Church communion cake

[gfron1]

Not sure why but our church is doing a celebration of cake next Sunday and I said I would bring the communion cake. I'm sure I can whip up something that would not require a fork, but I'm wondering if anyone knows of a cake, maybe from another culture or country, that would be good for a communion bread.

 

Thanks

 

[Lisa Shock]

The Japanese make a very lightly sweet white sponge cake topped with whipped cream for Christmas which might work for you. They put strawberries between the layers and on top, you could skip that.

 

I also like Battenburg cake, which is often made in a small size for petit fours sec. (the small, bite sized servings may help you)

[heidih]

So I hear church and communion and  on-line it all refers to the religious 1st communion. Are you trying to mimic that white almost bridal cake thang or? I see mini cupcakes like that on google

[gfron1]

I don't need to mimic anything with this - its a very non-traditional church. So it can be anything but will need to be finger-able

[gfweb]

Is the cake going to actually be used for the sacrament of communion?

 

If so, will it be passed on plates or handed out individually?

 

Will it be "paired" with wine or grape juice? A sweet cake might well clash on the tongue with the grape.

[Franci]

I like the idea of something that is broken by hand and passed along, like in real communion.

These sweet crackers are similar in taste to the spanish tarta de aceite (very close to the Ines Rosales), sorry the recipe is in Italian but google translate helps. I've done them many times and I really like them.

Otherwise, something in single portions, served cold is the Brazilian bolo gelado. Usually is wrapped in foil because it's easier to handle but many do a double wrap with doiles or other to make it more attractive.

 

Edit to add: if you never tried the bolo gelado, I thing it's very similar in concept to the tres leches but the way is served is different.

Edited August 17, 2015 by Franci (log)

[gfron1]

It is going to be passed around and broken off by hand. 

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I'd be very tempted to make an entire recipe of oatmeal chocolate-chip cookie up as a bar.  That would break well in hand, has good cohesion, and will stand up to being passed.  Also pairs well with grape.

[pastrygirl]

I like the bar cookie idea, maybe I would have enjoyed church more in my youth if communion was a pan of brownies  

 

How about a rich brioche?  You could do a loaf, a ring, or lots of small rolls baked together and easy to pull apart.  Epi shape would also be good for sharing.

[bethesdabakers]

Yeah, you could do the whole loaves and fishes thing in one:

 

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/149192-the-bread-topic-2014-–/?p=2025564

 

Mick

[Jaymes]

When my church does the communion cake thing, they use a recipe similar to conchas, panes dulces, but without the sweet topping.  The texture is more bread-like than, say a Danish roll or yeast doughnut.  They're easy to pass and pull apart without getting too many crumbs all over everything.

 

I've never tried making them, so don't know the recipe and might be mistaken in thinking they're conchas, but you could check out recipes online and see if you think that would work:

 

http://www.food.com/recipe/conchas-mexican-sweet-topped-buns-119586

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[Lisa Shock]

King Cake would be good without icing, it's basically brioche cinnamon swirl bread.

[Lindacakes]

What about one of those recipes that you roll the dough into balls and put it in the pan, like a monkey bread, so that it is very easy to pull apart?

[gfron1]

So I headed down to my restaurant to crank out a king cake (perfect idea), when I was told, "and oh, by the way, make it gluten free." Its like that cartoon that's been circulating where Jesus is holding up a loaf and fish and the crowd says, "is that gluten free?" "was that fish farm raised?"

 

So I did a daquoise. Not bad, but had a bit of stickiness to it where it touched the plate. I appreciate all the suggestions - they were good, none of us had all the info apparently.