Alsatian gingerbread: a dense, dark honey-and-rye loaf spiced with cinnamon, anise and clove, sliced thin at tea time or baked into the Christmas market's biscuits and figures.

Pain d'epices, honey spice bread, has deep roots in Alsace, with the nearby village of Gertwiller styling itself the capital of gingerbread. Built on honey and rye flour and warmed with anise, cinnamon and clove, it keeps for weeks and scents the air of the Christkindelsmarik. It appears as loaves, as glazed figures and as the spiced biscuits sold from December stalls. Pastry houses bake it year-round, but it belongs above all to the Strasbourg winter.

2 editor picks for Pain d'epices in Strasbourg, ranked by editorial score. All Strasbourg signature dishes · Pain d'epices across every city.

Learn to cook it, or eat it with a guide

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