All Saints Day - Blog Posts
Soul Cakes and Halloween Costumes
“Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble” - Witches’ Speech, Macbeth
End of October and early November is an interesting time of year. Marking the end of the harvest season, October 31st - November 2nd share four separate holidays:
Halloween on the 31st;
All-Saints Day on the 1st; and
All-Souls Day and Samhain on the 2nd.
For such an interesting time of year, it’s no wonder that recipes have appeared across time to commemorate each occasion.
Traditionally baked to celebrate All-Souls Day, Soul Cakes are sugar-cookie-esque spiced cookies (or biscuits) that are made with none of the vanilla extract, baking powder, or baking soda that we’re used to seeing in modern recipes. Rather, they rely on their interesting blend of spices to treat your taste buds!
If you’re looking for something to keep the Halloween season going at school or work even after the holiday has passed, bring in these cookies to snack on!
Have a safe and happy Halloween/ All-Saints Day/ All-Souls Day/ Samhain everyone!
P.S: The fox in the picture is named Elphaba!
(Adapted from Helen Best-Shaw’s Fuss Free Flavours and Cooking Journey Blog)
Prep: 10 mins Cook: 30 mins Overall: 40 mins
Ingredients*:
¼ cup + 3 tbsp. (100 g) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (100 g) packed light brown sugar
2 egg yolks
2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
1 pinch saffron or ground turmeric (for colour)
1 tsp. (2 g) all-spice
½ tsp. mixed spice**
2 ½ tbs. (35 ml) milk
50 g raisins***
* Makes enough for 15-18 2-inch (5 cm) diameter cookies or 24-27 ~2.6-inch (6.6 cm) diameter cookies.
** Mixed spice is a spice blend that includes cinnamon, coriander seed, caraway, nutmeg, ginger, ground cloves, and caraway. I don’t have access to this blend so I added ¼ tsp. cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves individually to make ½ tsp..
*** I didn’t have any regular raisins so I substituted for golden raisins.
To start, preheat the oven to 360℉ (180℃) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Next, in a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Then, whisk in the egg yolks.
Add flour, all-spice, mixed spice, and milk and stir until the dough holds together.
After, stir in the raisins until they are well distributed.
Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and roll it out to about o.6-inch (¼ cm) thickness. Then, cut the dough in circles using a cookie cutter.
Recombine and re-roll any dough scraps to get the most cookies possible!
Place the dough circles on the parchment-lined baking sheet - leaving space between each cookie. Cut a plus-sign (or cross) shape on each cookie (adding the raisin is optional).
Bake on the middle oven rack for 15-20 mins - rotating the pan halfway through - until they are golden brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes then transfer them to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Overall, I would give this recipe a 5/5. The spices used in the cookies made for a different and delicious spin on the sugary cookies we’re used to nowadays. I had a lot of fun diving into this medieval British treat and hope to try more in the future!
Happy Halloween/All-Saints Day/ All-Souls Day/ Samhain!
The Fourteen Holy Helpers, Part II/II
The Fourteen Holy Helpers, Part I/II
La Toussaint et le Jour des fidèles défunts - All Saints Day and All Souls Day
All Saints Day (La Toussaint) takes place on November 1st.
Liturgical colour: white
On this day, I celebrate the lives and stories of Saints known in the church, and those not canonized officially. It's a day to speak with your patron saint, look for your patron saint, or to simply just let their stories touch you for their example and lessons.
I bring out my statuettes of all my favorite saints, and put out the attributes they are associated with. Roses being associated with most saints and especially with the Virgin Mary, it is a fitting offering to put on an altar, if you have cats like I do who get into everything.
It's a great day to ask for your special requests, and ask for intercession with the help of a saint specific to your query. Any book on the saints can give you the attributes you're looking for.
All Souls Day (Le Jour des fidèles défunts) takes place on November 2nd.
Liturgical colour: purple
On this day, I commemorate my dearly departed, my known ancestors, and those I do not yet know about. In Quebec on this day, back in the 20th century and before, it was traditional to have a mass for the souls of the departed of that year, culminating in a cemetery visit. You weren't allowed to work the fields or cut wood that day, for fear of harming the roaming dead. It was a day to say prayers for the souls in purgatory, hoping they can find their way to everlasting rest.
Nowadays, communities in Quebec and francophone areas don't really do anything communally on this day. I for one, want to commemorate it! So, I made a list of all the names in my ancestors' lineages that I could find, and voiced them out loud one by one. I offered them pieces of poetry evoking the ocean, Acadian communities, and remembrances written by my great-aunt, and read to them a passage from the Bible. Then I offered some tea, sugar fudge and galettes, and told them about what was going on in my life this year.
I'm lucky to have biographies of my great-grandmothers to read again and again, and a great-aunt who writes of her Acadian culture so beautifully. It's turned into quite a personal day for me.
So, Happy Toussaint and Jour des fidèles défunts!
