Pain d’épices – Fruit and Spice Cake

If you replace molasses with honey and add rye flour to your old-fashioned gingerbread recipe, you’ll end up with a basic pain d’épices, the French take on gingerbread. As its name implies, “bread of spices” is all about the fragrance and warmth of ground aromatics. There are endless spice mix variations and each recipe seems to have its own distinctive blend.

This fruit and spice loaf cake from Pierre Hermé and Dorie Greenspan has the most interesting spice blend of all the pain d’épices recipes I’ve seen. Water is infused with star anise to start off, so immediately we’re given a preview of the arometherapy to come.

Hefty amounts of cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, coriander, cardamom, and nutmeg may seem like overkill, but the combination is surprisingly well-balanced in the suggested amounts. None of the spices stands out too much and as a whole, the effect is quite intoxicating.

The following pain d’epices recipe makes a dense and hearty loaf meant to be sliced very thinly. The bread itself is light on the honey but there is plenty of sweetness from the prunes and apricots. Walnuts and almonds are added for crunch and citrus zest brightens the deep flavors of the spices, rounding out the texture and aroma of the finished loaf.

recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Desserts by Pierre Hermé
A Fruit A Month: Apricot hosted by Siri

Pierre Hermé’s Pain d’épices
Fruit and Spice Loaf Cake

makes one 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch cake

Ingredients                  Volume          Ounces          Grams
water                   3/4 cup + 2 tbsp        7.0            198
star anise                       10        

honey                           1/3 cup         4.0            113
unsalted butter, melted       5 1/2 tbsp        2.8             78

all-purpose flour             2 1/4 cups       10.1            287
rye flour                       1/4 cup         1.1             32
baking powder                 2 1/2 tsp
cinnamon, ground                  1 tbsp
ginger, ground                    1 tsp
black pepper, ground              1 tsp
coriander, ground               1/2 tsp
cardamom, ground                1/2 tsp
nutmeg, ground                  1/2 tsp

walnuts, coarsely chopped       2/3 cup         2.8             80
sliced almonds, toasted         1/3 cup         1.4             40
pitted prunes, 1/4-inch dice     13             5.3            149
dried apricots, 1/4-inch dice    13             4.3            120
lemon zest                     from 1 lemon
orange zest                    from 1 orange

Notes:

• The original recipe suggests using pine honey and Malaysian Sarawak black pepper.

Directions:

Infuse the water with star anise
                Bring the water and star anise to a boil in a small
                saucepan over high heat. Cover and infuse for about
                one hour.



Preheat Oven    300ºF / 150ºC

Prepare an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan
                Use nonstick spray or softened butter to grease the
                bottom and sides of the loaf pan. Line with parchment
                paper. Place the loaf pan on two stacked sheet pans
                or an insulated baking sheet.

Mix Dry Ingredients
                Place the flours, baking powder, and ground spices
                in a container with a tight lid. Cover and shake
                until thoroughly mixed.

Mix Wet Ingredients
                In another bowl, stir the honey and melted butter.
                Strain the star anise-infused water into the bowl
                and stir until well-blended.

Mix Fruits, Nuts, and Zests
                In a separate bowl, stir together the walnuts,
                almonds, prunes, apricots, and citrus zests.
                Toss the fruits, nuts, and zests in a tablespoon
                of the mixed dry ingredients.

Mix (Muffin Method)
                Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add
                the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber
                spatula or wooden spoon and stir briefly.

                Add the fruits, nuts, and zests and continue
                mixing only until the dry ingredients are
                moistened. The batter should be thick and lumpy.

Pan             Deposit the batter into the greased loaf pan.
                Place the loaf pan on two stacked sheet pans or
                on an insulated baking sheet.

Bake            300ºF / 150ºC for 65 to 75 minutes, until a
                wooden skewer inserted in the middle of the
                cake comes out clean.

Cool            Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes before
                removing from the loaf pan. Cool completely at
                room temperature, at least 2 hours.

Pain d’épices Storage:

Once the cake is thoroughly cooled, wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Wrapped airtight in plastic, pain d’épices will keep at room temperature for up to four days or frozen for up to a month.

To Serve Pain d’épices:

Let the loaf “ripen” for at least one day for a deeper flavor. Serve in thin slices with hot tea or cider.

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