Darina Allen: Cinnamon is a natural anti-inflammatory, here are three recipes that use it

Here are three recipes using cinnamon deliciously – enjoy

Just back from a brief interlude in lovely Sri Lanka with my head swirling with memories of many delicious meals. Food is my subject, so I’m continually researching to add to my depth of knowledge.

Tea from Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, has been sought after for hundreds of years. There are of course many tea gardens throughout the country. The young leaves from the tip of the tea plant are handpicked and cured. At last, conditions for the pickers and farm workers are improving.

Organic tea leaves from the Diyanillakelle Tea Garden in Lindula within the Nuwara Eliya District of Sri Lanka are included in the special Ballymaloe Tea blend created for us by Henrietta Lovell, the Rare Tea Lady. She and her baker husband Richard Hart are coming over to the Ballymaloe Festival of Food from May 16-18 so come along to meet and see them speak and demonstrate.

During my brief visit to Sri Lanka, we went on several foodie adventures, including a visit to the Gradely Cinnamon Estate, which was less than an hour from Galle, to get a full understanding of the fascinating process from start to finish. Our guide, Hashitha, was a brilliant communicator and gave us an in-depth tour, from the red earth to the curled-up cinnamon bark including the fascinating history of the cinnamon trade. We watched Pradeep sitting, cross-legged on the floor, expertly peeling and rolling the bark with the skill passed down to him from his father and grandfather. All Sri Lankan cinnamon is still meticulously hand peeled and rolled. Think about that...

We learned the crucially important skill of how to tell the difference between cassia (false cinnamon) and true cinnamon which is regularly passed off as cinnamon.

Ground cinnamon is regularly cut with cassia, a cheaper and more acrid spice. True cinnamon is sweet and flaky, cassia is a much firmer texture, considerably cheaper, darker in colour and more acrid in flavour. If you have a choice, look for the Alba grade, it’s considered to be the finest. Because of its quality, it’s mostly exported from Sri Lanka.

All parts of the cinnamon bush are valuable. The leaves are distilled and used to make cinnamon leaf oil. It’s got a high percentage of eugenol, also used in the fragrance and aromatherapy industry and is a highly effective antibacterial cleaning agent but is not for human consumption. Cinnamon bark oil, on the other hand, is mainly used to flavour cakes, biscuits, desserts, and drinks.

Cinnamon is known to be antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and is a natural cholesterol buster. The trimmings of the quills are used to make cinnamon tea, and the peeled branches are used for barbecue fuel. It’s the plant that keeps on giving.

Here are three recipes using cinnamon deliciously – enjoy.

Marzipan Apples

recipe by:Darina Allen

Sweet apples are rolled in butter and then crusted with freshly ground cinnamon and sugar – so delicious! Marzipan will keep for 2-3 months in a fridge.

Servings

12

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 60 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 20 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 12 medium eating apples, e.g. Worcester Pearmain, Golden Delicious or Cox’s Orange Pippin.

• For the marzipan (makes 300g)

• 175g ground almonds

• 110g sugar

• 62ml water

• 1 small egg white

• natural almond extract to taste (do not use more than 4 drops)

• For the coating

• 110g melted butter

• 225g caster sugar mixed with 4 rounded teaspoons ground cinnamon. (This is approximate: the amount of the mixture depends on the size of the apples.)

Method

1. First make the marzipan.

2. Put the sugar and water into a deep saucepan. Stir over a medium heat to dissolve the sugar in the water. Bring to the boil.

3. Cover the pan for 2 minutes to steam any sugar from the saucepan sides.

4. Remove cover and boil rapidly just to thread stage: 106-113°C.

5. Remove from the heat. Stir the syrup for a second or two until cloudy.

6. Stir in the ground almonds. Set aside to cool briefly.

7. Lightly whisk the egg white, add the almond extract and stir into the almond mixture. Transfer the paste from the saucepan to a bowl. Cool.

8. Knead the cool marzipan, it should feel like moulding clay. Put in a bowl or jar, cover and use as required.

9. Meanwhile, peel and core the apples.

10. Stuff the cavities with the marzipan filling.

11. Roll the apples first in melted butter and then in the caster sugar and cinnamon.

12. Place in an ovenproof dish and bake in a moderate oven 180°C/Gas Mark 4, for 1 hour approx. The apple needs to be very soft.

