Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (205 page)

Cover and chill 30 minutes at least; dough must relax or the
palmier
designs will lose their shape during baking. Preheat oven to 450 degrees, and set rack in upper-middle level in time for next step.

2)
Baking—oven has been preheated to 450 degrees

(Bake one sheet at a time.) Set in upper-middle level of preheated oven and bake for about 6 minutes, until when you lift a cookie with your spatula, the bottom has begun to caramelize. Remove from oven, close oven door, and rapidly turn the cookies over. Sprinkle tops of each with a dusting of sugar, and return to oven for 3 to 4 minutes more, or until sugar topping has caramelized nicely—but keep an eye on them, because they burn quickly. Remove one by one to a rack, where the
palmiers
will crisp as they cool.

NOTE
: The baking will take a little experimenting on your part, and timing will differ if cookies are thinner one time, thicker another. Your object is to have the pastry cook through, making a crisp, attractively shaped cookie with a caramel sheen.

(*)
Palmiers
will stay crisp for several days in dry weather when stored airtight; otherwise keep them in a warming oven or freeze them.

EIGHT FRENCH CAKES

PAIN D’ÉPICES

[Spice Cake—Spice Bread—Honey Bread]

Pain d’épices
is the French equivalent of gingerbread, but is made with honey, rye flour, and mixed spices rather than from molasses, white flour, and ginger. Every country in the Old World seems to have a honey bread, and each region in France has its own special formula. Dijon, for instance, cures the flour and honey mixture for several months in wooden tubs before the final blending and baking. Montbard stores the baked breads for a month before serving, and Rheims mixes raw bread dough into the honey and rye. Some recipes call for glacéed fruits, some for brown sugar, eggs, white flour, or ground nuts. Potash was the original leavening agent, and bakers often add carbonate of ammonia for a lighter loaf; householders use bicarbonate of soda. Here is a delicious home recipe that is easy to make by hand, and even easier in a heavy-duty mixer with flat beater. Serve
pain d’épices
with butter for breakfast or tea.

A NOTE ON THE RYE FLOUR

The rye flour called for here is ordinary supermarket rye flour for general bread making. If you happen to have the so-called rye meal, which is heavier and coarser, use half rye meal and half regular all-purpose white flour; otherwise your
pain d’épices
will not rise properly.

For about 5 cups of dough, to bake in one 8-cup bread pan or two 4-cup pans

1)
The batter

1¼ cups (1 lb.) honey

1 cup sugar

¾ cup boiling water

A 3- to 4-quart mixing bowl, or the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer

¼ tsp salt

1 Tb bicarbonate of soda

3½ to 4 cups (about 1 lb.) rye flour measured by scooping dry-measure cups into flour and sweeping off excess (see note on rye flour preceding Step 1)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Either with a large wooden spoon or in a heavy-duty mixer with flat beater, blend the honey, sugar, and boiling water until sugar has dissolved. Stir in the salt, soda, and 3 cups of the flour. Beat in as much of the fourth cup of flour as will go in, to make a heavy, sticky dough but one you can still manipulate. Beat thoroughly and vigorously (4 to 5 minutes of beating, if you are using a mixer, will improve texture).

3 ounces (about ⅔ cup) ground blanched almonds (pulverize them in an electric blender)

1 tsp almond extract

¼ cup dark rum

4 tsp ground anise seed (pulverize in an electric blender)

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp ground mace

1 cup (8 ounces) glacéed fruit rinsed in boiling water, drained, and cut into ⅛-inch pieces (orange peel, lemon peel, and citron; or “fruit cake” mix)

Then add the rest of the ingredients listed. (If you are using a mixer, let the machine run at slow speed while the additions go in.)

2)
Baking and storing—baking time 1 to 1¼ hours