Soul Cakes are a recent discovery for me, found on an album, of all things, reviving the works of old British minstrels in delightful fashion.  The tune was found in 1891, taken from a little girl at a Cheshire school, but the cookies date farther back, to the Middle Ages when saffron came to England. These little cakes were baked for All Saints’ Day to commemorate the departed.  Sting sings about these delicious butter sweeties to a catchy tune, leaving you desperately searching for a recipe, as I was.

These biscuits, as cookies are known abroad, are an old English ?? offering to poor souls condemned to roam the earth in animal form at Halloween, but also a teatime treat at Christmas. Here is a recipe for buttery rounds dotted with dried fruit, Persian saffron, warm spices and honey, finished with a cross for good measure.

Soul Cakes

Makes: 1 dozen 1 1/2 inch cookies
Prep: 10 mins
Oven: 400*F
Bakes: 15 mins

Ingredients
1/2 tsp saffron ground w sugar
4 Tb whole milk, warm
1/2 cup currants or dried cherries cut into quarters
1 stick butter, @ room temp
3/4 cup sugar
2 free-range egg yolks
1 Tb honey
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of salt

Glaze
1 egg yolk, beaten
or 3 Tb heavy cream

Instructions

Line two baking trays with parchment paper and set aside.
Preheat oven to 400 *F.
Separate two eggs, reserving yolks for another recipe.

Heat milk gently for a few mins.
Grind saffron with a bit of sugar in a small mortar & pestle.
Add warm milk to saffron-sugar and let it steep.
Add fried fruit to the milk mixture and let it plump up.

Meanwhile, cream butter with sugar.
Add egg yolks and honey.
Sift flour, cinnamon, grated nutmeg and salt over the bowl and mix just until flour disappears into the batter.

Incorporate the saffron milk.
Dust your hands with flour.
Turn dough out onto a clean, floured surface and knead just until dough comes together.

Roll out to 1/2 inch thickness.
Dip the rim of a small round cookie cutter or a drinking glass into flour, then cut out as many rounds as you can.

Arrange them onto parchment-lined baking trays.
These cookies will not spread in baking, so there is no need to account for much distance between them on the baking sheet.

Gather, roll and cut the dough to use as much of it as possible.

Use a sharp knife to cut a cross  into into the center of each cookie.
Dot the lines with currants, if you like.
Brush liberally with beaten egg yolk or cream.

Bake for 15 mins, til golden and shimmery.

Remembering Those We Lost

Many holidays have roots deep in our pagan past and as such, we maintain certain rituals even in Christendom. Every Spring, my late grandmother Nina Mama would build a little bonfire in our driveway and have us jump over the flames, a custom dating to the  Zoroastrian days we shared with our Persian cousins.

Our annual candy-fest aka Halloween has its roots in an ancient pagan fire festival called Samhain observed by the Celts from the evening of October 31st through the evening of November 1st. In Mexican culture,  Dia de Los Muertos marks a night when the spirits of loved ones awaken and reunite with their living relatives in celebration.

Soul Cakes are cause for remembering those we dearly miss, like my grandmother. Build a small bonfire somewhere safe, like a concrete pavement in your backyard. Write a letter to each loved one you’ve lost and wrap a soul cake in the letter. Offer this precious package to the fire and watch as it engulfs the paper, symbolically casting your loving words to the heavens. Then, nibble on the soul cakes as they mustn’t be wasted and enjoy the warmth of the fire.

Did you know?

Sting earned his famous nickname from his penchant for striped shirts worn in his early days as a musician. My rendition of Soul Cakes contains a touch of honey in honor of Sting who introduced me to this delightful tradition. Here’s that catchy tune I mentioned, charming lyrics below.  Soul Cakes are an English tradition since Medieval times. See why they’ve stood the test of time.

A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry
A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
One for Peter, two for Paul
And three for Him that made us all
A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry

God bless the master of this house
And the mistress also
And all the little children
That round your table grow
The cattle in your stable
The dogs at your front door
And all that dwell within your gates
We’ll wish you ten times more

A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry
A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
One for Peter, two for Paul
And three for Him that made us all

Go down into the cellar
And see what you can find
If the barrels are not empty
We’ll hope that you’ll be kind
We’ll hope that you’ll be kind
With your apple and your pear
And we’ll come no more a-souling
‘Til Christmas time next year

A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry
A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
One for Peter, two for Paul
And three for Him that made us all
Made us all

The streets are very dirty
Me shoes are very thin
I have a little pocket
To put a penny in
If you haven’t got a penny
A ha’ penny will do
If you haven’t got a ha’ penny
God bless you