Pain D’Epice

Today I am baking Pain d’Epice.  It is a spice bread with the flavors of anise, cinnamon, sherry, and honey and it embodies the smell, taste, and look of Christmas to me.  My mother baked this baking soda leavened bread every year.  She began by combining honey and sherry in a large bowl with boiling water which filled the kitchen with heady aromas. Stirring in the dry ingredients yielded a very sticky dough which she then ladled and smoothed into three bread baking pans. The loaves baked for an hour as the anise and cinnamon filled the entire house with the smell of Christmas. After it cooled a bit she sliced the bread as thinly as possible and spread it with a little butter.  I love the taste of this bread so much that my sister once baked me a batch for my birthday in June but what made the bread really special at Christmastime was that my mother wrapped up the loaves in tinfoil, tied a shiny red ¾ inch ribbon around each loaf, and delivered them to our neighbors. The shiny tinfoil, the red ribbon, and the taste of anise made this the perfect Christmas present!