America’s Holiday Baking Features Spices from Around the Globe

Whether you’re baking pumpkin pie, Chanukah sugar cookies or empanadas this holiday season, chances are your recipes call for spices. And, just as today’s American cooks hail from all corners of the globe, so do the spices in your spice rack.

ACH Food Companies, maker of such well-known American baking standbys as Spice Islands®, Fleischmann’s® yeast, Karo® corn syrup, Mazola® cooking oils, Mazola Pure® cooking spray, and Argo® and Kingsford's® corn starch, shares some “spicy” tidbits for fall baking, along with a recipe for Pumpkin Spice Cake. (Bakers also can exchange the recipe online at www.bakeforthecure.com to raise funds for Komen for the Cure.)

Holiday Spice Tidbits from Around the World

· Cinnamon: Possibly most the common baking spice, cinnamon is used in cakes, cookies, and desserts throughout the world. Cinnamon’s warm, distinctive flavor was a prize of ancient trade routes, so much so that savvy spice traders invented elaborate tales to keep their sources a secret, for example, that cinnamon sticks fell from bird’s nests! Cinnamon actually is harvested from the bark of tropical evergreen trees. There are two main varieties of the bark: Ceylon cinnamon and cassia. U.S. cooks traditionally prefer cassia, while Ceylon cinnamon is the norm in Europe. Cassia is grown in Vietnam, China and Indonesia.

· Vanilla: Anyone who bakes considers whole vanilla beans and pure vanilla extract pantry essentials. The process used to grow and harvest this sweet, aromatic spice is painstaking and labor-intensive. Vanilla beans are the long, greenish-yellow seed pods of a tropical orchid plant. Each and every orchid must be hand pollinated the very day the flower blooms and the beans must be harvested at the peak of maturity. Curing the beans develops the characteristic complex flavor notes. Vanilla is native to Mexico and Central America, where the Aztecs used the beans to create a delicious beverage of chocolate and vanilla sweetened with honey. Today vanilla is cultivated on the Island of Reunion, Madagascar, Indonesia, Tahiti and Mexico.

· Pumpkin Pie Spice: Breathe in the warm, heady aroma of this blend of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg and you’re transported to the early days of the spice trade, where wondrous sights and smells vied for your attention amidst merchants’ noisy chatter. Despite its exotic allure, pumpkin pie is distinctly American. It’s been a staple of holiday feasts for centuries alongside other classics such as turkey, dressing and cranberry sauce. But, think beyond pie. Add pumpkin pie spice to breakfast batters, hot cocoa, sweet potato pie, custards, or even baked apples or pears for an irresistible touch of fall flavor. Or, add pumpkin pie spice to the many Latin American recipes featuring pumpkin: empanadas, flan and even sweet pumpkin tamales.

ACH Food Companies encourages bakers to Bake for the Cure™ this holiday season. Log on to www.bakeforthecure.com to upload your favorite holiday baking recipes or send one of the posted recipes, such as Pumpkin Spice Cake, to a friend and ACH will donate 10 cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. The company also will make a 25-cent donation to Komen for the Cure for each proof of purchase of participating products submitted through Oct. 31, 2008. Minimum donation of $250,000 up to $350,000.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Chill Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 16 Servings

· 1 package (18.25 ounces) spice cake mix
· 1/2 cup Argo® or Kingsford’s® Corn Starch
· 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
· 1 teaspoon Spice Islands® Pumpkin Pie Spice
· 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
· 1/2 cup orange juice
· 1/4 cup Mazola® Corn Oil
· 4 egg whites
· 1 1/2 cups chopped dates or raisins

GLAZE:
· 1/2 cup (4 ounces) light cream cheese
· 1/4 cup Karo® Light or Dark Corn Syrup
· 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
· 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
· Additional orange peel for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 10 x 4-inch (12-cup) fluted tube cake pan; set aside.
2. In large bowl combine cake mix, cornstarch, brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Add pumpkin, orange juice, oil and egg whites. With mixer at low speed, beat until combined; then beat at medium speed 3 minutes. Stir in dates. Pour into prepared cake pan.
3. Bake 55 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

FOR GLAZE, in small bowl beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup Karo® syrup, brown sugar and grated orange peel until smooth. If necessary, add 2 to 3 teaspoons milk or orange juice to make desired consistency. Drizzle over cake. Garnish with additional orange peel.

About ACH Food Companies
ACH Food Companies, Inc., based in Memphis, Tenn., markets a broad range of products to the consumer and commercial food channels across the United States and in Canada and Mexico. ACH branded products include Mazola® Cooking Oils, Mazola Pure® Cooking Spray, Spice Islands® Spices and Seasonings, Tones® Spices and Seasonings, Karo® syrups, Fleischmann’s® Yeast, and Argo® and Kingsford's® Corn Starch. The company’s consumer products division is located in Chicago, Ill. ACH is a subsidiary of London-based Associated British Foods plc, a diversified multi-billion dollar international food, ingredients, and retail group.

About Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, we have invested nearly $1 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit www.komen.org or call 1-800 I’M AWARE.