This mastic cake began as an experiment. If you enjoy exploring unusual ingredients and flavours, it’s worth trying. Alongside ground almonds and cardamom, the mastic gives the cake an intriguing resinous note.
Our little girl arrived on 22 April, weighing 7lbs 4oz (3.3kg). We’re settling into life at home and into the new routine of washing, changing nappies, feeding, comforting and sleeping—over and over. Blogging may be sporadic for a while; this post took almost a week to finish. Still, she’s absolutely gorgeous and worth every minute.
What is Mastic?
Mastic is a resin harvested from the mastic tree and is traditionally used in some Mediterranean cuisines. It has a distinctive piney, cedar-like aroma and flavour that can seem strong or unusual at first. When I first discovered it I was intrigued and grateful to receive some to try.
I decided to make a cake scented with mastic. Research suggested cardamom pairs well with mastic, and ground almonds would add a pleasant texture and depth. Because mastic is potent and can be an acquired taste, I used a very small amount and reduced the original recipe quantities to make a smaller cake.
In practice the mastic proved quite dominant and, for me, it largely overwhelmed the cardamom. The cake remained soft and almondy, but the mastic left a subtle aftertaste that I wasn’t entirely sure about. Next time I’d use an even smaller pinch of ground mastic and increase the cardamom so both flavours balance more evenly.
Even though the result wasn’t a full conversion to mastic-lovers, I enjoyed experimenting with an ingredient I hadn’t used before and appreciate the opportunity to try new flavours.
Recipe
Mastic Cake
Corina Blum
Pin Recipe
20 mins
45 mins
Ingredients
- 125 g ground almonds
- 125 g icing sugar
- 110 g butter
- 2 eggs
- 75 g self-raising flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 g mastic I used 2g previously but have since reduced it.
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar
- 2 cardamom pods
Instructions
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Put the mastic, caster sugar and the seeds from the cardamom pods into a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Grind to a fine powder.
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Combine the mastic-cardamom powder with the ground almonds, icing sugar and butter in a large bowl. Cream together until smooth.
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Add the eggs and beat with a whisk. Fold in the self-raising flour and baking powder and mix until just combined.
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Spoon the batter into a greased 15cm cake tin and bake at 170°C for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Carbohydrates: 27g
Protein: 6g
Fat: 20g
Saturated Fat: 8g
Cholesterol: 70mg
Sodium: 115mg
Fiber: 2g
Sugar: 16g
More Spiced Cake Recipes
I enjoy baking with spices. If you do too, try one of these other cake recipes:
- Healthy Carrot Cake
- Apple Cinnamon and Caramel Cake
- Ginger Cake
Keep in Touch
Please let me know if you make this mastic cake or any of my other recipes — I love hearing feedback from readers.
You can also stay up to date by following on social media and checking the blog for new recipes and tips.