Spiced French Gingerbread Loaf Recipe

This delicious French Gingerbread Loaf recipe is perfect to make all year round. Full of festive flavors of dark rum and spice blend, this Gingerbread baked as little loaves, makes a great edible gift during holidays.

Last year, during Christmas time, I tried to make this gingerbread, but I did not have a chance to post its recipe. I was waiting for this festive season to make it again; although, I must admit that this flavorful gingerbread cake is perfect to serve for breakfast, as a snack or a dessert all year round.

What I love the most about the French gingerbread recipe is how our home smells during its baking. I think that even our neighbors get into a festive spirit, smelling the gingerbread flavors and aromas around the house.

Jump to:

• What is the French gingerbread?
• French Gingerbread recipe
• Why French gingerbread loaf recipe works
• How to make French gingerbread step by step
• Expert tips
• Frequently Asked Questions
• More delicious loaf cake recipes you will love
• Spiced French Gingerbread Loaf Recipe

What is the French gingerbread?

French gingerbread, called pain d’épices in French, is a soft and flavorful cake made with a blend of spices.

Gingerbread recipes vary across France: most of them contain cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, or cloves. Some of the cakes are made with the only anise, but the “most authentic recipe doesn’t contain any ginger.”

French Gingerbread recipe

I adapted the recipe of the gingerbread created by the Alsatian baker Eric Kayser who comes from three generations of bakers. He is an owner of 28 bakeries in Paris, France, and 200 bakeries around the world. 

Each time I bake this cake, I question myself if I should go with a plain cake or dress it up. The loaf has beautiful velvety slices full of dried fruit that make each slice impressive.

The loaf is already complete without decorations, but to make it look more festive, I decorated it with crumbled speculoos cookies * and overlapping syrupy dried fruit. This colorful final touch makes gingerbread loaf stunning!

By the way, have you ever experienced gingerbread cravings in time besides the holidays? If the answer is yes, you should make it throughout the year, whenever you feel like baking this warmly spiced treat; let’s expand the Christmas-only tradition of baking gingerbread. Although cutting a gingerbread Christmas tree is fun!

Why French gingerbread loaf recipe works

1. This loaf cake is easy to make even for a beginner baker.
2. The syrup made one day ahead is intensely spiced and fully infused with warm flavors.
3. The cake is loaded with dried fruit that accentuates each slice.
4. Baked as little loaves, this gingerbread makes a perfect gift during the holiday season.

How to make French gingerbread step by step

To make the syrup, pour water, honey, sugar, and add cinnamon sticks *, whole star anise *, and ground allspice * in a saucepan (photo 1). Bring to a boil while mixing. Remove the saucepan from the heat (photo 2), cover with a plastic film * and let infuse at room temperature for 24 hours.

The next day, preheat oven to 320 F/ 160 C. To make the dough, mix flour, corn starch and baking powder * in a bowl. Drain the syrup with a colander * and discard spices. Add rum to the syrup and mix. Stir dry ingredients into the wet mixture and combine with a hand whisk * (photo 3). Add whole prunes, dried apricots, dried cranberries, and slivered almonds * to the mixture and combine (photo 4).

Pour the preparation in a buttered nonstick loaf pan * or a silicone loaf pan *, filling up to three quarters (photo 5). Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Check the readiness of the loaf with a toothpick: if it comes out dry, Gingerbread is ready (photo 6).

To decorate the loaf, place speculoos cookies * in a food processor * and crush to get crumbs. Heat apricot jam in a microwave and spread it all over Gingerbread, using a silicone brush * (photo 7).

Generously sprinkle the loaf’s sides with crumbled speculoos cookies. Dip each dried fruit in a heated apricot jam, shaking off the excess jam, and arrange prunes, dried apricots, Medjool dates, raisins on top, overlapping each other. Fill the gaps between fruit with crumbled cookies (photo 8). 

Expert tips

1. Replace slivered almonds * with blanched almonds *.
2. Experiment with dried fruit and make your own combinations.
3. For a gourmet version, switch honey for date syrup or maple syrup.
4. Adjust the baking time and test the loaf/loaves for readiness with a toothpick, if you use small loaf pans.
5. Arrange whole star anise * and cinnamon sticks * on top of the loaf for the additional decoration.
6. Serve gingerbread with Alsatian lager, such as Fischer, that will magnify flavors of honey and spices.
7. Store the cooled loaf in a plastic bag at room temperature for up to two to three days.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which flour to use for gingerbread loaf

The traditional gingerbread recipe uses whole wheat flour. However, white flour, buckwheat flour, or rye flour are also widely used for this purpose. To make Gingerbread more compact, you should choose ray flour. You might decide to experiment with flours to get different textures of the loaf. Since gingerbread is sweet, it is not recommended to use chestnut flour. 

How to make a gluten-free gingerbread

It is easy to make a gluten-free gingerbread. Just replace flour indicated in a recipe with rice flour or chestnut flour. In the case of the latter, reduce the amount of honey and sugar, because chestnut flour is a sweet type of flour.

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The recipe was adapted from the Video Masterclass of Eric Kayser’s bakery. It was originally published on December 11, 2019. The recipe has been revised to include improved content. All posted pictures are mine.