Medieval Gingerbread Recipe: Breton Pain d’Épices with Buckwheat Flour

Medieval Advent Calendar Day 13

Hello, dear friends, and welcome to our thirteenth day in the Medieval Advent Calendar. Today, things are getting spicy—literally, I mean, so let’s keep our minds focused on the culinary variety.

Spices arriving from the Orient defined luxury throughout the Middle Ages, their value sometimes exceeding that of gold. These precious substances—pepper, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg—traveled extraordinary distances along trade routes that connected the Mediterranean world to India, Southeast Asia, and beyond. To possess them was to demonstrate wealth, sophistication, and access to the wider world.

One of the most famous medieval recipes that survives in our modern repertoire is gingerbread. It’s worth noting that the gingerbread cookies known throughout the Anglo-Saxon world date primarily from the sixteenth century, but they were inspired by the French pain d’épices—literally “bread of spices.” Shaped as a loaf or cake rather than cookies, pain d’épices represents the transformation of an ancient honey bread to which spices were added during and after the Crusades, when these exotic flavors became more accessible (though still expensive) in European markets.

The recipe was transmitted primarily through monastic archives, as monks and nuns were often the most literate members of society and maintained detailed records of their culinary and medicinal preparations. Certain regions, particularly Alsace in northeastern France, became renowned for their production of pain d’épices, developing local variations that persist to this day.

I’m making my version today with a personal twist, since I prefer not to heat honey—doing so can destroy some of its beneficial enzymes and alter its delicate flavor profile. Instead, I’m using date molasses, though you could certainly use classic molasses or honey if you don’t share my reservations. And in honor of King Arthur—whose legends are so deeply rooted in Celtic Britain and Brittany—I’m using buckwheat flour from Brittany rather than the traditional wheat and rye combination. Buckwheat, despite its name, contains no wheat at all and is naturally gluten-free, giving the bread a deeper, earthier flavor that pairs beautifully with the warm spices.

Speaking of spices, the blend is somewhat a chef’s choice. I’m working with cinnamon, nutmeg, fresh and ground ginger, and cloves—the classic medieval quartet that defined luxury baking.

The result is a dark, dense, intensely aromatic loaf that tastes like concentrated Christmas. It keeps beautifully for up to ten days wrapped in parchment or foil, actually improving as the flavors meld and deepen. Enjoy it sliced with afternoon tea, or toast it and serve with fig chutney and foie gras for your Christmas feast—the medieval meeting the modern in the most delicious way possible.

This is a gluten-free, dairy-free, fat-free recipe that somehow manages to taste rich and indulgent despite its virtuous credentials. Medieval alchemy at its finest.

Bon appétit, mes amis!