How to make traditional gingerbread, and French pain d'épices

Gingerbread is something I very rarely resist - I almost always order it when I see it on a menu or in a bakery. I love the variety - gingerbread can be dense and bready (like this pain d'épices) or more like a cake (as in the second recipe).

There are a lot of pain d'épices recipes out there and, apart from the insistence on using rye flour, they can differ enormously.

Some of them call for ground spices, others have you infuse whole spices in milk. Some are very lean doughs, with very little fat other than egg yolks, while others add butter. I've even seen a recipe that uses olive oil.

This recipe is based on one by M.F.K. Fisher in her 1937 collection of essays, Serve It Forth, although I add milk and butter to make it less dry.

The American writer lived in the French town of Dijon, which is famous for its pain d'épices (among other things). Her recipe is more of a guideline, especially where the spices are concerned, so I make it according to my own tastes, and so should you. This one is quite subtly spiced, so add more if you like.

I usually bake the dough in loaf pans and serve it in thin slices. When it's stale (even drier than usual) it's delicious toasted and spread with softened butter, which melts into the bread, and a thin smear of jam or marmalade.