spice for quince
Quince is a hard-fleshed, sour but very aromatic fruit that cannot be eaten raw. You can make a compote from it, flavored with sugar, cinnamon, and cloves.
Quince has a high pectin content, which is a natural gelling agent. This makes it suitable for making quince cheese or paste. In some European countries, such as Hungary, quince cheese is flavored with cinnamon and cloves.
Quince paste is also very popular in the Iberian Peninsula and South America. According to Wikipedia, the English word marmalade comes from the Portuguese word marmelada, which means “quince preparation“, and refers to quince cheese.
Pears and cinnamon also go well together
Baked pears are a healthy dessert, and we often use cinnamon to flavor them. You can also make tasty compotes, pies, and tarts fro,m pears, and cinnamon go well with all of them.
Pears Belle Helene (Poires Belle Helene) is one of the most famous French desserts. It is made from poached pears and served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate ganache. Some recipes use cinnamon to flavor the pears during poaching.
Cinnamon is an excellent spice for plums and prunes
The aroma of cinnamon goes well with plum and prune compote, pies, tarts, and cakes.
French prune tart (Tarte aux pruneaux) is made from yeast dough filled with cinnamon prune puree and a lattice on top.
Plum dumplings (Knödel, szilvásgombóc) are a popular dish in Austrian and Hungarian cuisines. These dumplings are filled with stoned plums and cinnamon sugar, then cooked in boiling water. They are coated with toasted breadcrumbs and sugar before serving.
Cinnamon also goes well with various nuts
The well-known Austrian Linzer dough contains ground walnuts, hazelnuts, or almonds, as well as cinnamon as a flavoring. In addition to Linzer cake, Linzer and Ischler cookies are also made from this dough.
Tarta De Santiago is a popular Spanish almond tart flavored with cinnamon and lemon zest. The cross of St. James is shaped as a decoration on the top.
Baklava is popular both in the Arab world and in some European countries. Baklava is a dessert made from filo dough filled with nuts, which is soaked in syrup after baking. Greek baklava is made with walnuts and cinnamon.
Do cinnamon and citrus fruit go together?
Crema Catalana is one of Spain’s iconic desserts. It combines lemon and orange zest with the aroma of cinnamon.
One of the best-known combinations of cinnamon and citrus fruits is found in the alcoholic beverage called navy grog.
Grog is basically rum diluted with water, mixed with citrus juice, cinnamon, and sometimes honey. It was consumed by sailors on the ships of the British Royal Navy from the mid-1700s until the 1970s.
Do cherries go with cinnamon?
Cherries and cinnamon are a good combination. Cinnamon is often added to desserts made with cherries, such as compote, pie, or soup.
The French Cherry and cinnamon brioche tart (Tarte briochée aux cerises) is made from yeast dough with cherries and cinnamon sugar.
Sour cherry soup flavored with cinnamon originates from Hungary but has become popular throughout Europe. It is best served chilled, as an appetizer, or as a refreshing summer dessert.
What exactly is cinnamon and where does it come from?
Cinnamon is actually the dried inner bark of tree species belonging to the Cinnamomum genus. Its pleasant aroma comes from the essential oils it contains.
Did you know that there are several types of cinnamon? The best known are Ceylon and Cassia, which differ in quality, taste, and chemical composition. These two varieties are available in Europe and the United States. Cassia has a stronger flavor than Ceylon cinnamon.
Ceylon cinnamon, known as “true cinnamon”, is native to Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India, but related varieties also exist in Vietnam and Indonesia. Ceylon cinnamon is of good quality, has a pleasant sweet taste, and is particularly expensive. In many places, it is only available in specialty shops.
Cassia cinnamon is native to China. This type is the most common, the cheapest, and the one that is available in stores worldwide. Due to its
Due to its high Coumarin content, it is not recommended to consume cinnamon in large amounts.
Spices that pair well with cinnamon
Cinnamon alone gives a pleasant taste to our food and beverages, but it can also be mixed well with other spices.
The aroma of cinnamon goes well with cloves, nutmeg, and powdered ginger, which together make up pumpkin pie spice. It can also be combined with vanilla, as well as with lemon and orange zest.
Gingerbread spice also includes cinnamon, along with cardamom, coriander, cloves, nutmeg, and powdered ginger.
Final thoughts
We use cinnamon mostly with apples, quinces, pumpkin, butternut squash, cherries, plums, and prunes. However, its aroma goes well with many types of fruit, including citrus fruits and nuts.
Cinnamon has been present in Middle Eastern cultures since ancient times and became really popular in Europe in the Middle Ages. Cinnamon is used almost all over the world in both desserts and savory dishes. In Western countries, it has become an essential part of Christmas traditions.