Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

Bread Words

A service of Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve has become a tradition at United University Church.  This year's service will borrow heavily from the traditional Moravian Love Feast liturgy.  There is a good introduction to the Love Feast at this Web site: www.aldersgate.org/love_feast.htm

The Moravian Love Feast is not the same as Holy Communion.  It has been described as an "agape meal," shared as a foretaste of the heavenly banquet.  According to the tradition, sweetly spiced dinner rolls the size of hamburger buns are served from baskets passed up and down the pews.  The bread is accompanied by cups of coffee which are passed one at a time down the pews.  There is a recipe for Moravian Lovefeast Buns at this Web site:  www.easthillsmc.org/LovefeastBuns.html

The bread to be served at the UUC Love Feast will depart from the traditional recipe but not from its purpose.  To maintain the continuity of the bread as Advent wreath, a circular "coffee cake" will be shaped from a basic recipe for Cinnamon Rolls:

1/2 cup butter

2 cups milk, heated

4 teaspoons dry yeast

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

5-6 cups unbleached flour

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2 Tablespoons softened butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pour 1 cup warm milk into a large mixing bowl and let it cool sufficiently so the yeast may be sprinkled over it to dissolve.

To the remaining cup of warm milk, add the butter and let it melt some.  While this mixture is cooling, add the sugar and 2 cups of flour to the yeast mixture; stir for about 2 minutes.  Let the mixtures stand for about 10 minutes and then combine the mixtures, adding the salt and some of the flour. 

Continue to mix in more flour.  When the dough is stiff and not easily stirred, turn it out onto a floured surface, scraping the bowl as clean as possible.  Knead the dough for about 8 minutes.  (This is the best part of the bread-making process.  On this Christmas Eve, which will be just three days after the Winter Solstice, I pray that the celebration of the birth of Jesus will help to bring more light to the dark and frightened places in human hearts. It is my hope that the Love Feast will be a sign that all who gather at the table--everytime and everywhere--are truly brothers and sisters in Christ.)

Grease the bowl and return the dough to the bowl, inverting once to grease every surface.  Let the dough rise for about one hour in a warm place.

After the dough has risen, punch it down and then roll the dough into a rectangle about 10 inches x 22 inches x 1/2 inch thick.  Spread with 2 Tablespoons of softened butter and sprinkle with 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.  (I have in the past succumbed to the temptation of using lots more butter and sugar at this point; but when the bread is baked in the wreath shape, the excess has melted onto the baking sheet and burned.  Resist the temptation!)  Roll the dough from the long edge and then loosely drape the roll around a greased ceramic cup on a well-greased baking sheet.  Use kitchen shears to trim the ends of the roll at an angle so they meet to form a circle. 

Again, use the kitchen shears to clip the roll into "petals" about 1-inch wide at the outer edge. Clip close to the inner edge, leaving only about 1/2-inch of dough.  (Looking at the pictures which follow the text will clarify the explanation.)  Then flip each "petal" 90-degrees, revealing the coiled surface of the dough.  After the dough is arranged to your satisfaction, let the shaped dough rise for about 45 minutes.  Bake at 375-degrees for  about 45 minutes.  (Even if used sparingly, the butter and sugar will melt so take care not to scorch or burn the bread.)  Let the bread sit for 5 minutes before removing from the pan to a cooling rack.

During the Christmas Eve service, the bread will be used as the Advent wreath for the lighting of the four Advent candles and the white Christ candle in the middle of the wreath.  During the Love Feast, the "petals" of the coffee cake will be separated and served in much the same manner as the traditional Moravian buns, but with napkins required! And then we'll pass the coffee....YUM!   

Copyright United University Church, 2006

Comments

[Margaraet Ann Cuthriell]

Will try this year, 2007