Soul Cakes & Trick-or-Treating

Help Support the Channel with Patreon: Follow Tasting History here: Instagram: Twitter: Reddit: r/TastingHistory Tasting History’s Amazon Wish List: LINKS TO INGREDIENTS & EQUIPMENT** Canon EOS M50 Camera: Canon EF 50mm Lens: Currants: Nutmeg: Clove: Mace: Saffron: KitchenAid Stand Mixer: LINKS TO SOURCES** The Customs and Traditions of Wales by Trefor Owen: The Book of Hallowe’en by Ruth Eda Kelley: Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween by Lisa Morton: **Amazon offers a small commission on products sold through their affiliate links, so each purchase made from this link, whether this product or another, will help to support this channel with no additional cost to you. Editor: WarwicSN - SOUL CAKES ORIGINAL 16TH CENTURY RECIPE (From Elinor Fettiplace’s Receipt Book) To make Cakes Take flower & sugar & nutmeg & cloves & mace & sweet butter & sack & a little ale barm, beat your spice & put in your butter & your sack, cold, then work it well all together & make it in little cakes & so bake them, if you will you may put in some saffron into them or fruit. MODERN RECIPE INGREDIENTS - ½ Cup Lukewarm Ale (Below 100°F/38°C) - 1 Teaspoon Yeast - 3 Cups (360g) Flour - ½ Cup (100g) Sugar - 4 Tablespoons Butter Softened - ½ Teaspoon Salt (if you’re using unsalted butter) - ¼ Teaspoon Nutmeg - ¼ Teaspoon Clove - ¼ Teaspoon Mace - ⅓ Cup Sack or Sherry - 1/4 Teaspoon Saffron Threads (optional) - 3/4 Cup Dried Fruit, plus more for decoration. (Optional) - 1 Egg for Egg Wash (Optional) METHOD 1. Create an “ale barm“ by mixing the yeast with the lukewarm ale and letting sit for 10 minutes. If you are using saffron, mix that into the sherry and let steep. 2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg, clove, and mace together. Add the yeasted ale and work it in. Then work in the softened butter and the sack with saffron along with any fruit you are using. Mix until everything the dough comes together, then knead for 5 - 12 minutes. The longer you knead, the more bread-like the cakes will be, but the more they will rise. 3. Allow dough to rise for 1 hour (it will likely not double in size), then punch the dough down and form into small cakes. Cover and allow the cakes to rise for another 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. 4. When the cakes have puffed up, add the optional egg wash and/or additional fruit, or form a cross on the top of each cake using the back of a knife (do not cut the cross in). Then back fro 20 minutes. When baked, allow to cool before serving. PHOTO CREDITS Elinor Fettiplace Kneeling at her Father’s Tomb: By Philip Halling, CC BY-SA 2.0, Appleton Manor: By Des Blenkinsopp, CC BY-SA 2.0, Altar de Día de Muertos en Actopan, Hidalgo, México ía_de_Muertos_en_Actopan,_Hidalgo,_México_(2017). RubeHM / CC BY-SA () Newgrange - TJP Finn #/media/File: Halloween Costumes 1918 - Richard via Flickr Cliffs of Dover: Immanuel Giel - #/media/File: Bonfire Night: Peter Trimming - :Lewes_Guy_Fawkes_Night_Celebrations_(5) #tastinghistory #halloween #soulcakes