Soul cakes were part of All Souls’ Day observances in medieval Britain. The act of “souling” was a precursor to modern trick-or-treating, combining Christian prayer with older pagan customs. Soul cakes are spicy biscuits that come complete with centuries of tradition.
Soul Cakes Recipe (Makes 12 cakes)
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsalted butter (softened) or vegan butter if you
prefer
½ cup granulated sugar or Stevia that measures like sugar
2 egg yolks
¼ cup milk (plus more if needed)
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
½ cup currants, raisins and dried cranberries (one fruit or
any combination)
Optional: a splash of vinegar for tang (some older recipes
have this)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks one at a time. Mix dry ingredients (flour, spices, salt) in a separate bowl. Combine wet and dry: Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture.
Stir in milk and fold in dried fruit. Shape the cakes: Roll dough to about ½ inch thick. Cut into rounds using a biscuit cutter. Mark with a cross: Use the back of a knife or spoon to gently score a cross on each cake—this is traditional and symbolic.
Bake for 12–15 minutes, or until golden and fragrant. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or store in the fridge for up to a week.
What are Soul
Cakes?
Soul cakes—those
humble, golden little rounds of floury goodness that once bridged the worlds of
the living and the dead, now mostly bridge the gap between our mouths and a
good excuse to eat butter. Let us go back through time, to the smoky
hearths of medieval kitchens and look at the traditions of All Soul's Day.
Soul cakes are the original trick-or-treat currency, long before fun-sized candy bars and plastic vampire fangs took over. A soul cake is a small, spiced bun—somewhere between a scone and a cookie—offered to wandering beggars, children, and the occasional ghost in exchange for prayers for the dearly departed. Each cake was said to release a soul from purgatory, making the cakes both a treat and a token of spiritual grace.
The Ritual of
Soul-Caking
Soul cakes were
traditionally baked for All Souls’ Day (November 2nd), a time when the veil
between worlds was thinner than usual. The cakes were marked with a
cross—either to bless the soul or to keep the raisins from escaping, depending
on how you feel about it. They were handed out to “soulers,” who roamed from
house to house like medieval carolers, offering prayers in exchange for baked
goods. It was a spiritual barter system: one cake = one prayer. Some say the
cakes were meant to feed the dead directly, and these were left out on
windowsills or on graves.
Alternative Ingredients
A classic soul cake
recipe includes flour, butter, sugar, eggs, and a generous dash of
spices—cinnamon, nutmeg, maybe a little allspice if you’re feeling especially spicy. Small dried fruits are tossed in like edible punctuation. The result is a
dense, fragrant cake of spiritual goodwill, perfect for nibbling while
contemplating mortality. Modern versions
sometimes swap in orange zest, cloves, or even chocolate chips, which is
historically inaccurate but emotionally satisfying
So this All Souls’ Day, skip the candy corn and bake a batch of soul cakes. Offer them to your friends, your ancestors, and that wonderful neighbor who cleans the snow out of your driveway. Just remember: every bite is a memory, every crumb a whisper, and every cake a reminder that the dead appreciate good baking as much as the living do.
*Peter, Paul
and Mary recorded a version of this traditional song in 1963.
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