French Spice Cake (Pain d’épices)

Step 1

Heat the oven to 325ºF with a rack in the upper-middle position. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with butter. In a medium bowl, whisk together both flours, the cinnamon, baking soda, ground ginger, mace, salt and pepper.In a large bowl, whisk together the butter and honey until smooth. Add the milk, eggs, crystallized ginger, fresh ginger and orange zest; whisk until thoroughly combined.

Step 2

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold only until no dry flour remains. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, then bake until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted at the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, 65 to 70 minutes.Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool completely, about 2 hours.