Soul Cakes

These cakes were traditionally made for All Saints or All Soul’s Day to celebrate the dead. The practice of giving and eating soul cakes is often seen as the origin of modern trick-or-treating

Ingredients

100g butter
100g fine white sugar
3 eggyolks
1/2 pound plain white flour
1 teaspoon mixed spices
40g raisins or sultanas
milk

Method

Melt the butter in a microwave, then stir in sugar until you have a smooth, creamy mixture. Stir in the eggyolk, again aiming for smoothness.
Add flour and spices, stir and mix well, then add raisins.
Add enough milk (slowly!) until you have a soft but still formable dough.
Form this dough into round, flat cookies with around 4 inches diameter and slightly less than an inch of thickness, arranging those on a greased baking tray. Then “carve” decorations into the cookies with a blunt knife – try Celtic spiral designs for that extra effect.
Bake the cookies at 180 degrees Celsius (360 Fahrenheit) for ten to fifteen minutes until golden brown.

Soul cakes make an ideal trick-or-treat gift.