French Pain d'Épices (Spice Bread)
The French Pain d'Épices is a yeast-free, dense, quick bread that is reminiscent of both gingerbread and a spice cake. What make it unique are the additions of dark rye flour and one cup of honey. My version includes chopped candied ginger adding a boost of spice, chewiness, and sweetness. Make this bread ahead of time and serve it for breakfast, as a snack, or give it away as gifts during the holidays.
Servings: 8 slices
Ingredients
- 1 cup (8 oz) milk
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar superfine is best
- 1 cup (12 oz) honey quality is best
- 4 tbsp (2 oz) butter very soft or diced for easy melting
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (127 g) dark rye flour
- 2½ tsp (10 g) baking soda
- 1½ tsp (4 g) ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp (3 g) ground ginger
- ¼ tsp (.5 g) ground cloves
- ¼ tsp (.5 g) ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp (.5 g) cracked black pepper
- ½ tsp (3 g) salt
- 1 tbsp orange zest 1 large naval orange
- ⅓ cup chopped crystallized ginger optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper with overhanging sides.
- In a medium saucepan, stir together milk, sugar, honey, and butter. Heat on low to medium heat until the butter is melted, and the sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool slightly.TIPS: Use very soft or diced butter so that it melts more quickly. Superfine sugar (Baker's sugar or castor sugar) dissolves more quickly, as well.
- In a large bowl, sift together both flours, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, cloves, nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Whisk in the orange zest and crystallized ginger.TIP: You really only need to sift the flours, so either pour in any remaining spices left in the sifter or add them with the zest and crystallized ginger.
- Pour the milk mixture in a different large bowl and whisk in a beaten egg.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, in three additions. Use a whisk to mix the first addition or until the batter begins to thicken. Use a spatula or spoon to stir in the remaining additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything gets mixed in evenly.TIP: Scrape the bottom of the bowl as you mix to ensure all bits of remaining flour that are hiding down below are mixed in well.
- Scoop batter into the prepared loaf pan. Wet your fingers and dab the top of the batter to smooth it out slightly since the batter is very sticky from the honey. Bake for a minimum of 1 hour and check with a toothpick. Tent foil over the bread at 45 minutes into the baking. You may need a total of 1 hour 15 minutes or so. When a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, the bread is done.
- Allow the bread to cool 10 minutes in the pan. Then, lift the bread out of the loaf pan holding onto the parchment paper. Allow it to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. Ideally, let the bread sit wrapped at room temperature for at least a day to allow the flavors to meld before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
Storage
Wrap the bread well in plastic and store it for at least a week at room temperature. The longer storage allows time for the flavors to develop, meld, and the loaf to become dense. For longer storage, wrap well and freeze for up to a couple of months. Allow the bread to thaw at room temperature for a couple of hours before slicing and serving.
For Gifts
Bake the bread in smaller loaf pans. Adjust the baking time and begin checking for doneness ~30 minutes to prevent the loaves from burning. Wrap well and freeze to give as gifts when needed.
Optional Mix-Ins & Substitutions
-If you do NOT have all the spices (cinnamon through nutmeg) listed in the recipe, you can substitute with 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie or apple pie spice.
-You can omit the candied ginger or add chopped dried cranberries instead for that holiday look and flavor.
-Try adding half orange and half lemon zest instead of all orange for a little different citrus flavoring.