“A soule cake, a soule cake, Have mercy on all Christen soules for a soule-cake.” John Aubrey, 17th century
I’ve been researching old-world recipes in search of Halloween food inspiration, and these sweet little barmbrack “Soul Cakes” are the result. Barmbrack is an Irish cake made with tea and spiced and speckled with berries, dried fruits, and nuts, and Soul Cakes are small round cakes also often featuring dried fruits and nuts. I’ve adapted recipes for both from several sources to make these All Hallows Cake but instead of using the conventional raisins, currants, or dried fruit, I went with foraged berries of the season – and plenty of magical hazelnuts!
Barmbrack and Soul Cakes bridge both pagan and Christian faith traditions, these foods were associated with both Samhain and All Souls Day. Both celebrations had many similarities. According to this source, the dead were honored, bonfires burned to ward off evil spirits, carnival-like costumes were donned, and fortune telling conducted with apples and nuts – and of course, there was plenty of cake.
Soul cakes played a role in a custom reminiscent of modern-day trick or treating, according to The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, people went from house to house singing and asking for a soul cake. For each cake received, a prayer was said for the dead. The tradition of giving alms in the form of bread or cookies on All Saints and All Souls has medieval roots but was once part of a far older tradition of bringing small bread rolls to tombs and gravestones as offerings for the deceased. Today soul cakes are still part of Catholic cuisine, baked in celebration of All Hallows Eve. Recipes often include dried fruits, currants, raisins, and nuts.
Barmbrack was also part of both Samhain and the All Hallows Feast and in Ireland, it played a big role in divination. This Irish recipe tells how tokens, rings, beans, and peas were once baked inside the cake, and each member of the family was given a slice. A penny in the cake meant you were going to be rich, a pea meant a future filled with health, a ring for the bride-to-be, and “a thimble for the one who would never marry and a small piece of cloth indicating the one who would be poor.”
In Celtic traditions, Samhain was known as “Summer’s End” and was the time of a ceremonial third harvest, one of nuts and berries. And I was enchanted to read in Witch’s Halloween: A Complete Guide to the Magick, Incantations, Recipes, Spells, and Lore that one of the most sacred of these was the hazelnut. Celtic myth tells the hazel tree overhangs the Well of Enchantment and “the hazelnut, more than any other type of nut, has long been associated with the Halloween tradition of divination, particularly the amatory type. Many witches traditionally eat a hazelnut on Halloween prior to scrying crystal balls or other divining methods to see into the future.”
According to this source, women in Scotland would designate a hazelnut for each of their love interests, and then toss the nuts into a fire on Halloween. The nut that burned to ashes, instead of popping, supposedly represented the woman’s future betrothed. Or if a woman ate a dessert of sugary hazelnuts and nutmeg before going to sleep on Halloween, she’d dream of her future husband.
And while I’m already in possession of a husband, it would be handy to scry into the future on this night when the veil between the worlds is thinnest. So it seemed obvious to me that baking up some Halloween hazelnut-inspired barmbrack soul cakes would be a wonderful way to honor my ancestors and the beloved who have crossed to the other side.
For these All Hallows Soul Cakes, I combined hazelnuts with some of the colorful berries of the season, like the bright orange (Chinese lantern and Arbutus berries) and red berries (Barberries) for color and texture. These grow practically everywhere from gardens to seashores so click on the links if you want to know more.
If you don’t have any of these handy, you could use golden currants, raisins, cranberries, or whatever dried fruits or berries you desire!
Magical lore tells that one should harvest the hazelnuts the day before or on Halloween, but I had a basket of hazelnuts foraged in late summer waiting for just such a special occasion. Hazelnuts can of course be found outdoors – or already conveniently shelled at your local market! And did I mention these barmbrack soul cakes are oh-so-easy to make? And fun enough for children to join in, especially if one decides to put a magical treasure inside each cake before baking! Happy Halloween!
P.S. There is a short video on the spoooky history of Soul Cake after the recipe at the bottom of the page. I’m sure it will give you a chill!
Hallowtide Soul Cakes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup fresh berries (whatever you can forage or have on hand)
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped hazelnuts ( I added a few almonds as well)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup hot strong black tea (I used Earl Grey)
- 1 large egg
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 tsp of nutmeg
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons of chopped candied ginger (optional but tasty)
- 2 tablespoons chopped candied orange peel
- 1 tsp of lemon or orange zest
- pinch of salt
- 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
Directions
Combine berries, nuts, spices, chopped ginger and peel, and brown sugar. Add the hot tea, stir well, cover, and allow to soak for an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a muffin/cupcake pan.
Mix the egg and melted butter into your wet mixture, adding the flour in 1/2 cup batches, beating well after each edition.
Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake until toothpick comes out clean (around 45 min.) Let cool in the pan before turning out.
Oh so pretty to look at plain – but fun to decorate too!
And here is the video!
