Recipes for Ancient Rituals and Modern Celebrations Honoring The Dead

October 31, 2024.Reading time 14 minutes.

This recipe round-up of Hallowed dishes, sweets, and treats is not meant for October 31st but for November 6th when the traditional Celtic festival of Samhain (Summers End) was celebrated. On this night the veil between the worlds was at its absolute thinnest and carving ghoulish gourds, donning scary costumes, and trick or treating were […]

Samhain Treats: Rowan Berry Honey Caramels

October 26, 2023.Reading time 17 minutes.

A berry, a berry, a red rowan berry, A red rowan berry brought me beauty and love. The Story of the Fairy Rowan Tree Samhain is right around the corner so it’s time to post the recipe I promised for Rowan Berry Caramels. These lucky charms will not only dispel evil spirits and satiate hungry […]

Uncanny Fruits, Autumn Foraging & Chocolate Bundt Cake

October 21, 2022.Reading time 14 minutes.

From quince, medlar to barberry, I love to forage for the odd fruits which abound this time of year. The following recipe for this intensely moist almost pudding-like bundt, however, is filled with two fruits I’ve not cooked much with before. It’s adapted from the Chocolate Cherry Samhain Bundt I just posted on Gather Patreon […]

Witches Sweets: Barberry Syrup Cakes

October 31, 2020.Reading time 12 minutes.

These were my very last-minute treats for last year’s Samhain celebrations. The cake I made was a disaster, and the second was carried off by crows while cooling outside. Casting around for a quick solution I spied the barberry bushes that line our driveway and came up with this simple sponge that takes all 3 […]

Cake For The Priestesses Of The Dead

October 20, 2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

Halloween takes its roots in ancient festivals and feasts honouring the dead, like Samhain. This makes it a perfect time for cake…not just any cake, but a cake in remembrance of the Haliorunna. Never heard of them? They were the oracular priestesses of the “underworld mysteries” whose rites of divination and ancestor veneration were demonized […]