Monastic Treats For Fruitcake Or Candy, Order From An Order

A gastronomical nirvana awaits travelers who venture, on a winter’s afternoon, along the rambling backwood roads of Oregon’s Yamhill County.

The reward is not the liquid gold pressed from the fruit of surrounding vineyards, but ecstasy of another sort.

Deep in the heart of the Willamette Valley’s wine country, encircled by no less than 20 picturesque wineries, a celestial secret hides: two small monasteries which produce some of the best confectionery treats available anywhere. Fabulous fruitcake and fantastic fudge. Real manna from heaven!

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE TRAPPIST ABBEY

In the secluded forests near the tiny village of Lafayette, a cloistered order of Trappist monks follow the fourth-century teachings of St. Benedict: to reside in solitude, prayer and contemplation, and to live by the works of their own hands.

This demand for self-sufficiency, says abbey business manager Father Richard Layton, led the religious order to develop and operate several commercial enterprises: a book bindery (Portland State University is the largest client); a retreat house which is available for private or small group retreats; a wine warehouse which stores the bottled harvests of more than 35 local wineries; a reforesting project on the abbey’s 1,400 acres, and a bakery. A very special bakery.

Using a recipe developed by Father Arnold, 85, who learned to make fruitcake in a Big Sur monastery, the abbey monks, now led by chief baker Brother Eugene, create a rich, dark fruitcake with a texture almost like fudge. Soaked in fine brandy and aged three months, the cake is so full of candied fruits and nuts that it won’t crumble like ordinary fruitcake. And it’s beautiful to behold, says Father Richard. “If you slice our fruitcake very thin and hold it up to the light, it’s like looking through a stained glass window,” he says.

Some folks just don’t like fruitcake, no matter how superb, so the monks offer a ginger date-nut cake as well, also soaked in brandy and aged. To round out the gift selections, the abbey offers two special-blend freshly ground Monastery coffees, creamy Tillamook cheese bars, and an oldworld Italian biscotti: the twicebaked Neapolitan bread designed to dunk in coffee or wine.

Visitors are invited to stroll the many private pathways through the abbey’s wooded grounds, perhaps pausing to contemplate the wonders of nature reflected in the water of a still pond, or to browse the small guest library.

Reservations for Bethany House, the abbey’s retreat house, are taken up to six months ahead. Guests stay for as little as a weekend, or as long as a week, paying in donation what they can afford. “Operating expenses are about $18 a day per guest,” says Father Richard, “but some give more so others can make this retreat.”

BRIGITTINE MONASTERY OF OUR LADY OF CONSOLATION

Theobroma cacao, the scientific name for the tree that yields the cocoa bean, translates as “food of the gods.” And chocoholics will be in seventh heaven when they taste the freshly-made, mouth-watering, nutladen chocolate fudge made at the Brigittine Monastery near Amity, a few miles south of the Trappist Abbey.

Also a cloistered order, the Brigittine monks began making their award-winning gourmet fudge 14 years ago. Within a year, they added truffles - chocolate, not fungs - to their confection collection. Today, they offer five flavors of Fudge Royale and 10 varieties of giant (six make a half-pound) hand-dipped Truffles Royale.

Blended, say the Brothers, of only the freshest and finest ingredients, the candies have been showered with accolades from both candy experts and contented customers. They have been featured on numerous television talk shows, in magazine articles, and were twice used as the subject for questions on the television game show, “Jeopardy.”

The monks, who request personal anonymity, say truffles were originally French confections, which, when rolled in cocoa, reminded people of mushrooms. American gourmands are less savvy, the monks say, often asking if truffles are “fudge dipped in chocolate,” or maybe “something the pigs dug up.”

St. Brigitta of Sweden founded the Order of the Most Holy Savior - popularly called Brigittine - in 1370 to give honor and praise to God. Dispersed centuries ago, largely because of the protestant reformation in Europe, the monastic order, dedicated to a life of work and prayer, reorganized 19 years ago in California.

About nine years ago, the monks bought 44 acres of rich Willamette farmland, complete with a huge 1947 farmhouse, near Amity. The brothers added a large stone-arched front porch to the farmhouse, which today serves as the sampling area for their delectable confections.

Adjacent to the farmhouse, the somber exterior of a small gray church belies its interior radiance, dominated by a large bay window with blue stained glass panes depicting the Blessed Thomas Brownal, who died of starvation in Henry VIII’s Tower of London; St. Richard Reynolds, the English martyr who was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, then beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1886; St. Brigitta, the order’s founder; and her daughter, St. Katherine, the first Brigittine abbess.

Though there are several orders of Brigittine nuns, Amity’s monastery is the only congregation of Brigittine Monks in the world. Like the Trappists, they are totally self-supporting, and offer private, non-directed retreats - which include three daily meals - in addition to their celebrated chocolate confections.

While a phone call will send a gift box of either confection throughout the United States and Canada, both monasteries encourage visitors to stop and sample their offerings, from their epicurean delights to the tranquility of their peaceful grounds. Paradise, it seems, is a lot like beauty: it’s all in the mind - or perhaps the taste buds - of the beholder.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: If you go Getting there: From Portland, drive south on Interstate 5 to the Tigard-Highway 99W exit. Turn right and continue on 99W 26 miles, to Lafayette. Turn right on Bridge Street and travel three miles north. A small sign marks the Trappist Abbey, which cannot be seen from the road. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. To get to the Brigittine Monastery, return to Hwy. 99W, turn right, and continue south (through McMinnville) to Amity. Turn right on 5th Street. Continue about 2 miles, until the road forks. Signs point the way to the monastery. Hours are 1-5:30 p.m. daily, plus 8:30-11:45 a.m. Monday-Thursday, 8:30-11 a.m. Friday, 9-11:45 a.m. Saturday, and 9-11 a.m. Sunday. For more information: Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey, 9200 NE Abbey Rd., P.O. Box 97, Lafayette, OR 97127. A 1-pound box of fruitcake sells for $7.25 plus shipping. Fruitcake order line: (800) 294-0105. The Brigittine Monks Monastery of Our Lady of Consolation: The Order of the Most Holy Savior, 2330 Walker Lane Amity, OR 97101. (503) 835-8080. A 1-pound box of fudge or 7 ounce package of truffles sell for $8.95 plus shipping at the Brigittine Monastery. Other places of interest: Hoover-Minthorn House, Newburg. Boyhood home of President Herbert Hoover, (503) 538-6629. Broughter Museum, Newburg. Early Quaker historical museum at George Fox College. (503) 538-8383. Lafayette Schoolhouse Antique Mall: A 1910 schoolhouse in Lafayette, now an antique mall with over 90 dealers. (503) 864-2720. Fort Yamhill Military Blockhouse: Dundee. A military post, circa 1850. (503) 864-2221.