French gingerbread is a honey cake, not a cookie. Pain d'epices is dense, dark and moist, sweetened almost entirely with honey, and this Maison Bordier version adds two Breton touches: buckwheat flour in with the white, and chocolate and cacao nib butter stirred into the warm honey syrup. Mandarin peel and cinnamon carry the spice. Half an hour to mix, half an hour in the oven.
At a glance
- Difficulty: Easy
- Serves: 4
- Active time: 30 minutes
- Cook: At least 30 minutes at 180°C (350°F)
- Key ingredient: 90 g (3.2 oz) Chocolate and Cacao Nib Bordier Butter
Why this works
Bordier's chocolate and cacao nib butter is a seasonal flavour introduced in 2024: 68% Ghanaian cocoa in hand churned Breton butter, with roasted cacao nibs kept whole. Melting it into hot honey and milk rather than creaming it into flour is the right move here. The heat disperses the cocoa evenly through the batter, while the nibs stay solid and end up as small crunchy points in a cake that is otherwise very soft. Cocoa also pushes back against 220 g of honey, which on its own would read as cloying.
Buckwheat is the other Breton element, and Bordier uses it in its own butter range for the same reason it belongs here: it is nutty, slightly bitter, and it has no gluten, so it keeps the crumb tender where all-white flour would tighten up. Honey does the rest. It is hygroscopic, meaning it holds water, which is why a pain d'epices stays moist for days and why French bakers traditionally let it sit a day before slicing.
Ingredients
Serves four. A French sachet of baking powder is 11 g, so half a sachet is roughly 5.5 g.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| White flour | 180 g | 6.3 oz, about 1 1/2 cups |
| Bordier Chocolate and Cacao Nib Butter | 90 g | 3.2 oz, about 6 1/2 tbsp |
| Buckwheat flour | 70 g | 2.5 oz, about 2/3 cup |
| Milk | 120 ml | about 1/2 cup |
| Honey | 220 g | 7.8 oz, about 2/3 cup |
| Brown sugar | 50 g | 1.8 oz, about 1/4 cup |
| Baking powder | 1/2 sachet (about 5.5 g) | about 1 1/2 tsp |
| Cinnamon | 2 heaped tsp | 2 heaped tsp |
| Mandarin peel | 50 g | 1.8 oz, about 1/3 cup |
| Vanilla powder | 1 tsp | 1 tsp |
| Baking soda | 1 pinch | 1 pinch |
| Egg | 1 | 1 |
Method
Step 1: Warm the honey and melt the butter
Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F). In a saucepan, warm the honey, brown sugar and milk together until they just come to a boil. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the butter, cut into dice.
Step 2: Combine wet and dry
While that happens, mix the flour, the spices, the baking powder and the bicarbonate of soda in a bowl. Make a well in the centre, pour in the melted mixture, and add the egg.
Step 3: Bake and test
Taste the batter and adjust the spicing if you want to, keeping in mind that the spices come through a little stronger after baking. Pour the batter into a greased loaf tin and bake for at least 30 minutes. Check every 5 minutes from there: the tip of a knife should come out dry.
Tips from our kitchen
- Take the pan off the heat before the butter goes in. Boiling honey is well above the point where butter separates. Off the heat, the residual warmth melts it smoothly and the cocoa disperses instead of seizing.
- Where the mandarin peel goes. Maison Bordier lists it but does not say when to add it. We fold it in with the dry ingredients, tossed in a little of the flour first so the pieces stay suspended rather than sinking to the bottom of the tin.
- Do not beat the batter. Stir just until no dry flour is visible. Pain d'epices is meant to be dense and close-grained, and overworking a wet honey batter makes it tough and rubbery rather than moist.
- Line the tin as well as greasing it. A honey-heavy batter caramelizes hard against metal. Parchment on the base and up the two long sides means the loaf lifts out in one piece.
- Tent it if the top darkens early. Between the honey, the brown sugar and the cocoa butter, the crust colours faster than the centre cooks. A loose sheet of foil over the top for the last 10 minutes lets the middle catch up.
- Wait a day if you have the patience. Wrapped in parchment and left overnight, the crumb settles and the spice evens out. This is standard practice for pain d'epices in France, and the difference is real.
How to serve it
Sliced thin and buttered, which is the traditional treatment, or toasted lightly and topped with fruit preserve. It is also the classic French partner to foie gras and to strong blue cheese, where the honey does the work a sweet wine would otherwise do. If you are going the preserve route, our guide to Alain Milliat jams covers which fruits stand up to a spiced loaf.
Where to buy Chocolate and Cacao Nib Bordier Butter in the US
The French Pantry ships Bordier butter across the United States in insulated overnight packaging, straight from the workshop in Brittany.
- Churned Seasonal Chocolate and Cacao Nib Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): hand churned butter with 68% Ghanaian cocoa and whole roasted cacao nibs.
It is a seasonal flavour, so if it has sold through, browse the Maison Bordier collection for the full range.
Frequently asked questions
How much butter should I buy for this loaf?
The recipe takes 90 g, which is 3.2 oz. Bordier blocks are 4.4 oz (125 g), so one block is enough for a loaf with a little left over.
Can I use a different Bordier butter?
Yes. The buckwheat butter doubles down on the Breton side of this recipe, and the salted butter gives a cleaner honey flavour if you would rather leave the chocolate out.
Where do I find buckwheat flour?
Most US supermarkets carry it in the baking or natural foods aisle, often labelled for pancakes. Any stone-ground buckwheat flour works. Do not substitute more white flour for it, because the loaf will bake tighter and drier.
How long does pain d'epices keep?
Wrapped well at room temperature, several days, and it improves after the first. The honey holds moisture in the crumb, which is why it travels and keeps better than most cakes.
How should I store the butter?
Keep it wrapped in the coldest part of your refrigerator and use it by the date on the pack. It freezes for a few months if wrapped tightly.
Does Bordier butter need refrigeration?
Yes. Bordier butter is a fresh, hand churned product and ships cold. Get it into the refrigerator as soon as you unpack the box.
Related reading
- Bordier Butter: What It Is, Why Chefs Love It, and How to Use It
- Terre Exotique
- How to Choose Your French Butter: A Buyer's Guide
Recipe and photograph adapted from Maison Bordier, with thanks. The French Pantry is an authorized US retailer of Bordier butter.