Gluten Free Pain D'Épices (Spice Cake)

Gluten Free Pain D’Épices

(Gluten Free Spice Cake)

Adapted by My Little Blue Heron from Les cakes de Laurent sans gluten & sans lait by Laurent Dran

Pain D’Épices is one of my favorites cakes, and since I eliminated gluten from my diet, it’s another It’s traditionally made with rye flour. Now you can enjoy the flavors and texture of this earthy and satisfying cake without gluten. Pain D’Épices is traditionally eaten at New Year’s.

Laurent Dran is a French blogger whose book, referenced above, is available only in French. 

The French home cook doesn’t prepare super-sized cakes. This loaf is smaller than what you’re probably used to baking. The loaf pan you’ll need is 16 x 9 cm (6.3 x 3.5 in inches .. or 6 x 4 should work). You can double the recipe and make one large loaf and a small loaf or some cupcakes. Or go buy some German dark loaf pans that are about this size. Jobber stores like Home Goods often sell great loaf pans from Germany and France. Dark pans bake gluten free stuff much better. I don’t know why, but they do.

I prepped this by hand, but you can do it with an electric mixer. You’ll need the whip attachment.

And you must have a kitchen scale that weighs in grams. If you don’t, they’re so easy to get on Amazon. Here’s a link.

Recipes generally use Xanthan Gum for binding. Dran’s recipes call for Guar Gum (also a binder, but is usually used in products like salad dressings and cold stuff.) Maybe  Xanthan Gum is hard to find in France. I’ve read that they’re interchangeable.  

Oven temperature is 356º F. If you don’t have a digital oven, that’s fine. Set it to 350º F. and the bake may take a little longer.

A truc that Dran recommends it to slit the cake down the middle. He says that a small, quick slit will help to develop a “big bump”, like a madeleine. The batter was a little too thin to do this when I put the cake in to bake, so I made my “petite incision” about 15 minutes into the bake.

MLBH Trucs: Use organic expeller pressed refined coconut oil (Spectrum brand is excellent). Your baked good will taste authentic and won’t taste at all like coconut. Always use SUPERFINE brown rice flour. You won’t get that gritty texture in your baked goods. Vitacost.com is a great source for this (and much more). You can buy the “Tesla” brand of superfine rice flours, which is made by “Authentic Foods”, or try Vitacost’s own brand.

The first go-round, I followed Dran’s spice profile. Julia Child’s recipe calls for equal amounts of cinnamon, cloves and mace. Try earthy honey, like buckwheat (it’ll greet the buckwheat flour with joy!), or try a flowery honey.

During these short days that are cold and fill your apartment or home with warm and fragrant spices.

peace, love and ease,

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jane

Gluten Free Pain D’Épices

Preparation:

Using spray release or a neutral oil, coat the baking pans well.

Preheat the oven to 356º F. (see note above.)  

Ingredients:

50 g. superfine brown rice flour (Authentic Foods brand or Vitacost brand (find it at vitacost.com)

25 g. potato starch

35 g. buckwheat flour

4 g. baking powder (aluminum free is best)

1 gram Guar gum

60 g. brown sugar 

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground ginger

½ tsp. ground cardamom (freshly ground is ideal) ...see directly below for another spice combination that I like*
1/4 tsp. Kosher salt 

1 egg, size large (about 50 grams)

110 g. water, room temperature (approx.. ½ c.)

85 g. honey (I used a miscellaneous and buckwheat honey and preferred the buckwheat honey)

55 g. coconut oil (refined is preferred because it won't taste coconuttish) .. and I suggest bringing it to liquid state. You can do this in the microwave at half power (5) for about 15 seconds.

*(for a different spice profile try: 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. ginger, 1/4 tsp. ground cloves, 1/2 tsp. ground mace - closer to Child's cake.)

Procedure:

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients and set aside.

In another bowl (or if using an electric stand mixer, in that bowl), measure out ingredients, and whisk together for a minute.

Add dry ingredients to wet until combined.

Pour into prepared pan(s) and bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on your pan and your oven. (If you’re making cupcakes, baking time may be less than 30 minutes.)

Remove from oven and cool 10-15 minutes on baking rack before releasing from pans to then cool completely.

Wrapped well, this will keep for a couple of days at room temperature. You can refrigerate it and bring it to room temperature before serving. You can toast it and serve it with butter or jam or both.

The loaf will freeze well for several months.

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