Halloween Special: Soul Cake
- Daniel
- Oct 29, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: May 14
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 the Ale Barm.
In a saucepan over medium-low heat, gently warm the ale until it reaches lukewarm (98–105°F or 36.5–40.5°C).
In a mortar, grind saffron and a pinch of sugar into a fine powder.
Pour the lukewarm ale into the mortar to “rinse” out the saffron.
Transfer the liquid to a mixing bowl and add the remaining barm ingredients.
Stir until everything is dissolved and well combined.
Let it sit for about 15 minutes or until foamy.
Make the Dough.
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, cookie spice blend, and salt.
Add softened butter. Use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles wet sand.
Pour in the ale barm and sherry. Mix by hand until it forms a dough.
Cover and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Shape and Bake the Soul Cakes.
Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
Divide the dough in half. Work with one half and keep the other chilled.
On a lightly floured surface, place the dough and cover with parchment paper.
Roll to ½-inch thickness.
Cut into 2" round discs using a pastry cutter.
Re-roll scraps as needed to cut more rounds. You should get around 6 discs per batch.
Place onto a parchment-lined baking tray.
Using the back of a knife, gently mark a cross (not all the way through) on each disc.
Decorate the cross with raisins or currants.
Bake and Finish.
Bake for 15–20 minutes or until the edges and bottoms are lightly browned.
Immediately dust the edges with icing sugar.
Let cool slightly on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Repeat with the remaining dough.
Note: Soul cakes taste even better the next day!
Lovely isn't it?
Crumbly yet chewy and fulla flavors...
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