Alsatian Pain D' Epice
As the winter season is still in full swing up north I thought it'd be appropriate to post an old school pain d' epice or as it's better known gingerbread. This recipe was inspired by Pierre Herme's Alsatian specialty and is quite similar to his creation in format as well as yield. I've adapted some of the proportions and ingredients to better suit a North American product. I would also like to note that spices in the recipe are variable to the baker's taste and should absolutely be adjusted if you see fit. All in all it's a very interesting little cake best suited for warm port, brandy, cognac or a simple cup of black tea.
Best of luck in your baking and may the odds be forever in your favor.
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
|---|---|
| Bake Time | 40-80 minutes |
| Product Type | Tea Cake |
| Glaze | Apricot Jelly |
Ingredients
70g Unbleached Pastry Flour
50g Corn Flour
260g Light Rye Flour
24g Baking Powder
30g Ground Spices ( 5g Allspice, 5g Clove, 5g Green Cardamom, 5g Star Anise, 10g Cinnamon)
30g Freshly Grated Ginger
150g Butter
50g Brown Sugar
60g Corn Syrup
380g Wild Flower Honey
380g Orange Marmalade
4g Sea Salt
200g Eggs
Total Weight/ Volume 1688g or 1700ml
Procedure
1. Pre- heat oven to 360F. Butter and flour cake moulds or line loaf pans depending on your desired form. Sift dry ingredients together.
2. In kitchen aid, paddle spices, butter, brown sugar, honey, corn syrup, marmalade and sea salt on medium-high speed for 5 minutes. The mixture should be much paler in color.
3. Incorporate eggs gradually and continue beating for another 10 minutes
4. Gently fold in dry ingredients. Fill cake moulds or loaf tins 60% of the way full ( a rough estimate is fine).
5. Bake. If using small cake moulds bake at 360F for 40 minutes, turning pan at half way point. If using loaf tins bake at 360F for 40 minutes, turn pans, reduce the oven heat to 320F and bake for a further 40 minutes. To check doneness insert a toothpick in to the center and if it comes out clean the cake is cooked through.
6. Un-mould cakes from pans and glaze while hot. For this particular cake it's best to glaze with apricot jelly warmed through to a fluid consistency. A 50/50 sugar to water glaze heated to a boil would also work adequately well.
Comments
Looks delicious! I'd like to bake this cake sometime when we're expecting company; otherwise I'd have to eat it by myself! (Spouse is diabetic.) Thank you for the great recipe.
I actually did this for my Christmas/ New Years parties. As I listed below this recipe will make roughly 12 mini cakes so you can multiply accordingly for how many guests you're expecting.In my opinion it's at it's best with a really tannic black tea. I'm sorry the spouse is diabetic as this is quite a sweet dessert, though the citrus does balance it out. Thank you for your comment.
recipe and this looks to be a fine one. Think i will make a size 1/4 as large though since i am diabetic:-) Thanks and happy baking
A 1/4 would be more than enough though I'm sure your guests would devour any excess as your baking is exceptional. Cheers!
Looks great and I'd like to try it. Just wondering how much this makes? Obviously about 1700g of batter, but the photo looks like a small bundt cake pan. How many of these small pans does it make? Would it work in a standard bundt pan (or more than one)?
Great question. With this recipe you get about 12 mini cakes. For this particular cake I used your standard 6x mini bundt form. If you're doing a standard bundt cake form I would suggest doing a 1/2 recipe on the one listed here. Since it's more or less a pound cake formula multiplying or dividing the recipe wouldn't have any implications on the finished product. Also to note for the bundt cake you're looking to make I would suggest baking it at 360F for 20 minutes, turning the pan and baking for a further 20 minutes at 320F. Thank you for the feedback though as I did leave the particular form open ended. Cheers.
Thanks! Definitely will try this weekend!
That's got to be one wonderful gingerbread!
Paul
Pierre ironically is known for his subtleness of flavor! The exception is in the items very close to his heart especially those of Germanic origin. Thank you very much for a pleasant comment.
with it gladly! Yum! :)
Une gourmande!
I already love it just looking at ingredients!
An old world cake, though balanced nicely due to the marmalade and apricot preserve. Best regards.