Pain d'épices
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Excellent
Pain d'épices
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Recipe for French gingerbread, a classic served around Christmas time, best made a few days before eating. Made with mainly honey and rye flour (no eggs or molasses), it's quick to make. Adapted and translated from Julien Cantenot's recipe in Nov/Dec 2021 issue of Fou de Pâtisserie Magazine and doubled the recipe for a larger loaf tin.
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Ingredients
- 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) water
- 250 g (9oz / ⅔ cup honey (Acacia or chestnut honey)
- 4 cardamom seed from pods only
- 2 cloves
- 2 star anise
- 100 g (3.5oz/ ½ cup) cane sugar (unrefined brown)
- 150 g (5.5oz / ⅔ cup butter roughly chopped (use a little to grease the tin, unsalted
- 250 g (9oz / 2 cups rye flour T85
- 10 g (2 tsp) baking powder
- good pinch salt fleur de sel, Maldon or Celtic sea salt
- 4 g (1½ tsp) gingerbread spice see NOTES*
- 1 tablespoon candied fruit Optional for DECOR, includes sliced ginger and orange
Instructions
- Grease the loaf tin with a little butter and preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/ 360°F/ Gas 4. Boil the water, honey, sugar and whole spices together in a saucepan until the liquids dissolve. Once all dissolved, melt in the butter. Turn off the heat and leave the spices to infuse for 5 minutes. Remove the cloves and star anise to decorate the loaf at the end.
- In a bowl, stir together the rye flour, baking powder, salt and ground spices. Gradually add the warm honey mixture and whisk or stir until the mixture is smooth. The result will be a batter that is quite liquid.
- Pour the batter into the loaf tin, ¾ to the top. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes or until dark brown.
- Leave in the tin for about 10 minutes to cool slightly before turning out on to a wire tray. Decorate with candied fruits and the leftover star anise.
Notes
- Gingerbread spices: sold in France as 'melange de pain d'épices': a mixture of ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, aniseed. To make your own: 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground aniseed.
- To serve: best eaten at least 1 to-2 days after baking and up to a week. I like to brush the top with more heated honey to give extra shine to the cake.Serve on its own, with jam or with foie gras.
- Storage: Pain d'épices keeps at its best for about a week in an airtight container or covered in aluminium foil outside of the fridge (as contains mainly honey which retains moisture). Can freeze for up to 2 months.
- Measures: Please note that all my recipes are best made using digital kitchen scales in precise metric grams. Both ounces (and cups) are given as a guide.
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