How to Use Cassia
The Global Cinnamon
Sweet · Warm · Pungent · Bitter
Cassia cinnamon is comfort with a kick. More intense than its cousin from Ceylon, it’s the backbone of spiced desserts and savory marinades the world over.
FORMS
- Whole: Since whole sticks are so hard and fibrous, they're best used to infuse stews, biryanis, or braises like bay leaf, and then removed before serving.
- Ground: Freshly ground cassia is noticeably more vibrant and aromatic than store-bought powders, delivering a bold, spicy sweetness with a hint of heat. Ground cassia is a staple ingredient for cinnamon sugar, baking blends, hot beverages, BBQ rubs, and slow-cooked sauces and chutneys. It's also great in spiced rice, preserves, infused syrups, and even ice cream, where it holds up against freezing.
- Buds: Cassia buds, the tree's dried immature fruits, can be ground for pickling blends or bold spice mixes, much like cloves.
STORAGE
- Whole: Since flavor compounds quickly dissipate once ground, it's best to buy and store whole cassia sticks. In an airtight container in a cool, dry, dark place, they will maintain their potency for up to 2-3 years. Look for firm bark with a reddish-brown hue and a strong scent.
- Ground: Grind only what you need just before use, as cassia loses its punch rather quickly. Use it within a month to capture more of its character. For cinnamon sugar, mix freshly ground cassia with sugar in small batches.
- Buds: Store them like whole sticks, airtight in a cool, dark place, where they'll keep their punch for a year or more.
PREPARATION
- Grinding: Cassia bark is very tough, so it's best to grind it in a high-powered, heavy-duty electric grinder. You shouldn't just toss the sticks in whole because they can jam the blades and strain the motor. Break them into smaller pieces by tapping them with a pestle or smacking them with a rolling pin wrapped in a cloth (depending on the thickness).
- Grating: Unlike Ceylon, which is too soft and brittle, you can use a microplane to grate the dense cassia sticks. This shaves the spice into a fine, fluffy powder that blends instantly with your other ingredients. This is ideal when you only need a small amount, like a teaspoon for baking or a pinch to finish a drink.
- Toasting: Like many spices, most of cassia’s flavor compounds, even the all-important cinnamaldehyde, don’t dissolve well in water and can have a hard time breaking out of the tough bark. To release the aroma, toast cassia briefly in a dry pan or sauté in fat or oil.
COOKING
- Simmering: Cassia's key compounds aren't very water-soluble, but whole sticks still infuse broths well over a long, covered simmer. Keeping the lid on holds in the volatile aromatics. Alcohol is another effective carrier, as in mulled wine and bitters.
- Baking: Cassia’s bold, spicy-sweet flavor stands up to heat, making it a cornerstone of baking around the world. It brings depth and warmth to cookies, cakes, breads, and pastries, especially when paired with chocolate, nuts, apples, or other fruits. Its higher oil content helps the aroma linger long after baking, giving desserts that cozy, signature cinnamon scent.
- Long Cooking: Essential to many Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Southeast Asian dishes, cassia's potent aromatics shine in long cooking. It's much more intense than Ceylon cinnamon, so it plays well in bold dishes like curries, moles, chili pastes, BBQ rubs, and spice-forward desserts like gingerbread.
Cassia is the cinnamon of donut shops and bakeries. Its bold, sweet punch comes largely from its high cinnamaldehyde content, giving it the strength to cut through butter, sugar, flour, frying oil, and glaze, and to survive the heat of the oven.