The French spice bread – or pain d’épices – is a soft and fragrant spicy Christmas cake, one of the most famous French Christmas desserts. The original spice bread recipe is surprisingly simple: no butter and no eggs, made with honey, rye flour, and a rich mix of Christmas spices like cinnamon, ginger, anise, cloves, and nutmeg. This combination makes it one of the most beloved Christmas desserts, perfect both for those following a plant-based diet and for those seeking authentic traditional recipes.
Each French region offers its own version of traditional spice bread, with different spices and proportions (some also with butter and eggs, like my spice bread stars), but what remains unchanged is its enveloping aroma. Pain d’épices can be served as a dessert, perhaps accompanied by orange jam, or paired with savory ingredients like salted butter or foie gras, according to typical French usage.
If you love spicy desserts, you can also try other great Christmas classics like the gingerbread cake, the famous gingerbread men or the traditional German Lebkuchen, perfect for completing your holiday table.
You may also be interested in:
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Economical
- Rest time: 12 Hours
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 8 People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: French
- Seasonality: Christmas
- Energy 230.11 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 53.93 (g) of which sugars 31.12 (g)
- Proteins 3.95 (g)
- Fat 0.75 (g) of which saturated 0.05 (g)of which unsaturated 0.05 (g)
- Fibers 4.20 (g)
- Sodium 52.52 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 78 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for a French spice bread of about 10×4.3 inches
To prepare the gluten-free pain d’épices, I replaced rye flour with buckwheat flour and the all-purpose flour with fine rice flour. If you are celiac, ensure that the following ingredients label “gluten-free”: buckwheat flour, rice flour, baking powder.
- 2 cups cups rye flour (or 1 cup rye + 0.75 cup all-purpose flour)
- 1 cup cups honey (acacia, wildflower, or chestnut)
- 0.5 cup cups water
- 0.25 cup cups brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground anise
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon tablespoon baking powder (one packet)
- 1 pinch salt
Tools
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Wooden Spoon
- 1 Loaf pan 1 liter – about 10×4.3 inches
- Parchment Paper
How to prepare the Christmas pain d’épices according to the traditional French recipe
To prepare French spice bread, you can use only rye flour (or buckwheat flour for celiacs), or “cut” it with some all-purpose flour (or gluten-free rice flour), to get a softer cake. The first thing to do, however, is to dissolve the honey in the water: pour the water into a saucepan and add the honey. Place the saucepan on the stove and heat it just enough to melt the honey without bringing it to a boil (1). In a bowl, pour the rye flour (or rye flour and all-purpose flour), baking powder, and brown sugar (2). Briefly mix with a spoon, then add the spices (3).
You can also find a ready-made spice mix for pain d’épices, in which case you’ll need 10 g. Briefly mix, then pour the water in which you dissolved the honey (4) and knead with a spoon until you obtain a homogeneous and rather dense mixture (5).
The traditional French spice bread recipe requires a 12-hour rest in the fridge, to allow the spices to release their aroma and blend with the other ingredients. When ready to bake, pour the pain d’épices mixture into a 1-liter loaf pan (about 10×4.3 inches), greased and floured or lined with parchment paper (6). Bake the cake in a preheated oven at 320°F for 50-60 minutes, always doing the toothpick test before removing it from the oven (7).
Let it cool and remove from the mold. Once cold, you can wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for 24-48 hours before consuming it: it becomes much more aromatic and soft.
Storage
Like many Christmas desserts of this type, spice bread keeps well at room temperature if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap (even 2-3 weeks),
Tips and Variants
The version of pain d’épices I prepared is the oldest one, originating from Dijon. The result is a rustic dessert with a pronounced honey note. The Alsatian version, however, has a more delicate flavor and includes the use of eggs and butter.
