Épice

Homemade Gingerbread

Homemade gingerbread with honey, Madagascar cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Loaf tin, 45 minutes baking, 8 slices.

  • Prep 20 min
  • Cooking 45 min
  • Total 65 min
  • Difficulty Easy

This honey gingerbread brings together three spices from Madagascar: cinnamon, ginger and ground cloves. Our family grows them in Vangaindrano, in the southeast of Madagascar.

The batter comes together quickly: the honey is melted with the butter, stirred into the flour and spices, then baked in a loaf tin. The gingerbread slices better once cooled and keeps well wrapped up.

Method

Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Butter and flour a loaf tin about 22 cm long.
  2. Melt the honey and butter in a saucepan over low heat, without boiling. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.
  3. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and ground Vanille Désiré cloves.
  4. Beat the egg with the milk, then pour into the warm honey.
  5. Pour this mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until you get a smooth batter.
  6. Pour into the tin and bake for 45 minutes. A knife blade inserted in the centre should come out dry.
  7. Leave to rest for 15 minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a rack.
Chef's tip

The little extra that changes everything

Weigh the cloves carefully: a quarter of a teaspoon is enough, as its aroma quickly dominates the other spices. For a more even crumb, mix the spices into the flour before adding the honey, and don't overwork the batter. To find out more about each spice, see the cinnamon and clove pages, as well as the one on ginger. Our products for this recipe: Madagascar cinnamon · Madagascar ground ginger · Madagascar cloves

Frequently asked questions

About this recipe

Why do the cloves need to be weighed so carefully?
A quarter of a teaspoon is enough, as their aroma quickly dominates the other spices in the gingerbread.
How do you get a more even gingerbread crumb?
By mixing the spices into the flour before adding the honey, and by not overworking the batter.
How do you know when the gingerbread is cooked?
A knife blade inserted in the centre should come out dry after the 45 minutes of baking at 170°C.
In the kitchen

Four moves with one bean

What to do with a whole bean, from the first cut to the sugar jar.

01 Split 30 s

Knife tip halfway through, one single pass along the whole length.

02 Scrape 1 min

Scrape both halves with a spoon. That black is the flavour.

03 Infuse 20 min

Seeds and bean into the hot milk, off the heat, covered.

Vanilla beans laid on a white plate
04 Reuse 1 week

Rinse the emptied bean, let it dry, then slip it into the sugar.

One bean serves twice
Exceptional ingredients

Our products for this recipe

Ground Ginger, Glass Jar (40g)
Ground Ginger, Glass Jar (40g)7,50 € 4,90 €
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