French Honey Spice Cake with Figs

300 gram cake - France

The cake that is filled with honey!

It's a honey of a cake with fig!

It's not like the cake you had on your 5th birthday. In fact I would wager a guess that at first glance you wouldn't even call this a cake. But it is. Sort of. 

This French honey cake is shaped like bread. It looks like it is cut from a larger "cake" made in loaves. From the side you can see the bits of prunes and the open cells of the cake. 

This French Pain de Spice (spice bread), is made with rye flour soaked in honey and spices. It has a long history in France with many variations and stories. 

Pain d'éspice origins appears to have its roots in a Chinese honey cake made with aromatic plants, that was brought to Europe by the Crusaders. And Pain d'éspice is the origin of gingerbread. 

If you think of gingerbread houses made with gingerbread (and not made with graham crackers) you can start to understand the inherent build of this bread. It has structure! 

The combination of the rye flour soaked in honey makes for a dense and chewy bite. After you slice it you realize that it's not like other bread. The honey and the rye mix create a bond that is hard to cut through. Toast it and slather it in butter and you have a meal fit for the King of France. 

When warm with butter it's a pure treat. It's like a cookie without the crumbly interior. It’s like honey without the gooey sticky mess.

It is one of my all-time favorite winter holiday treats.