Soul Cakes: Sweet Remembrance for the Ancestors

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A sweet remembrance for the ancestors

When the veil thins at Samhain, one of the oldest traditions is the baking of soul cakes. These little spiced buns were once given to children and the poor in exchange for prayers for the dead — a practice that blossomed into our modern “trick-or-treat.”

Soul cakes are simple, but each ingredient carries weight, memory, and blessing. To bake them is to stir love into the past and the present, a way of feeding both the living and the unseen.

Magical Correspondences

  • Flour – The body, the foundation of life

  • Butter & Eggs – Fertility, nourishment, warmth of the hearth

  • Sugar & Fruit – Sweetness of memory, joy, offerings to the departed

  • Spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice) – Protection, blessing, sacred fire energy

Before you bake, pause with your ingredients. Whisper gratitude for the hands that grew, gathered, and carried them to you.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour

  • ½ cup sugar

  • ½ tsp nutmeg

  • ½ tsp cinnamon

  • ¼ tsp allspice

  • ½ cup butter (softened)

  • 2 egg yolks

  • 2 tbsp milk (add more as needed)

  • ½ cup currants or raisins

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a bowl, whisk flour, sugar, and spices together.

  3. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles crumbs.

  4. Stir in egg yolks and currants. Add milk little by little until you form a soft dough.

  5. Roll out dough to about ½ inch thick. Cut into rounds (a glass works fine).

  6. Place on a greased baking sheet. Mark a cross on top of each with a knife.

  7. Bake for 12–15 minutes until golden.

Ritual Notes

  • As they bake, think of loved ones who’ve passed. Speak their names if you wish.

  • Offer the first cake on your ancestor altar or outside for the spirits.

  • Share the rest with family and friends, remembering that food and memory bind us together.

Your Recipe Card

These little cakes carry prayers and memory in every bite.
Keep the tradition alive by writing the recipe on a Hearthblossom recipe card. Add your own family names, blessings, or notes about who you baked them for this year.

👉 Download your recipe card printable card HERE


Soul cakes are more than a sweet bite; they are a connection across generations. When you bake them, you keep alive a thread of tradition stretching back centuries. This Samhain, let each cake be a prayer, a memory, and a blessing.

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