Pain d'épices
A French spice bread that differs from most gingerbreads in three ways: it contains no fat and no eggs, and honey replaces the sugar entirely. In their place come rye flour and a great deal of spice. That makes it dense, moist and good for weeks. In exchange it asks for patience twice: the batter rests twelve hours before baking, and the baked loaf matures for two days before it tastes as it should.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Infusing the honey 15 min
- Batter 15 min
- Resting the batter 720 min
- Baking 70 min
- Maturing 2880 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneWarm the honey with water and spices
Set aside 1 tablespoon of the water for later (for the soda). Heat the rest with the honey and all the spices to about 60°C, without letting it boil. Warmth brings out the spices' aroma, while boiled honey loses its own — and it is the only sweetener and the main flavour here.
Ingredients: 400 g honey · 150 ml water · 2 tsp cinnamon · 2 tsp ground ginger · 1½ tsp anise · ½ tsp cloves · ½ tsp nutmeg · ½ tsp cardamom · ¼ tsp black pepper
Warm, not boiling — boiled honey loses its aroma.Mix with the flours into a thick batter
Combine both flours with the salt, pour in the warm spiced honey, add the grated orange zest and stir with a spatula until combined. Do not add the soda yet. The batter will be very thick and heavy, almost like putty — as it should be.
Ingredients: 250 g rye flour · 150 g plain flour · 1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda · ½ tsp salt · 1 pcs orange · 80 g candied peel
Very thick and heavy — almost like putty.Rest the batter twelve hours
Cover the bowl and leave at room temperature for 12 hours. Rye flour needs time to absorb the honey, and the spices to meld. Adding the soda only after the rest keeps all of its raising power.
Ingredients: 400 g honey · 150 ml water · 2 tsp cinnamon · 2 tsp ground ginger · 1½ tsp anise · ½ tsp cloves · ½ tsp nutmeg · ½ tsp cardamom · ¼ tsp black pepper
Add the soda and fill a loaf tin
Heat the oven to 160°C. Dissolve the soda in the reserved tablespoon of water and mix it thoroughly into the batter together with the candied peel, if using. Spoon into a lined loaf tin of about 30×11 cm and level it with a wet spoon — the easiest way to smooth a batter this sticky.
Ingredients: 250 g rye flour · 150 g plain flour · 1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda · ½ tsp salt · 1 pcs orange · 80 g candied peel
Bake about an hour at low heat
Bake 65 minutes at 160°C, until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out dry; give it another 5 minutes if needed. The low temperature is essential: honey browns faster than sugar, and at a higher heat the top would darken heavily before the centre had baked. If it still colours too fast, cover it with foil after 40 minutes.
Ingredients: 250 g rye flour · 150 g plain flour · 1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda · ½ tsp salt · 1 pcs orange · 80 g candied peel
Glaze with honey while hot
Take the loaf out and brush the top with two tablespoons of honey while still hot. The honey soaks into the warm crust and leaves it glossy — on a cold loaf it would sit as a sticky layer on the surface.
Ingredients: 2 tbsp honey
Wrap and wait two days
Cool completely, wrap tightly in film and leave 48 hours. This is not an exaggeration: freshly baked pain d'épices is dry and the spices sting. After two days it turns moist and the flavour rounds out.
Ingredients: 400 g honey · 150 ml water · 2 tsp cinnamon · 2 tsp ground ginger · 1½ tsp anise · ½ tsp cloves · ½ tsp nutmeg · ½ tsp cardamom · ¼ tsp black pepper
Tightly wrapped for two days — only then is it ready.
Before you start
The honey decides everything
Dark buckwheat or forest honey gives an intense, faintly bitter loaf; pale acacia a mild, less distinctive one. Since honey is the only sweetener and the leading flavour, it is worth using one that is interesting in itself.
Cut it thin
Pain d'épices is very dense and is cut into 5 mm slices, not thick slabs. It is served with butter, with foie gras or with blue cheese — and then it becomes clear that this is bread rather than cake.
A month in film
Tightly wrapped it keeps for a month and still improves over the first few days. The large amount of honey keeps it moist for a long time — it is a bake made for keeping.
