Slavski kolač

Slavski kolač is a traditional Serbian ritual bread, a round yeast-leavened loaf made for the Orthodox Christian celebration of Slava, the family patron saint day. The parish priest visits the family to consecrate the kolač and red wine and to light a beeswax candle stamped with an image of the saint, though some families take the cake to church instead. After consecration wine is poured over the loaf, and it is cut into quarters by the woman of the household and then into pieces by family members and the oldest or most important guests. The loaf is about fifteen centimetres high, with braided dough around the rim, a dough cross pressed into the centre and further decoration in each quarter. Together with the candle and a wheat dish such as žito, it is one of the crucial elements of every Slava. The custom of Slava is found only among Serbs, and the cake is read as a symbol of the body of Jesus, with the wine as his blood.