Cloves in Sweets and Baking

Cloves work in sweets and baking when you use very little. That means a pinch of ground clove, or two to four whole cloves, for a whole cake, pot of syrup or tray of cookies. They add a warm, deep note to fruit cakes, spiced cookies, poached fruit, mulled drinks and some Indian sweets. Too much turns a dessert bitter and medicinal, so keep clove in the background.

People tend to love clove in sweets or hate it, and the ones who hate it have usually eaten something with far too much.

Which sweets and bakes use cloves?

More Western and Anglo-Indian baking than traditional Kerala sweets.

• Christmas plum cake. Most Kerala recipes have ground clove with cinnamon, nutmeg and dried ginger.
• Spiced cookies and gingerbread. A pinch makes them taste warmer and fuller.
• Carrot cake, banana bread, apple cake. Clove backs up the cinnamon.
• Poached pears, guava or pineapple. Whole cloves go into the sugar syrup.
• Mulled juice and hot drinks. Whole cloves with cinnamon and orange peel.
• Some Indian sweets. A few cloves in the syrup for certain halwas and festive sweets, and the clove "pin" on lavang latika.

Traditional Kerala payasam leans on cardamom and dry ginger. If you want to try clove in payasam, one crushed bud in a whole pot is plenty.

How much clove goes into baking?

Clove is far stronger than cinnamon or nutmeg. Treat these as a safe starting point.

Freshly ground clove is stronger than old shop powder, so if you grind your own, start low and taste.

Whole or ground?

Whole cloves for liquids

Syrups, poaching liquid, milk you'll strain and hot drinks all suit whole cloves. They release flavour slowly and you lift them out when it's strong enough. Stick them into an orange or a piece of fruit so they're easy to find.

Ground cloves for batters

Batters and doughs need ground clove, since a whole bud is unpleasant to bite. Grind a few cloves fresh in a spice grinder or mortar and sieve out the hard bits. A small grinding goes a long way.

What pairs well with clove?

Clove rarely works alone in a dessert.

• Cinnamon. The classic pair. Cinnamon gives sweetness and clove gives depth.
• Nutmeg. The Christmas cake combination. Our post on cloves vs allspice vs nutmeg explains how the three differ.
• Cardamom. Good in Indian sweets and tea cakes, with both kept light.
• Orange and ginger. They lift clove and stop it tasting heavy.

Common mistakes

1. Swapping cinnamon for clove one to one. Use a fraction.
2. Leaving whole cloves in the finished sweet. Strain or pick them out.
3. Using stale powder. Old ground clove tastes dusty and flat, and whole cloves keep far better.
4. Adding clove to milk too early. A long simmer can turn it harsh. Add it near the end or infuse briefly.

How much ground clove is one whole clove?

Roughly a small pinch, around 1/16 teaspoon, depending on the size and freshness of the clove. That's a starting guess, so taste as you go.

Where ours come from

Our cloves come from farms around Adimali in Idukki, packed whole with nothing added. For baking, buy whole Adimali cloves and grind a little at a time. The Kerala cloves buyer's guide covers storage and quality checks.

Grind two cloves for your next cake, not ten.