Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups dark rye flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon anise seeds, whole
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon finely-grated orange zest
- 1 cup 2% milk
- 2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 whole star anise
Prepare the Batter
Set your oven to 305F with a rack in the middle. Grease a standard 9-inch loaf pan with butter and give it a light dusting of flour.
In a small saucepan, combine the milk, honey, and the whole star anise. Warm this over medium heat just until the milk is hot and the honey dissolves completely. You’ll see small bubbles forming around the edges of the pan. Pull the pot off the heat and let it sit for a few minutes to let the star anise infuse the liquid.
Using freshly ground spices will make a noticeable difference in the final flavor of the bread.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the rye flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, and all the ground spices—cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, black pepper. Add the anise seeds, salt, baking soda, and orange zest, and whisk until everything is evenly distributed.
Remove the star anise from the milk mixture and slowly pour the warm liquid into the bowl of dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix until the batter just comes together.
Be careful not to overmix; you want to stop as soon as you no longer see dry streaks of flour.
Bake the Bread
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for ~1 hour. To check for doneness, insert a knife or a cake tester into the center of the loaf; it should come out clean.
Let the bread cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 30 minutes. After that, you can turn it out of the pan to cool completely on the rack.
The flavors of the spices will develop and become more complex if you wrap the loaf in foil and let it sit for 24 hours before slicing.
Classic French Spiced Bread (Pain d’Épices)
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups dark rye flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon anise seeds whole
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon finely-grated orange zest
- 1 cup 2% milk
- 2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 whole star anise
Instructions
- Heat oven to 305F and grease a 9-inch loaf pan with butter, dust with flour.
- Warm milk, honey, and star anise in saucepan over medium heat until honey dissolves and bubbles form at edges. Remove from heat and let steep.
- Whisk together rye flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, anise seeds, black pepper, salt, baking soda, and orange zest in large bowl.
- Remove star anise from milk mixture and slowly pour warm liquid into dry ingredients. Mix with wooden spoon just until combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake 1 hour or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool in pan on wire rack 30 minutes, then remove from pan to cool completely.
