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Jacquy Pfeiffer’s French Gingerbread
2016-12-26
- This Recipe
- Chef: Jacquy Pfeiffer
- Cuisine: French Cuisine
- Course: Pound Cake, Dessert, Brunch
- Difficulty: Easy
- Category: Course
- Yield: Un cake de 10cm x 25cm
- Servings: 10
- Preparation Time: 30 Minutes
- Cooking Time: 50 Minutes
- Readiness Time: 2 H
- This Post
- Chef : François
- Category: Recipe
- Posted on: Monday December 26, 2016
- Comments : 5 Comments
-
Languages :
English | 
Français
- Ingredients
- Powdered anis, Cinnamon, Whole flour, Rye flour, Ginger, Honey, Nutmeg, Eggs, Candied orange,
La version Française se trouve ICI |
A recipe that totally converted me... for I never liked gingerbread until I tasted this one... |
Print | About this recipeI never liked gingerbreads, until this recipe... |
 | This is an Alsatian gingerbread "pain d'épices", a recipe from Jacquy Pfeiffer who is a lead pastry chef at the renowned French Pastry School of Chicago. Alsace is a small region in France, in the easter side, close to Germany, which explains why French Alsatians like this meal so much |
A recipe that an American Colleague, a student at the Stéphane Tréand Pastry School (in Costa Mesa, California), that we both attended, brought one day at school and I fell in love with this recipe |
 |
This recipe reminds me of the fantastic years that I spent in Strasbourg, in French Alsace, (North East France), a place known for its culture and its cuisine Au Brasseur 22 Rue des Veaux 67000 Strasbourg France |
 |
 | Source of the recipeJacquy Pfeiffer is a native of Alsace in France, and is now working for the famous "French Pastry School" in Chicago. |
 | Jacquy Pfeiffer published this book "The Art of French Pastry" in 2014, and won the "James Beard Award" for the best cook book. To purchase online, see HERE |
 | You can see Jacquy prepare the top pastry competition in France the "Meilleur Ouvrier de France" contest, in the documentary "Kings Of Pastry" (you may see it on Netflix). In the movie you will see other celebrities such as Stéphane Glacier, Sebastien Canonne, Philippe Rigollot and Stéphane Tréand who also has a pastry school in Costa Mesa, CA |
 | The recipe is on page 335 |
 | Jacquy mentions in his book that you can bake this gingerbread as muffins in paper cups, or in a bread mold, which is what I did |
Modifications to the original recipeI modified only a few things:
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All recipes of Pound Cakes   
All the Recipes of Pound Cakes are HERE |
Ingredients
 | The syrup 1 ½ Cup Honey (525 grams)⅓ Cup Brown Sugar (60 grams)The powders 1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour (186 grams)1 Cup Rye Flour (186 grams)1 Tablespoon Baking Powder (15 grams)The spices ¾ teaspoon of (powdered) Cinnamon1 ½ teaspoons of Nutmeg¾ teaspoon of Powdered Ginger1 ½ teaspoons of Powdered AniseThe liquid ⅓ Cup Eggs (150 grams)⅔ Cup Milk (150 grams)The candied fruit 1 ½ Cup Candied Orange Peels (111 grams)The glazing 3 Tablespoons Water (40 grams)1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice (15 grams)¾ Cup Icing Sugar (150 grams) |
Steps
 | The syrup Let's start by cooking the Honey (1 ½ Cup or 525 g) and theBrown Sugar (⅓ Cup or 60 g) over low/medium heat |
 | The spicesSpices are of course very important but what's more important is the delicate mix of them... carefully measure them : spoons must be leveled ! |
You will need:
|
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 | I had a hard time finding the Powdered Anise (1 ½ teaspoons), if you can't find it, you may as well grind in a mortar some star anise, or anis seeds |
 | The powdersSift into a mixing bowl:
|
 | If you are using a stand mixer, you must use the paddle (called sometimes the 'leaf' ) |
 | Mix with the stand mixer, or manually with a spatula |
 | Beat the Eggs (⅓ Cup or 150 g) and theMilk (⅔ Cup or 150 g) |
 | Stream this batter into the powder while mixing |
 | Streaming in will prevent lumps... |
 | The batter becomes thicker... |
 |
The hot syrupMeanwhile, you must check the temperature of the syrup on the stove |
 |
 | and remove from heat as soon as the temperature reaches 320 °F / 158 °C |
 | You then stream the syrup over the mixture, while beating |
 | After a while, Jacquy recommends to run a rubber spatula around the edge, to scrape up any thick residue sticking to the bottom and edges of the bowl |
 | and continue mixing until the mixture is fully incorporated |
The result is a dough that is a bit thick |
 |
 | The candied orangeYou may make your own candied oranges, and boy am I sure this is a grueling exercise, but I just bought those beauties in a local store and I didn't even feel guilty.... |
 | Dice those Candied Orange Peels (1 ½ Cup or 111 g) into squares |
 | Fold those into the mixture |
 | The moldI am using a silicon bread loaf mold, which does not require coating with butter.My mold is about 4" x 10" (or 10cm x 25cm) |
 | Pour the mixture into the mold |
The molds should be 3/4 full, and not more ! |
 |
 |
 Place in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes at 360 °F / 180 °C, you will need to adjust this time depending on your oven adn moldI had to bake for longer... for about 1 hour |
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 | GlazingWhile the cake is baking, you may prepare the glazing |
 | Just mix together:
|
 | Just mix all ingredients with a wire whip |
 To check the cake is finished baking, take a knife or toothpick to the centre of the cake:
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 | Immediately brush the top of the cake with the glazing, so that the heat almost instantly dries the glazing out |
The glazing makes the cake shiny and more appetizing ! |
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For the toppings, I added star anise, candied oranges cut into strips and vanilla beans. The toughest part is not to convert people who do not usually like gingerbread, rather it is to stop them eating it all... |
 |
The 2 other recipes of Pound Cakes |
Cooking with the same Chef ?
All recipes of Jacquy Pfeiffer |
  |
Recipes from the same Book!
All recipes from the book "The Art of French Pastry" |
|
Cooking with the same ingredients ?
What else to cook with Cinnamon |
What else to cook with Ginger |
    |
What else to cook with Honey |
 |
What else to cook with Nutmeg |
What else to cook with Candied orange |
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1 ½ Cup Honey (525 g)
⅓ Cup Brown Sugar (60 g)
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour (186 g)
1 Cup Rye Flour (186 g)
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder (15 g)
¾ teaspoon of (powdered) Cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons of Nutmeg
¾ teaspoon of Powdered Ginger
1 ½ teaspoons of Powdered Anise
⅓ Cup Eggs (150 g)
⅔ Cup Milk (150 g)
1 ½ Cup Candied Orange Peels (111 g)
3 Tablespoons Water (40 g)
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice (15 g)
¾ Cup Icing Sugar (150 g)
Comments for This Recipe
Perhaps your oven is too hot ? Try lowering the temperature and/or reducing the baking time
After 30 plus minutes of raising and lowering the cooking temperature with no change, I gave up, poured it into my batter and baked it as directed.
I'm happy to report that my struggles with the recipe directions didn't hurt the results, and my gingerbread is moist and delicious!
Now, I'm curious if anyone else has had this problem.