Christmas Pain!

Don't worry, we are all ok - but here's a French Christmas recipe for you. It was featured one day last week on my beautiful Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar - a set of traditional seasonal recipes. This year's calendar has a Parisienne theme. So here is Pain D'Épices.

PAIN D'ÉPICES - This classic spice-laden quick bread is served alongside savoury dishes (such as foie gras or cheeses) or warmed with butter.

• 250ml/9fl oz mil
• 250g/9oz honey
• 170g/6oz rye flour 
• 125g/4oz plain (all-purpose) flour 
• 50g/2oz brown sugar
• 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) 
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1½ tsp finely grated orange zest
• ½ tsp black pepper
• Mixed spice (adjusted per your taste):1½ tsp ground cinnamon, 1½ tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, ½ tsp ground cloves, ½ tsp anise seeds

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, brown sugar, bicarbonate of soda, orange zest, salt, pepper and spices. Warm the milk and honey in a small saucepan, stirring until the honey is dissolved. Gradually add the milk and honey to the flour mixture, stirring until a smooth, uniform paste is achieved.
2. Pour the batter into a prepared, buttered and floured, loaf pan (23x5cm/9x2in). Bake in the centre of a preheated oven at 165C°/325°F for 40-45 minutes, until deeply browned. Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then tip out of the pan. Allow to cool completely before slicing and serving.

I decided to make this on Saturday afternoon. Bob was a great help - I had no anise seeds, so he ground up a little bit of star anise in the pestle and mortar. 

The method was very easy - but I needed slightly longer in the oven than I thought - 50 minutes. The finished loaf looked, and smelt great!

And while it cooked, I took down all my spices, wiped the jars, removed outdated stuff, and put them back in proper alphabetical order! All ready for a New Year of Baking.

I have hung a few late arrival random decorations on the rack, along with the lovely spice star Liz bought me years ago from a German Xmas Market. You can just see my jug of twigs and baubles which was a fiver from a Dorset CS in 2018. This year, under the twiggy 'tree' I've placed a shepherd. He was £1.50 in a CS in Manchester last month. Bob and I both liked the simplicity of the figure.

As I was pottering in the kitchen, Bob came in and said he thought he'd heard a car and voices outside. I went to check, in case we had visitors. It was a young family who had driven into the Close to look at the Nativity Tableau. They had brought their little boy last year, and he'd really loved it, so they decided to visit again. This charming 5 year old had all sorts of questions, and wanted to tell me about his baby sister, who was asleep in her car seat. We chatted for a while then he went home with his family, with some Christmas Chocolate. A delightful unexpected visitor.

The JWs had come round a little earlier, wanting to ask me what I thought about Jesus. "Which way did you come into the Close? from the left or the right? They pointed , and I said "So did you see the tableau? I believe Jesus is the Reason for The Season" Had I actually read the Bible recently? "Yes," I said, "this morning. I'm sorry, I have to go, I am in the middle of baking. God bless you!"