TOASTED PAIN D'ÉPICE WITH KUMQUAT MARMALADE BUTTER

Toasted Pain d'Épice with Kumquat Marmalade Butter image

When we were opening Lucques, we had very little money for the renovation. The space had a decent kitchen but lacked a great oven. Fritz León, one of our purveyors, was hanging out with us one long day of construction and happened to mention a "huge, fantastic" deck oven that one of his other clients downtown was selling for (and this was the key) "cheap." What more could I ask for? I bought it on the spot. I began to doubt myself when we went to pick it up and found it was so huge and heavy that we had to take it apart just to get it through the kitchen door. It was a monster, and when we finally did get it installed it seemed as if the old dinosaur had a mind of its own. Each deck ran at a specific, apparently predetermined temperature, no matter what setting we mere mortals put it at. The lower deck was at a constant 350°F, the middle at 400°F, and the top at a raging 500°F plus. It wasn't long before the top deck was christened "the Terminator," and now I can't imagine life at Lucques without it. It was even instrumental in the evolution of our pain d'épice, developed by former pastry chef Kimberly Sklar. For a crispy exterior, she sliced the classic Alsatian spice bread and toasted it on the floor of the Terminator before slathering it with butter and kumquat marmalade. At home, you can simulate the "Terminator effect" in a hot cast-iron pan.

Number Of Ingredients 18

Ingredients

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 extra-large eggs
1 extra-large egg yolk
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger, juice reserved
Kumquat marmalade butter (recipe follows)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 pound kumquats
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
Kosher salt

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Lightly butter a loaf pan.
In a large saucepan, bring the honey, brown sugar, and 3/4 cup water to a boil, stirring frequently. As soon as it comes to a boil, take the mixture off the heat. Sift in 1 cup of the flour, whisking continuously. Set aside.
Sift together the remaining cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, ginger, and ginger juice. Whisk the honey mixture into the eggs. Slowly fold the remaining dry ingredients into the batter in three parts (if you add too much or too quickly, your batter will be lumpy).
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, and bake 35 to 40 minutes, until the loaf is firm to the touch. Let cool completely before slicing.
Heat one or two cast-iron pans over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. (You can toast the pain d'épice in two pans or in batches.)
Cut six 1/2-inch-thick slices of pain d'épice, and butter them on both sides. Place the slices in the pan, and toast a few minutes on each side, until golden brown and crisp. Slather each slice with kumquat marmalade butter, and fan them out on a platter, overlapping them slightly. Top with the reserved candied kumquats.
In a medium saucepan, bring the granulated sugar and 2 cups water to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to make sure the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the kumquats, and cover the fruit with a piece of parchment or a small plate to keep them submerged. Turn the heat to low, and cook about 25 minutes, until the kumquats are translucent. Drain the fruit, reserving the sugar syrup. When the kumquats have cooled, cut them in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Cut halves lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices.
Cream the butter and confectioners' sugar at medium-low speed in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until it's light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add all but 3 tablespoons of the candied kumquats. Add a tablespoon or two of the reserved syrup and a pinch of salt. Mix to combine, taste, and add more syrup if you like.