With the cold that accompanies us these days, I can't think of a better plan at any time than to turn on the oven and prepare some delicacy that we can then enjoy as a family (it's not worth eating everything without sharing, huh? We know each other, hehehe) . And one of my latest discoveries has been the recipe for this delicious honey and spice bread .

It is a recipe of French origin and is a hybrid between a bread and a sponge cake since, although its texture is similar to bread, rather dense, moist and very juicy, the way it is prepared is closer to the way in which we usually prepare the biscuits, since we will use chemical yeast.

As you can guess from its name, this bread is loaded with spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, anise or ginger , so that, from the moment of baking, this bread becomes a real delight for the senses. , with the wonderful smell that it gives off and that will spread throughout the house.

Despite the amount of honey in its preparation, it is not an excessively sweet bread, so it is fantastic to accompany both sweet and savory foods. I love it with butter and orange marmalade, but I encourage you to try toasting a couple of slices of gingerbread and serve it accompanied by foie gras... A real delight!

And of course, although you can prepare it in any mould, such as a bundt mould, for example, I love preparing it in my Emile Henry mould , not only because I am in love with the mold, but also because it unmolds phenomenally, cooking is homogeneous and the slices that we are going to obtain when cutting the sponge cake, being square, are perfect if we want to use them to spread.

Emile Henry corrugated rectangular mold , Pallarès stainless steel table knife, Revol character porcelain plates , Emile Henry ramekins and 150ml ArtisanSt.

Ingredients

• 150 g of rye flour
• 150 g of wheat flour
• 250g of honey
• 60g of butter
• 350 ml of milk
• 1 egg M
• Zest of an orange
• 2 teaspoons of chemical yeast (Royal type)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon of anise seeds
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon white pepper
• 1 tablespoon of pearl sugar to decorate

KitchenAid Artisan 5KSM175 food processor , Emile Henry corrugated rectangular pan , Pallarès stainless steel table knife , 150ml ArtisanSt. , Emile Henry ramekins , Bérard olive wood honey spoon and Bérard olive wood flour spoon

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180º.
2. With the help of a mortar, grind the anise seeds and reserve.
3. In the Kitchen Aid bowl we mix the two types of flour, previously sifted, the chemical yeast, the baking soda, the salt and the spices (including the anise that we have ground).
4. Then we grate the skin of the orange with a Microplane grater and add it to the bowl.
5. We put the Kitchen Aid shovel accessory, add the honey and mix at low speed.
6. Once we obtain a homogeneous mixture, we add the milk little by little, while we continue beating at low speed.
7. When the ingredients are well integrated, add the egg, slightly beaten, and continue mixing until incorporated into the dough.
8. Then add the butter (which we will have at room temperature) and continue beating until it is integrated.
9. Once the dough is uniform, stop beating.
10. Then we grease the mold with the help of a brush and pour the dough.
11. Sprinkle the pearl sugar over it and take it to the oven.
12. Bake at 180º for 50 minutes.
13. After this time, and once we have checked with the help of a skewer or biscuit thermometer that it is well cooked, remove the honey and spice bread from the oven.
14. Once we can handle the mold without burning ourselves, unmold and let the honey bread cool on a rack.

Wavy rectangular mold Emile Henry , ceramic sauce boat 150ml ArtisanSt. and ramekins Emile Henry

There is nothing more comforting than baking this honey bread on a cold afternoon and the aroma of spices pervading the house... Although the smell is so fantastic that you run the risk that at home they do not leave or cool the bread before finish him off. Be warned, hehehe!