Spiced Bread (Pain d’epices) with caramelized orange syrup.
I don’t know about you, but in winter I love spicy flavors, this spiced bread is very fragrant and delicious, and it is an easy cake ideal to prepare for Christmas, in fact it is the classic cake of French pastry during the Christmas period, rich in warm and spicy flavors.
The Pain d’epices is a delicious cake, soft, moist, and aromatic with cinnamon, honey, and ginger: the scent of Christmas will invade your entire house, simply irresistible!
An easy and simple Christmas cake, ideal for the holidays or as a homemade gift.
The recipe is from the famous French chef and pastry chef Christophe Michalak, taken from the book “Mes meilleurs desserts de France”.
You can easily buy the spices in organic stores or on Amazon (see link below).
Candied oranges are optional, but I recommend them as they are very soft and immediately bring a Christmas spirit.
If you’re looking for recipes (sweet or savory) for the Christmas menu, click on: Christmas/New Year Special
In particular, if you love spicy flavors, especially at Christmas, I also recommend these delicious “Spiced Cinnamon and Ginger Cookies“.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Oven, Stove
- Cuisine: International
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter, Christmas
Ingredients for the Spiced Bread:
- 3/4 cup All-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp Cornstarch
- 3 tbsp Butter
- 1/3 cup Acacia honey (or wildflower)
- 3 tbsp Glucose syrup (or 2 tbsp of brown sugar)
- 1/3 cup Orange marmalade
- 1 large Egg (approximately)
- 3 1/2 tbsp Milk (also semi-skimmed)
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Fine salt (or fleur de sel)
- 1 tsp Star anise (5 whole stars)
- 1 tbsp Spices (ginger, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves)
- 2 Cinnamon sticks (those brown stick ones)
- 1 1/4 cups Powdered sugar
- 2/3 cup Water (MINERAL)
- 1 Orange
Tools for the Spiced Bread
- Bowl
- Small pot in copper
- Thermometer digital with probe
- Chopper for spices
- Loaf pan Zenker 8 inch
Preparation for the Spiced Bread
Important: it’s better to prepare the spice bread a day before serving it.
Preheat the oven to 300°/320°F.
Prepare a mix of 1 tbsp of spices (even better if you prepare it the day before). I used the spices in these proportions (but you can adjust them to your taste): 10 g of ginger, 1 teaspoon of bourbon vanilla seeds, 3 g of cinnamon, 2 g of ground cloves, a pinch of ground nutmeg.
Take a rectangular loaf pan 8/9 inches long (not smaller, otherwise it collapses in the center) and line it with wet and squeezed parchment paper.
Mix well in a bowl 3/4 cup of flour, 1 tsp of baking powder, 2 tbsp of corn flour, 1 tbsp of spices, and 1/2 tsp of sea salt (or regular fine salt). Set aside.
Take a stainless steel or copper pot and pour 3 1/2 tbsp of milk, add 2 cinnamon sticks and 5 stars of star anise.
Boil the milk, then remove the milk with the spices from the heat and let it steep for at least 15 minutes (even better, if you have time, if the infusion rests overnight in the fridge).
Take another pot and put 3 tbsp of butter, 3 tbsp of glucose syrup (or 2 tbsp of brown sugar), and 1/3 cup of acacia honey (or wildflower) and finally add 3 1/2 tbsp of previously prepared spiced milk (weigh it again, because some might have evaporated while boiling, you need to reach exactly the weight of 3 1/2 tbsp of total milk).
Place the honey, butter, and milk mixture over low heat and as soon as the butter melts (approximately 120°F) remove the pot from the heat. It should not be too hot.
Add this mixture to the dry ingredients, gradually mixing each time with a hand whisk and add to the mixture also the orange marmalade and the 1 large egg. The dough should be smooth and without lumps.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake in a preheated oven at 300°/320°F for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, in the lowest part of the oven.
Cool the cake well, otherwise, the slices crumble, better if in the fridge overnight.
Wash an orange and cut it into regular slices about 1/4 inch thick.
Place the orange slices in a saucepan with 2/3 cup of mineral water and 1 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer for about 15 minutes (the slices will become translucent).
After the 15 minutes, remove the orange slices and gently place them on a plate.Put the syrup back on the heat and bring it to 230°F, this way the syrup doesn’t crystallize and stays liquid.
Leave the syrup at room temperature until ready to use, in case – before using it on the spiced bread- you can again place the pot on the heat and warm it up.
On the day you serve the cake, cover it with the orange syrup and the candied slices (optional).
You can cut a slice of spiced bread, gently warm it in the microwave (NO more than 200 W) and add, for example, a scoop of vanilla ice cream (or semi-whipped cream). It’s super delicious!
If you have little time and are in a hurry, you can skip making the orange syrup and cover the spiced bread only with orange marmalade melted on the stove with a glass of water.
Shopping Tips!!!
To weigh the ingredients, I use this handy Digital kitchen scale, with a large removable bowl, tare function, and built-in timer.
To grind the spices, you can use the special Spice grinder and coffee grinder, which is very useful for small quantities and for nuts.
To cook the milk with the spices, I used this Hand-tinned copper saucepan (copper is one of the best heat conductors, offering significant energy savings due to its high heat conduction capacity; excellent resistance to impacts, thermal shocks, abrasions, and corrosion).
You can purchase all the items I recommend above, on Amazon, at a great price, by simply clicking directly on the respective links.
History, origins, and legends of Pain d’epices ?
The ancient Greeks were fond of spiced bread: we know they called it “melitales,” but it’s impossible to determine which spices were included in this cereal dough sweetened with honey. According to legend, spiced bread spread to Western Europe in the 10th century thanks to Saint Gregory, Bishop of Armenia, who sought refuge in France and often offered it to those who visited him.
Spiced bread quickly became popular across medieval Europe and is a classic of French pastry during the Christmas period (originating particularly from the city of Gertwiller in Alsace). The dough was made with rye flour, honey, anise, coriander, cinnamon, ginger (the English still call it ginger bread), and other spices depending on taste and availability. Even today in Hungary, spiced hearts with a small mirror in the center are made: each lover gives one to his beloved so she can see the face of the one who reigns in his heart, making this cake ideal both during the Christmas period and on Valentine’s Day (see here).
