The Pan d ’ spices (Spice bread) is a very typical Christmas French bread that is made with honey and some spices including ginger and sometimes anise (but as I do not like anise a lot so I dot use it). The two most famous are the Dijon and Gertwiller in Alsace, where they have even a museum. In France, the Pan d'épices is regulated both in its production and its ingredients by the "Syndicat National de la Biscuiterie Francaise", so that you can only call bread d' épices, if it is made according to the formula approved.

It's funny because because the "official" version calls for the white wheat flour instead for whole wheat flour and admits to substitute honey for glucose or syrup or a mixture of both, which is what I used, so without having it planned and without knowing it,I did finally mde the authentic bread d' épices.

To begin with as I explain below, I used only white wheat flour (not the integral flours), and although it was not my intention and was a matter of not having it at home, the result was gorgeous (but I give you the quantity of each flour you can add in case you want to use it). If you want to use only white flour, you have to add the two amounts of flour 220 80 = 300 g of white wheat flour which is what I used). The cake It was very tasty and very juicy inside. Spices give a particular Christmas touch, although I skipped anise because as I said before, it is not one of my favorite flavors.

I baked them in a beautiful cast of Nordic Ware I thought it was perfect for this recipe and I got 10 cottages all very nice. I hope you like them. The cake is great and is ideal both for breakfast and for tea. I've already had to make the recipe several times this year because everyone wants a version of the Pan d'épices using this mold!

Directions

1 Preheat oven to 170 ° f. grease well the you are going to use.

2. Melt butter with vanilla and honey into the microwave oven. I did it at intervals of 30 seconds and it took me 2 intervals. While the butter was not fully melted, the heat of the bowl was enough you finally melt everything. Put aside.

2. In a large bowl mix the flour, spices, baking powder and baking soda.

3 Take the bowl of butter and add milk, orange zest, eggs and sugar. Mix well. We can do it with by hand or if you prefer we can do it with an electric mixer. Beat until the mixture is uniform and smooth.

4. Add this mixture to the flour and mix well by hand or using an electric mixer.

5. Once the dough is uniform, fill our mold, taking care not to fill it beyond 2/3 parts. The time of baking depends on our mold. Mine were little ones so they only needed 18 minutes at 175 degrees, but if you have a large pan you will need at least 10 more minutes (about 30-40 minutes).

6 As my mould was Nordic Ware, I left the cakes 10 minutes outside the oven before unmolding them so they wouldn't break.

7 Let cool completely on a wire rack. To give a more Christmas feel, I dusted them with icing sugar and the result was that one of the photos.

It may also interest you:

Cinnamon rolls | Rolls of cinnamon, vanilla and cardamom cake Brochettes. Brioche bread Pumpkin cake with pecans walnuts. Pumpkin cake Lagkage. Danish red fruit cake Springerle. The most beautiful biscuits in the world