Soul Cakes

Why soul cakes? It is that wonderfully magical time of year: Halloween, Samhain, All Hallows Eve, and All Saints Eve. Many people have different practices for this time of year. One such practice is making soul cakes.

I’m not going to go into the history of Halloween right now. Silly as it may seem, it is a big and extensive subject that requires time and effort. For right now I’m going to cover a dish that people have made for hundreds of years.

History of Soul Cakes

A soul cake or a soul-mass cake is generally a small round cake made for this time of year. The cakes were handed out to soulers, people who went from door to door during the days of Allhallowtide singing and offering prayers for those who gave out goodies. The houses that didn’t hand out “treats” got “tricked”.

There are references to this dating back to the medieval period. It was very popular in England, Ireland and Scotland, but it can be found as far south as Italy.

Soul cakes were made using a variety of spices including allspice, nutmeg cinnamon and ginger. They usually are full of raisins or currants. Before they are baked they are topped with a cross. The cross is either carved or decorated with raisins and currents.

Souling was originally a pagan practice, but it was adopted and adapted by the Christians. Soulers would roam around singing and performing skits for the homes they called upon.

Soul Cake Recipe

• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 Stick of butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Egg yolks
• 1/2 cup currants (I used dried Cranberries)

Now the fun begins! I preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven heats up I begin mixing.

First I combine the Flour, Nutmeg, Cinnamon and Salt using a fork. In another bowl, I mix butter and sugar together. Try to make a nice creamy mixture. Once well mixed and creamy, add the egg yolks. Mix this in till well combined.

Now we add the spiced flour. Once mixed it will resemble a dry and crumbly mixture. Gently heat up the milk till warm. Once the milk is warm, add it to the mixture one Tablespoon at a time. Once you have a soft dough, stop adding milk.

Turn your dough onto a floured surface. Kneed the dough for a few minutes. After it has been kneeded, roll out to about 1/2 and inch thickness. The recipe I used suggested a two inch cookie cutter. Once your cookies are cut, place them on a cookie sheet. Brush with egg yolk and decorate with dried fruits. Place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.

My cookies were smaller that two inches and a little thinner than half an inch. Because they were a little thinner, I baked them for 10 minutes. They came out perfect. Slightly browned and solid but with a slightly soft center.

Happy and Blessed All Hallows Eve

Hopefully you enjoyed my mini baking tutorial. Whether you celebrate the weekend as a spiritual or religious time or not, I hope that you have a safe and spooky weekend. Interested in other spooky tales? Check out my blog here. To read the recipe visit here.