These soul cakes are a nod to an ancient tradition, thought to date back to medieval England and Ireland, when people would bake small, spiced cakes in honor of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. In a custom known as "souling," people—often children or the less fortunate—would go door to door, offering prayers for the deceased in exchange for these cakes.
Just outta the oven...
Over time, this practice laid the groundwork for what we now know as Halloween trick-or-treating. Each soul cake was marked with a cross, representing prayers for the souls of loved ones, and usually contained warming spices like cloves, nutmeg, and sometimes even saffron for a bit of golden color.
Inspired by an old recipe I found, I worked with ChatGPT to recreate an updated version that keeps the charm and warmth of those traditional flavors. In the original, the ingredients are beautifully simple:
"Take flower and sugar and nutmeg and cloves and mace and sweet butter and sack and a little ale barm, beat your spice and put in your butter and your sack, cold, then work it well all together and make it in little cakes and so bake them, if you will you may put in some saffron into them or fruit."
But it needed some modern adjustments for easier baking. Our version uses a homemade ale barm for a subtle, yeasty flavor, along with my homemade cookie spice blend, a touch of saffron, and a dash of dry sherry for authenticity.
The result is a soft, crumbly soul cake with a lovely, spiced aroma. It’s even better when left overnight, letting the flavors deepen for an authentic taste of history.
If you're in the mood to try a unique, centuries-old Halloween recipe, these soul cakes are a wonderful choice. Simple to make but rich in tradition, they’re perfect for honoring the season with a taste of the past.
So gather your ingredients, make a batch, and see how these traditional treats transform your Halloween!
Ingredients:
(Make 12 Cakes)
Ale Barm:
Ale, 60g
Saffron, A Pinch
Active Instant Dry Yeast, 1.5g
Granulated Sugar, 2g
Unbleached All Purpose Flour, 8g
Cake:
Unbleached All Purpose Flour, 240g
Granulated Sugar, 100g
Cookie Spice Blend Homemade, 3/4 TSP
Sea Salt, Pinch
Unsalted Butter Softened, 113g
Dry Sherry, 30g
Currants / Raisins, 30g + More For Decorations
Icing Sugar, For Dusting
Equipment:
Oven
Sauce Pot
2" Pastry Cutter
Directions:
Please visit my "Cookie Spice Blend" page for the recipe.
Prepare Ale Barm.
In a sauce pot over medium low heat, add ale.
Warm ale to lukewarm (98 to 105 fahrenheit or 36.5 to 40.5 celsius)
In a mortar, add saffron and a pinch of sugar.
Grind until powder forms with a pestle.
Pour in the lukewarm ale and "rinse" the mortar.
Transfer to a small mixing bowl, along with the rest of the ingredients.
Mix until well combined and the yeast has completely dissolved.
Set aside until foamy, about 15 mins.
Prepare the cake.
In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, cookie spice blend and salt.
Mix until well combined.
Add in the softened butter.
Crumble the butter into the flour mixture with your hands until wet sand consistency.
Add in the ale barm and sherry.
Continue mixing with your hands until well combined.
Lastly, add in the raisins and mix to combine well.
It should come together as a dough.
*Do not knead and overmix.*
Cover and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.
Preheat oven to 175 degree celsius or 350 fahrenheit.
Divide the dough in half, transfer to a lightly floured working surface, and keep the remaining half chill in the fridge.
Place a piece of parchment over the dough and roll to a thickness of 1/2".
Cut out discs with a 2" pastry cutter.
Reshape the scraps into the dough and repeat the process.
You should have 6 discs.
Transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Make a cross indention, but all the way thru', with the back of a knife.
Decorate the cross however you want with currants or raisins.
Wack into the oven and bake for 15 to 20 mins or until the edges and bottom are lightly brown.
Immediately dust the edges of the soul cakes with icing sugar.
Set aside to cool slightly on the baking tray.
Cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
The soul cakes will taste better the next day.
Lovely isn't it?
Crumbly yet chewy and fulla flavors...
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