Pain d’Epices

byBeth Le Manach
7 Comments
byBeth Le Manach
7 Comments
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Pain d’epices is a French spiced bread recipe popular during the holiday season in France. It’s light, moist and full of holiday flavor thanks to its unique blend of spices. This recipe incorporates bittersweet chocolate chunks and orange for a truly decadent twist on a popular French classic. Serve it during an open house, or wrap it up for gifting!

French spiced cake sliced on a cutting board.
Pain d’epices is filled with holiday flavor and this recipe is extra moist and studded with chocolate and bits of orange.

Pain d’Epices Spice Mix:

  • Pain d’epices spice mix can varry from recipe to recipe. In France, you can buy it already blended, much like Pumpkin Pie Spice, but outside the country you can make it yourself with this blend of spices.
  • A full tablespoon of cinnamon, two teaspoons of ground ginger, one teaspoon of ground nutmeg, one teaspoon of anise seed, and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves.
  • The anise seeds will soften and bake into the bread. You won’t notice the texture, just the delicious, slightly licorice flavor.
  • This delicious anise flavor separates American gingerbread from French pain d’epices.
Pain d'epices cooling in its tin.
Allow the cake to cool completely before trying to remove it from the tin. This allows the chocolate to set up. Otherwise, the cake will crumble.

Decorating the Cake:

  • This cake is really beautiful when glazed with warm orange marmalade on top after it’s cooled.
  • Just set the marmalade in a small saucepan on the cooktop and heat until liquified, then brush it over the cake with a pastry brush.
  • The marmalade not only makes for a pretty shine, but it flavors the cake with a lovely hint of orange which is a great combination with the spices and chocolate.
  • I like to decorate the cake with a small plastic evergreen sprig. I usually buy a garland at Michaels or on Amazon early in the year and snip off the small branches for packages and food gifts.
  • Place two candied oranges on either side of the sprig on top (see recipe card below)
  • Finish with a cinnamon stick, or a few star anise are a nice touch too!
Pain d'epice decorated
Pain d’epices makes a beautiful holiday hostess gift when decorated with candied oranges, cinnamon sticks, and plastic evergreen.

Making the Candied Oranges:

  • I typically make more oranges than I need so I can pick the prettiest ones. It’s hard to know which ones will look best until they are finished simmering.
  • You can use mandarins or tangerines; just make sure they are on the small side to fit on top of the cake.
  • Use a non-stick skillet; it will be easier to clean.
  • After the oranges simmer in the sugar syrup, allow them to “dry” on a rack fitted with a baking sheet; that way, the sugar won’t drip onto your countertop!
  • The oranges won’t really “dry”; they’ll just cease to be wet and will become a bit “tacky” to the touch.
  • Once you get the technique down, try them again on my Blood Orange Pound Cake recipe!
Candied Oranges drying on a cooling rack.
Candied oranges are easy to create and make a beautiful decoration on top.
Pain d'epices

Pain d'Epices

Yield: 1 loaf
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Pain d'epices is a French spiced bread recipe popular during the holiday season in France. It's light, moist and full of holiday flavor thanks to its unique blend of spices. This recipe incorporates bittersweet chocolate chunks and orange for a truly decadent twist on a popular French classic.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 Cup (113 g) Unsalted Butter
  • 2/3 cup (160 ml) honey
  • 1/2 cup (90 g) dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup (120 ml) orange marmalade
  • 1/2 cup (120 ml) water
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 1/4 cup (315g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons (7.25 ml) baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) kosher salt
  • 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) anise seed
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground cloves
  • 1 cup (150 g) bittersweet chocolate chunks (Trader Joe's Dark Belgian Chocolate 1lb plus bar a great one to use! https://amzn.to/3VPARLc)

For Decorating:

  • 2 small mandarine oranges
  • 1/4 cup (60 g) white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) water
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) orange marmalade
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • Small plastic evergreen sprig

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Spray a 9.25 x 5.25 x 2.75 in (23.5 x 13.3 x 7 cm) loaf pan with baking spray with flour.
  2. In a medium sauce pan, add the butter, honey, brown sugar, marmalade, and water. Heat on medium-high until melted and smooth. Transfer to a large bowl to cool.
  3. Meanwhile, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together until combined. Then whisk in the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, anise seeds and cloves. Set aside.
  4. To the melted wet ingredients, add the oil and whisk to combine. Then add the eggs, one at a time, whisking in between each addition.
  5. Add the dry ingredients in thirds until combined.
  6. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.
  7. Meanwhile prepare the candied oranges.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 218Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 101mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 2gSugar: 12gProtein: 5g
© Beth Le Manach
Cuisine: French / Category: Desserts
Brownie cake scooped into a mug with ice cream

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7 Comments

  1. This was delicious! I used the bit of jammy, orangey, caramelized mixture leftover from the oranges and brushed it as a glaze on top of the loaf. Then warmed it in the oven while we ate our meal. It would have been perfect with whipped cream had I thought to save some.

    Reply

  2. Hi Beth, I love your recipes but this one did not work for me. The batter overflowed in my loaf pan (which was the size you specified) and collapsed in the middle. It was also extremely oily. I followed your recipe exactly as written. I wonder if the baking soda was too much for my high altitude in Colorado? I love this type of cake and would like to try baking it again. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you!

    Reply

  3. This look terrific – and I’m thinking about turning it into muffins instead of a loaf. Have you ever tried that and what temp/time might you recommend?

    Reply

    1. Hmm I haven’t tried that, but my instinct would keep it as a loaf bread to get the best texture, the moisture and fluffiness comes from the long slow rise that takes about an hour to bake. But if you wanted to try muffins, I would be sure to use muffin papers to keep the interiors soft, bake at 350F for about 17-20 minutes or whenever a toothpick comes out clean. Hope you enjoy!

      Reply