A bark worth a bite: We all love cinnamon
Eating tree bark is often the punchline of some bad joke about a healthful diet.
But we do it — collectively, to the tune of tens of millions of pounds a year. Odds are, you have some right in your pantry.
It is cinnamon, of course — the best thing to come from tree bark since Aspirin, and the bestselling component of the pumpkin-spice axis of fall flavours, dwarfing nutmeg and cloves by at least a factor of 10.
There are several species of trees with the cinnamon-yielding bark, but they’re all from the genus Cinnamonum. If you start looking into cinnamon’s provenance, you’ll find a school of thought that insists there is only one kind of “true” cinnamon — from the bark of C. verum, which is native to Sri Lanka. To hear that school of thought tell it, that cinnamon has a more sophisticated, subtle flavour than other kinds.
Should you encounter someone from that school, you could reasonably say, “I bet you couldn’t pick it out of a lineup.” It’s a pretty safe bet. We did a blind tasting, and none of us could. The reality is that we are a planet endowed with many tree species that have fragrant, cinnamony bark.
You can often figure out which species of cinnamon you have by the name on the label. If it’s Ceylon cinnamon, it’s the “true” stuff, Ceylon being the British colonial name for the nation known since 1972 as Sri Lanka.
Pretty much everything else is cassia cinnamon, sometimes labelled simply as “cassia.” Chinese cinnamon is from the tree species bearing that name, but Indonesian (or Korintje) and Vietnamese (or Saigon) come from closely related species. When there’s no mention of its origin on the label, it’s probably cassia. Although there are differences among the various kinds, they’re small enough that you probably won’t notice them in whatever you’re cooking.
No matter the provenance, your cinnamon’s flavour is derived from a group of essential oils. And, where essential oils go, health claims will not be far behind. Depending on whom you ask, you might find that cinnamon can help fight acne, colitis or bad breath. Its antimicrobial qualities might make it a good wash for carrots or contact lenses.
One of its best-studied properties is the ability to help diabetics with blood sugar control. According to Rebecca Costello, a scientific consultant formerly with the Office of Dietary Supplements (part of the National Institutes of Health) and coauthor of a recent review of the evidence, there is a compound in the spice that appears to act like insulin, shuttling blood sugar out of the bloodstream and into cells.
Although some studies have shown that cinnamon does seem to lower blood sugar, “the weight of the evidence regarding the efficacy for cinnamon for lowering blood glucose remains equivocal,” Costello wrote in an email. “It would be premature,” she said, to conclude that cinnamon can help control diabetes.
But how about all those other things — the acne, the colitis, the bad breath? “Traditional use of cinnamon purports to treat many conditions and disorders for which there is insufficient evidence to support its use,” Costello said.
Which brings us back to the distinction between “true” cinnamon and other cinnamons. Turns out, the “true” version is relatively low in coumarin.
Pumpkin Apple Dapple Cake MAKES 16 TO 20 SERVINGS
MAKE AHEAD: The cake can be stored, covered, for up to 4 days.
Adapted from a recipe on the blog called A Southern Grace. For the cake 3 cups flour 1½ cups sugar 2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp kosher salt 3 large eggs ½ cup vegetable oil 1 cup pure pumpkin purée 2 tsp vanilla extract 2 cups peeled, coarsely chopped apples 1 cup chopped pecans For the glaze 1 cup sugar 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter ¼ cup buttermilk, whole milk or low-fat milk 1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Use cooking oil spray to grease a 9-by-13-inch pan, preferably with tall sides.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, baking soda and the salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre of the mixture.
Whisk the eggs in a large liquid measuring cup until lightly beaten, then add the oil, pumpkin purée and vanilla extract, stirring to incorporate. Pour into the flour mixture’s well and stir until there is no trace of dry ingredients left.
Sprinkle the remaining ½ teaspoon of cinnamon over the apples, then stir them and the pecans into the cake batter. Spread the batter evenly in the pan. Bake (middle rack) for about 40 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack.
Meanwhile, make the glaze: Combine the sugar, butter and buttermilk or milk in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil, then cook for one minute, to form a thickened glaze. Whisk in the cinnamon until well incorporated. Remove from the heat.
Let the glaze cool for a minute or so, then drizzle it over the stillwarm cake (in its pan). Wait until the glaze has cooled and set before serving.
Per serving (based on 20, using buttermilk): 320 calories, 4 grams protein, 43 g carbohydrates, 15 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 40 milligrams cholesterol, 85 mg sodium, 2 g dietary fibre, 27 g sugar