I usually make regular old no knead bread for communion, but I've been longing to make the thick, chewy, sweet communion loaf that we had in one of the churches I grew up in. It must have been in Massachusetts, because that's where I had my first communion.
I've found a recipe that comes out looking like that loaf, but it's just flour and water. Apparently in the Catholic church, that's all that's allowed in communion wafers. We must have attended some renegade hippy Catholic church in my childhood (in fact, I know we did. They had great music.) and I would swear there was honey in that bread.
This is 1/3 of the measurements of the original recipe with a few modifications.
Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup honey (I didn't measure. So I'm guessing. It might have been more.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:
Mix ingredients together. Knead for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for another 5 minutes. Divide into two balls for thicker pieces, three balls for thinner/crunchier pieces. Roll these out and mark with a cross (or plus... since it's centered). Make two consecutive circles around the center. Then make cuts in each section to make separate pieces. Cut at least 1/2 way to 3/4 of the way into the dough.
Bake for 20 minutes at 400 for lightly browned loaves. (I think I've got the ingredients where I want them, but I'm still working out the cooking length part.)
I'll try to remember to take some photos next time so you can see my cutting handiwork. (Still didn't get photos this second time around. Once we started into eating this batch, it went quick. I might make some in plane old cracker shape next time around to nibble on at home.)
Update (7/6/13): I've started making this for a larger crowd and have fiddled with the recipe some. I'm now using:
6 cups freshly ground whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup clover honey
1 1/2 cups water
This leaves me with dough that's somewhat goopy. I cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper, glop the dough out on the paper - spreading it as evenly as possible - then cook it for 17 minutes at 350 F. When it's done I pull the parchment paper right off the cookie sheet and use a large knife to trim the edges, then cut the block into about 200 pieces. I actually need 300 pieces, so I might be refiguring the amounts. Scraps cut off the block are quite tasty and a good way to "test the product." (That's the excuse you can use, at least.)
You're from Massachusetts? Realy? Where? Did we already have this discussion and I forgot? I grew up in Westport, between Fall River and New Bedford.
ReplyDeletemy dad was in the Air Force, so i grew up in several places. but he got a masters degree somewhere out there. boston college? i don't really know. it was when i was in 1st - 3rd grade. we lived in tewksbury on babicz street. our dead end street was surrounded by woods and fields, a pig farm and a couple of ponds. it was a wonderful place to play as a kid. when i google the street now i see that it's all become pretty built up.
ReplyDeletei also lived in ohio, pennsylvania and colorado growing up. we didn't move around nearly as much as the friends i met whose dad's were also in the military.
For some reason this struck me as I was cooking dinner last night. I guess it is just flour and water because it is symbolic of the Last Supper which was a Passover seder. And a seder, if I'm not mistaken, would only have unleavened bread.
ReplyDeletebut there are many different kinds of matzah. they're not all just flour and water. so i don't think that's it.
ReplyDeleteapparently it's an issue for those with gluten intolerances. i hadn't really thought much before about what the bread is made of. it's not like there is a biblical recipe. there's probably a historical reason for it.
I did wonder if it was an attempt to stick with the original Passover thing. Matza traditionally is made of just flour and water. There's nothing to say you can't add honey or salt or whatever, just that you can't add any leavening ingredients.
ReplyDeleteI used to keep matza on my desk at work - it was great for days when I had an upset stomach or acid.
ReplyDeleteoh, cool! yes, it definitely is easy on the stomach.
ReplyDeletein college, the dorm snack bar served pizZA on matZAh. we just called it ZA.
ReplyDeletepizza on matzah? wow. that's just such a weird combination for an Israeli to get her head round. we eat matzah at Passover, and pizza is totally not kosher for Passover, so it's very much a case of never the twain shall meet.
ReplyDeletewhat? no matzah during the rest of the year?
ReplyDeleteit was a very crunchy pizza. but cheap and yummy.
personally I never knew people back home who would eat matzah voluntarily. one week a year we had to, that was enough.
ReplyDeleteHrm, what's not kosher about pizza?
ReplyDeletecheese and meat together? although mine were always veg.
ReplyDeletematzah is great with dijon mustard and cheddar cheese.
ReplyDeletelol... Meg, nice try, but Israeli pizzas don't have meat on them, on account of the cheese. No, they're just not kosher for Passover, apparently they're made with yeast or something.
ReplyDeleteoh, well then they're just not kosher for passover because they're not matzah pizzas. ;-)
ReplyDeleteyup, that's about it :)
ReplyDeleteIf you just have cheese without meat is it okay then?
ReplyDeletein terms of normal kosher, yes - you just can't mix meat with dairy products. that's why we don't have meat pizzas in Israel.
ReplyDeleteI'm moving the original post to the comments here and I'm going to rewrite the post with my latest iteration of the recipe... which is much yummier than what I made the first time (which was almost just a reduced version of the original from the link).
ReplyDeleteDescription:
I usually make regular old no knead bread for communion, but I've been longing to make the thick, chewy, sweet communion loaf that we had in one of the churches I grew up in. It must have been in Massachusetts, because that's where I had my first communion.
I've found a recipe that comes out looking like that loaf, but it's just flour and water. Apparently in the Catholic church, that's all that's allowed in communion wafers. We must have attended some renegade hippy Catholic church in my childhood (in fact, I know we did. They had great music.) and I would swear there was honey in that bread.
So I'm going to take the original flour to water ratio from the recipe I found and keep modifying it till it's closer to what I want. I made it yesterday and added a bit of honey, but I don't think it was enough. I think I also need to add some salt. So here's my first draft modification of the recipe. I'll keep adjusting as I go along.
This is 1/3 of the measurements of the original recipe.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 (or slightly less) white flour
3/4 cup water
3 Tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:
Mix ingredients together. Knead for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for another 5 minutes. Divide into three balls. Roll these out and mark with a cross (or plus... since it's centered). Make two consecutive circles around the center. Then make cuts in each section to make separate pieces. Cut at least 1/2 way to 3/4 of the way into the dough.
Bake for 15 minutes at 450 for lightly browned loaves. (I wonder if they'd be a bit chewier if I didn't cook them quite so much. I'll have to try that next time.)
I'll try to remember to take some photos next time so you can see my cutting handiwork.
ok, mom just cooked it at 375 for 20 minutes and she said it came out well. i'll have to try that next time.
ReplyDelete