Pain d’épices
Makes
1
Ingredients
110 g (3¾ oz) unsalted butter
75 g (2½ oz) golden syrup or treacle
10 g (¼ oz) molasses
125 g (4½ oz) soft brown sugar
185 g (1¼ cups/6½ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
10 g (¼ oz) baking powder
10 g (¼ oz) ground ginger
5 g (⅛ oz) ground cinnamon
2 eggs
135 ml (4½ fl oz) milk
60 ml (2 fl oz/ ¼ cup) sour cream
Pain d’épices is a classic sweet French bread infused with spices. It has a cake-like consistency, is easy to make in a bread tin, and can be sliced and toasted for days and served slathered with butter — though I doubt it will last that long because the aroma of baked cinnamon and ginger will keep you coming back for more!
Method
Preheat the oven to 160ºC (315ºF). Grease a 9 x 23 x 7 cm deep (3½ x 9 x 2¾ inch) loaf (bar) tin.
Put the butter, golden syrup, molasses and sugar in a saucepan and cook, stirring, until smooth and combined. Remove from the heat.
Sift the flour, baking powder and spices together into a bowl.
Put the eggs, milk and sour cream in another bowl and whisk to combine, then add to the golden syrup mixture. Gradually add the dry ingredients and stir to combine, taking care not to overwork the mixture.
Spoon into the prepared loaf tin.
Bake for 1 hour 50 minutes, turning the tray halfway through; this is a super-wet dough, so it requires a long baking time. The loaf will be ready when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, before turning out onto a wire rack.
The loaf will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 days, or a week in the fridge.
