Growing all of the spices for masala chai is central to my plan for a happy future. While I wait for my spice trees and plants to produce, I appreciate opportunities to develop expertise in anticipation of my own harvests.
When my friends Guido and Candice offered me a ziplock bag of fresh mace from their neighbors’ tree, I jumped at the opportunity. Nutmeg is often called the only spice tree that gives two spices: nutmeg and mace. I’m suspicious that this isn’t correct. What about cloves and clove berries? Cinnamon bark and cinnamon leaves? Maybe its the only one with two “mainstream” spices. How mainstream is mace, anyway?
Mace is an impressively dramatic spice, covering nutmeg seeds like tentacles. The color is a must-be-artificially-dyed saturated orange and the texture seems almost plastic: flexible yet firm. I find the aroma to be lighter and higher-toned than nutmeg spice. The flavor seems more subtle than nutmeg seeds, with bright and warming nuance that is hard to describe. My friend Krista remarked that mace tastes like English Christmas treats.
Fresh mace was completely new to me. In its fresh, rubbery form, it doesn’t grind well. The secret, I learned from Indian people on the internet, is to lightly toast the mace on a dry pan until it is fragrant. At that point, you can grind it to a powder.
Of course, I immediately used it in chocolate as a post-grind inclusion. I tried it in my standards: 85% dark chocolate and vegan white chocolate. Both were delicious. Mace gives the dark chocolate a warming, spiced cake vibe. It is equally delicious in the white chocolate but even better by creating a beautiful orange color. With that vibrancy of color comes a punch of mace flavor, maybe too much for some people.
The other way I’ve been using fresh mace is in homemade masala chai tea. The addition elevates the fragrance so beautifully, like spicy sprites dancing on tiptoes.
To sum up my experience: I love mace! It is super cool looking, tasty, and somehow indescribably magical. Since I just learned I have another bag headed my way, I’m preparing for more experiments! How do you use mace?
I wonder about using the fresh form to infuse cocoa butter--do you think it would carry in flavor? It's so gorgeous!