French Spice Bread

All over northern Europe, people once seemed to make celebration biscuits and cookies of gingerbread at the drop of a festive hat. Each town had its own shape, its own recipe, its trademark.

Gingerbread men are still a happy feature on Dutch, German, and British tables, but not something you expect to see in France where the spiced bread pain d’épice has carried the standard of honeyed sweetness coupled with the bite and zest of spices: always symbols of extravagance and celebration