13. Serve warm with a bowl of softly-whipped cream.

14. Note: Apples may take less/more time to cook depending on the variety and time of the year.

Black-Eyed Beans with Mushrooms

recipe by:Darina Allen

This is a recipe high on my list of favourite vegetarian recipes. Basically, it is another gem from Madhur Jaffrey’s A Taste of India but I have adapted the recipe slightly.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 60 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 15 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 225g dried black-eyed beans

• 225g fresh mushrooms

• 6 tbsp sunflower oil

• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds

• 2.5cm piece of cinnamon bark

• 150g onion, peeled and chopped

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and very finely chopped

• 400g fresh or tinned tomatoes, peeled and chopped

• 2 tsp ground coriander seeds

• 1 tsp ground cumin seeds

• ½ tsp ground turmeric

• pinch of sugar

• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

• 1 good tsp salt, (it needs it so don’t cut down)

• freshly ground black pepper

• 3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (fresh parsley may be substituted though the flavour is not at all the same)

Method

1. Soak the beans in plenty of cold water overnight. Next day cover with fresh water, bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes approx. or until just cooked.

2. Cut the mushrooms into 3mm thick slices. Heat the oil in a sauté pan over a medium-high flame. When hot, put in the whole cumin seeds and the cinnamon stick. Let them sizzle for 5-6 seconds.

3. Now put in the onions and garlic. Stir and fry until the onion is just beginning to colour at the edges. Put in the mushrooms. Stir and fry until the mushrooms wilt. Now put in the tomatoes, ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric, pinch of sugar and cayenne. Stir and cook for a minute. Cover, and let this mixture cook on a gentle heat in its own juices for 10 minutes.

4. Turn off the heat. Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid, and add to the mushroom base mixture, add salt and freshly ground pepper, 2 tablespoons of fresh coriander and 150ml of bean cooking liquid.

5. Bring the beans to the boil again. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the beans are tender. Stir occasionally.

6. Remove the cinnamon before serving. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of fresh coriander. Serve with boiled rice or as an accompaniment to a rack of lamb.

Spiced Pan Roasted Pear Cake

recipe by:Darina Allen

Use freshly ground cinnamon here but if you buy the already ground product, it should be pale in colour and sweet to taste.

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 60 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 20 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 110g soft light or dark brown sugar

• 110g unsalted butter, cut into cubes

• 175g plain flour

• 110g caster sugar

• 2 tsp freshly ground cinnamon

• 1 ¼ tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp salt

• 2 large eggs

• 150ml sunflower oil

• 1 pear, coarsely grated

• 1 tbsp grated ginger

• 4 pears, peeled, cored and cut into 6

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

2. Sprinkle brown sugar over the bottom of a heavy 25cm sauté pan or frying pan or a heavy cake tin with 6.5cm deep sides. Add the butter to the pan. Place the sauté pan on a low heat until butter melts.

3. Mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt together. Whisk in the eggs and oil. Mix in the grated pear and ginger.

4. Remove the pan or tin from the heat. Whisk the butter and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Arrange the pear slices in the frying pan or tin.

5. Pour the batter over the pears and bake until the cake is springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean (approximately 1 hour).

6. Allow to cool slightly (10 minutes approximately); loosen the edges of the cake with a knife and turn out onto a hot plate.

7. Serve warm with softly whipped cream or homemade vanilla ice cream.

Fashion and Farming Festival 2025 - Kinsale, Co. Cork, May 9-11

The inaugural Fashion & Farming Festival unites two worlds over one weekend this May. Whether you’re a fashion enthusiast, a farmer or simply curious about the relationship between these two worlds, Fashion and Farming weaves together experiences, projects and stories that might lead to a brighter future for our planet.

This three-day event brings together so many creative minds including Coco Baraer Panazza, Helen Keys (Mallon Linen); Jeremy Irons (environmentalist and actor), Adam Clayton (musician and soil enthusiast), Sinead Cusack (environmentalist activist and actress), Tim Smit (The Eden Project), Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy (The Land Gardeners) and myself too!

fashionandfarming.com

Bean and Goose are celebrating 10 years

2025 marks a special milestone for Bean and Goose from Co. Wexford with a decade of making chocolate that tells a story.

To celebrate a decade in business they have released a new Weekend Wander Collection with three different flavourings: Salty Almonds; Umami Seaweed and Smoky Sea Salt.

beanandgoose.ie

Stop Food Waste

March 1 was National Stop Food Waste Day but why not embrace it every day? Since January 1 2024, the French government made it a legal requirement to compost food waste – ‘compost obligatoire’. Let’s follow suit in Ireland.