Quick answer: At breakfast, vanilla, Ceylon cinnamon powder, ginger and turmeric flavour a porridge, a yoghurt, a slice of toast or a coffee. These ground spices are mixed in cold or sprinkled on at the end of cooking, with no long infusion needed.
Breakfast is not the meal where spices come to mind first, and yet a few pinches change a slice of toast or a bowl of porridge with no effort at all. Vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and turmeric fit in easily, as long as you know the right moment to add them and the right form to use.
Four spices within reach in the morning
Vanilla lends itself well to a sweet start to the day: in powder in a yoghurt or a compote, as extract in a pancake batter, or simply as vanilla sugar sprinkled over a hot porridge. Ceylon cinnamon powder brings a warm note with nothing spicy about it; it pairs with grated apple, muesli or coffee. Ginger powder livens up a smoothie or a hot milk with a sharper edge. Turmeric, meanwhile, colours and flavours a spiced milk or a savoury porridge, as long as it is measured carefully, since its earthy taste quickly takes over from the rest of the ingredients.
Cold or at the end of cooking
In a yoghurt, a cold compote or a smoothie, ground spices are mixed in directly, with no cooking: they infuse slowly in contact with the liquid or the fruit during the few minutes before the meal. In a porridge or a hot milk, the simplest approach is to add the spice at the end of cooking, once the heat is off, to keep all of its fragrance. Prolonged cooking over high heat adds nothing more and can instead dry out the aroma of the vanilla or the cinnamon, which cope poorly with too much heat for too long.
On a slice of toast
On bread, butter and a pinch of Ceylon cinnamon make a simple slice of toast, with no need to prepare anything in advance. Vanilla powder also pairs with a homemade spread or a fresh cheese, in a very small amount, so as not to cover the taste of the bread. Ginger, sharper, suits a savoury slice better, with a fresh cheese or mashed avocado.
In coffee or a spiced milk
Coffee and tea also welcome these spices, a subject covered in detail on our page spices in coffee and tea. For a hot morning milk, turmeric and ginger come together in a golden milk, a preparation that our recipe for turmeric-ginger golden latte details step by step, from the dosing to the heating time.
Where these spices come from
At Vanille Désiré, the vanilla comes from the SAVA region, in the northeast of Madagascar. The cinnamon, ginger and turmeric come from Vangaindrano, in the southeast of the country.
Frequently asked questions
Can vanilla powder be added directly to a cold yoghurt?
Yes, vanilla powder mixes directly into a cold yoghurt or a compote, with no cooking or preparation beforehand.
Does turmeric need cooking to be used at breakfast?
No, turmeric mixes in just as well cold in a smoothie as added at the end of cooking in a hot milk or a porridge.
Which spice should be chosen for a simple slice of toast?
Ceylon cinnamon powder, sprinkled over buttered bread, is enough to flavour a slice of toast with no preparation at all.
Does ginger powder replace fresh ginger at breakfast?
Ginger powder is used in a smaller amount than fresh ginger, as its taste is more concentrated once dried and ground.
Our products to go further: Bourbon Vanilla Powder · Bourbon Vanilla Sugar · Madagascar Cinnamon · Ginger Powder · Madagascar Turmeric
The Vanille Désiré team
