Soul Cakes

Before we had plastic buckets and high-fructose candy confections, Trick or Treat and Halloween as we know it in America, Europeans celebrated 'Allhallowtide' during the Middle Ages.

This was a 3-day event that spanned from All Hallows' Eve (10/31) into All Saints' Day (11/1) and finished up on All Souls' Day (11/2).

It was a Christian means of giving alms-or donations-of dense, biscuit-like cakes to the needy and less fortunate. Children and peasants would practice 'Souling' and go door to door, collecting these cakes in exchange for songs + prayers for the household's deceased loved ones. The prayers would ensure that any souls still potentially in purgatory would find their way safely to Heaven.

People would make these baked donations out of simple ingredients and/or whatever they had on hand in the pantry....flour, spices, dried fruits and very minimal sugar-as it was an expensive and rare 'luxury' commodity. These were known as "Soul Cakes".

It was this Christian tradition mixed with a plethora of pagan customs celebrating Samhain that our ancestors brought over from the old country that evolved into the Halloween we know and love today.

Notes: Milled Grain Flour, Hearth Baked, Ginger, Allspice, Dried Currants & Pinch of Sugar

* TRANSPARENT BLACK GLASS JAR WITH BAKED GOODS COLORED WAX