The question that comes up, however, is to what am I to be pure.
When it comes to communion bread I generally feel that loafs of bread made by a member of the community by hand is the best option. There is something dynamic for a community to be able to truly know where and how this bread came into being.
I generally espouse wheat bread because that is the basic type of bread used by everyone in our society, the bread used should truly reflect the daily bread of the people. This was the case in the time of Jesus and continues to be so today. This ancient commonality is important.
The other deal, especially in small communities, is that everyone should be taking part in the same bread. The earthy, dirty, possibly unhygienic reality of a common bread is actually important and forces us to live out a reality that should permeate all aspects of our lives.
My community is faced with the reality that we cannot come together and share a common bread together if that bread involves gluten. So I have spent a bit of time over the past few days experimenting and have at this point created the following viable recipe. It is a work in progress and if you experiment with it or have some great insight to make it better let me know.
Practice loves have been given to priest to check for ability to be broken during ceremony and other needs.
Gluten Free Communion Bread (makes two circular loaves each
good for 25 people)
2 Cups Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour (the multi
source variety)
2 Teaspoons Xanthum Gum
Sprinkle of Salt
1 Tsp Baking Soda
5 Tbls butter
5 Tbls Heavy Whipping Cream
2 Eggs
1 Tbls Honey
Sprinkle of Vanilla
Preheat oven to 400
Grease a circular baking mold (I use a cast small cast iron
skillet)
Whip the Cream until stiff. Add eggs and beat until blended.
Add honey and vanilla and beat until blended.
Sift the Flour, Xanthum, Salt, and Soda in a bowl. Blend in the
butter as if it was biscuits. With as little mixing as possible blend end the
wet ingredients and knead two or three times. Divide dough in half.
Place one half of dough in pan. Gloss with egg white if
desired.
Score dough with a cross.
Bake for fifteen minutes or until golden brown and knife
comes out clean.
Repeat with other loaf.
