Holiday Spice Bread (Pain d'Épices)

Whole rye, honeycomb, spices, orange zest

It’s two weeks from Christmas and I’m slowly beginning to think about our holiday box. This is a tradition where each year on my birthday I bite off more than I can chew and recruit my family to spend a frenzied 24 hours or so baking, stressing, boxing, and delivering treats. Afterwards, I’m happy.

In prior years we’ve done everything from stollen to gibassier, choux craquelin, small hearth loaves, and cookies, of course. If driving through a cold night on Christmas Eve delivering wrapped treats doesn’t get you into the spirit of love and generosity, I’m not sure what will.

This spice bread is a favorite and also appears in my book. Inspired by a recipe from Richard Miscovitch, it’s a pain d’épices or, literally, “bread of spices.” In this version I use whole rye flour and sweeten it with honeycomb, honey, and molasses. Freshly-ground spices and orange zest bring the seasonal charm. In an interesting process point, I heat everything before adding it to the flour. The warm liquid heats the flour starches giving the resulting bread an incredible mouthfeel and great keeping quality.

This time of year it can be hard to find a moment to pause. I don’t know about you but it’s the quiet moments, rare and cherished, where I slow for a moment and actually appreciate the season. I hope that life can afford a little of this for each of you. Maybe it’s baking, maybe it’s writing a note of appreciation to a loved one, maybe it’s a quiet walk. I’ll be back in a couple weeks with a little retrospective on the year. In the meantime, be well and Happy Holidays.

Martin

Honeycomb, honey, molasses, orange zest, milk, and spices, warming.

While this bread is relatively quick and easy, it does have a few ingredients to get together. A proper “mise en place” will ensure that you don’t miss anything. So, measure and grind the spices (I have a little mortar and pestle that works very well, it does make a difference), zest the orange, weigh the yolks, chop and soak the apple pieces, etc. I’ve included volume amounts for the most of the small ingredients, remember that our scales don’t do well below about 25g or so. It’s better to play it safe and switch to volume for things like salt and baking soda. Too much cinnamon isn’t so bad, but too much baking soda can be a disaster.

Holiday Spice Bread (Pain d'Épices)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 3 ½ by 5 ½-inch pans.

Rum, 21g (1.5 T) (Use any spirit you like or substitute with vanilla)
Apple, dried, 41g (You could also use currants, raisins, chopped prunes or even candied peel)

Chop the dried apple into 1/2-inch pieces. Place in a bowl and combine with the rum.

Whole rye flour, 204g
Baking soda, 5g (1 1/4 t)
Salt, fine, 3g (1/2 t)

Whisk together the rye flour, baking soda, and salt.

Milk, 123g
Honey, 164g
Honeycomb, 82g (You may also substitute honey for this amount)
Molasses, 82g
Orange zest, 8g (1 T) (about one large naval)
Anise seed, ground, 0.5g (1/4 t)
Nutmeg, grated, 0.5g (1/4 t)
Coriander, ground, 0.5g (1/4 t)
Cinnamon, ground, 0.5g (1/4 t)
Cloves, ground, 0.5g (1/4 t)

In a medium pot combine the milk, honey, honeycomb, molasses, spices, orange zest, and soaked apple pieces (including any unabsorbed liquid) and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to combine. When bubbles appear at the edge of the liquid and the honeycomb is melted, it’s ready for the next step.

Egg yolk, 25g (about 1 1/4 yolks)

While the mixture heats, in a small bowl whisk together the egg yolks then, add one cup of the simmering liquid in a slow stream, whisking as you pour.

Add the egg yolk mixture back to the simmering liquid, stirring constantly while pouring in a steady stream. This process tempers the eggs, preventing them from scrambling.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry, stirring until combined.

Garnished batter, ready for the oven.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans, filling each about 3/4 of the way to the top. Garnish with four whole almonds (optional).

Bake for 15 minutes at 350°F, then reduce the oven heat and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes at 325°F. The loaves are done when the crust is set and bounces back when pressed. Loaves should cool for a few minutes in the pan before removing from the pan.

These small loaves keep well for a week or so at room temperature, or for up to a month frozen.