Recipes out there are always calling for spice mixtures when getting into the autumnal/harvest desserts and baked goods.  Buying a premade spice mix when you probably already have all of the ingredients in your pantry.

Thanksgiving is sneaking up on us (if you live in Canada, like me, it's next weekend - ahhhh!), and that means pumpkin pie flavoured everything!

Today, I'm gonna put up two simple recipes.  One for a ground pumpkin pie spice mix, and the other for pumpkin pie spice syrup (so you can save yourself a couple trips to Starbucks this season).  First up, ground pumpkin pie spice mix:

Pumpkin pie spice is usually just four spices - cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutmeg.  If you're like me, though, the scent you get from that mix is missing a tone.  For me, nothing says holidays like allspice, and nothing spice baked leaves my kitchen without a touch of allspice in it.

(Photo credit: romanlily)

The basic mixture is:

1 part clove
2 parts ginger
2 parts nutmeg
4 parts allspice
8 parts cinnamon

This will let you make as much as you like, to keep some in your cupboard.  For your basic pie you might use the following measurements:

1/8 tsp clove
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon

or (in metric):

0.625 ml clove
1.25 ml ginger
1.25 ml nutmeg
2.5 ml allspice
5 ml cinnamon

For your pumpkin pie spice syrup, simply replace your ground spices will whole spices (whole spices keep their flavour longer, so it might be worth the investment of $10 to buy a spice grinder - just sayin').  The measurements don't really need to be exact since you will be soaking them, but you want them pretty similar.

2 sticks of cinnamon
1/2 to 1 whole nutmeg

Allspice or pimento (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

4-5 whole cloves
4-5 whole allspice berries
small (maybe 1/2") nub of peeled fresh ginger
1 cup of sugar (white or raw depending on your preference - you could even use brown sugar if you want to add a molasses-y flavour to your syrup)
1 cup of water

Stir your sugar and water together, add your spices and heat over med-low until the sugar is disolved.  Don't let the syrup get beyond a simmer.  You don't want it to harden into candy.  Let cool, and store in a jar/bottle in your fridge.

Syrup keeps for a very long time.  I'm not sure how long because it never lasts more than a month in my house ;)

Happy Harvest Season, folks!