By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- 4(137)
- Notes
- Read community notes
If you go to a French honey stand or shop, or one of the many honey fairs that occur during the summer in Provence, pain d’épices – spice bread – will always be one of the items for sale along with the honey, as honey is a key an ingredient in these breads. This recipe is based on one by French Pastry School founder Jacquy Pfeiffer. His recipe, which does not contain any butter or oil, results in a very moist bread. You will need a small loaf pan, no bigger than 4 x 8 inches, or you can make mini-muffins.
Featured in: Quick Breads That Are Sweet, Savory and Whole Wheat
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Ingredients
Yield:About 40 mini-cakes or 1 small loaf, serving 12.
- 175grams (½ cup) honey
- 20grams (2 tablespoons) brown sugar
- 62grams (½ cup) whole wheat flour
- 62grams (½ cup) rye flour
- 5grams (1 teaspoon) baking powder
- 1teaspoon ground anise
- ¼teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ½teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ½teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼teaspoon ground cloves
- 2grams (¼ teaspoon) salt
- 55grams (1 extra large) egg
- 50grams (3 tablespoons) milk
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
97 calories; 1 gram fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 22 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 14 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 84 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a small (8 x 4-inch or smaller) bread pan and dust lightly with flour. Line with parchment if desired. Alternatively, use buttered and floured mini-muffin molds or silicone mini muffin molds.
Step
2
Place the honey and sugar in a small saucepan, insert a thermometer and heat to 158 degrees while stirring with a rubber spatula.
Step
3
Sift together the whole wheat flour, rye flour, baking powder, spices and salt and transfer them to the bowl of your mixer.
Step
4
In a small bowl whisk together the milk and whole eggs. Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the milk and egg mixture. Stop the mixer and, using a rubber spatula or a plastic bowl scraper, scrape up any flour sticking to the bottom of the bowl. Add the warm honey mixture and mix on medium speed until incorporated. Scrape into the bread pan or spoon about 1 to 2 teaspoons into each mini-mold, filling them ¾ full.
Step
5
Bake mini-cakes for 15 to 20 minutes, loaves for 40 to 45 minutes, until deep brown and a tester comes out clean. Remove from the heat, unmold and cool on a rack. If making a loaf, for best results, once cool wrap tightly in plastic and allow the cake to rest for a day.
Tip
- Advance preparation: The bread keeps well for a week and freezes well for a month or longer.
Ratings
4
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Cooking Notes
Yoorie
Triple the recipe for a 5x9 pan, but only double the spices. Easy on the anise.
Iz
David Lebovitz's version of pain d'epices in his cookbook "My Paris Kitchen" is much better than this one.
Johnathan
Double this recipe makes 3 mini loaf pans (3.19 in x 5.63 in x 1.95 in), perfectly. A nice twist on a spice cake when paired with clotted cream.
Nicolas
Poor recipe, extremely dry and did not rise. Does not taste like what it claims to be. Avoid.
JDM
Extra large egg w/o shell 58 grams. Large 50 grams
eelvander
Doubled everything and still made a cake that fit a 9 x 13 loaf pan. Came out beautifully though. Used high-quality honey.
Lance
Absolutely delicious. A great recipe.
Carolyne
Very small amount of batter, but DELICIOUS taste! I did not use cloves as I find them overpowering. The honey taste is amazing.
Jacqueline
Speaking as a French native who grew up eating pain d'epice as a regular after school treat, this is not very good. I followed the directions exactly down to weighing the ingredients * careful, 62g rye flour is WAY more than 1/2 cup!*. Too dry, and even at only 1/4 tsp cloves dominate. Disappointing. Perhaps the weight measures should be ignored and stick to volume? Curious to hear what other bakers thought.
Yoorie
Triple the recipe for a 5x9 pan, but only double the spices. Easy on the anise.
Johnathan
Double this recipe makes 3 mini loaf pans (3.19 in x 5.63 in x 1.95 in), perfectly. A nice twist on a spice cake when paired with clotted cream.
Jean
I adapted amounts to my Zojirshi breadmaker, used the dough cycle and baked it at 350 for 25 minutes. Substituted Chinese 5 spice for some of the included spices and added a tsp of vanilla. Great gift/hostess gift bread
Iz
David Lebovitz's version of pain d'epices in his cookbook "My Paris Kitchen" is much better than this one.
Clara
The amount of batter was no where near enough for the loaf pan that I used (20cmx10cmx6.3cm), I ended up needing to double it. Regardless, it was a great recipe and smelled amazing!
Michelle
I cooked this in my 9x5 size loaf pan, it turned out about half as tall as the banana bread I make. Of course, this has only 1 cup of flour, total, which I found odd. Also, noticed the directions refer to eggS but the ingredients list only one. I checked it after 20 minutes and it was done. I had to improvise on the spices, and questioned the pepper but did put it in... All said it still turned out good but didn't knock my socks off. Might try it again with the correct spices as listed.
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