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Making Soul Cakes during Hallowtide (All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day) has become a little tradition at our house. Now that we know that our three-year-old is severely allergic to gluten, we’re having to try some new recipes. I wanted to share this one with you just in time for All Souls tomorrow.
As a kind of early version of Trick-or-Treating, folks would go door-to-door and ask for Soul Cakes in exchange for saying prayers for the dead. I really love the way Hallowtide puts death in context. We remember our dead, we say prayers for the souls in Purgatory, we celebrate the lives of the saints, and we remember that Christ has ultimately conquered death. It’s power was broken by the power of the Cross. Especially in our culture that seeks to avoid the topic of death, I think observing Hallowtide is really important.
So, make yo’self some Soul Cakes and celebrate! This morning at Mass we sat behind some adorable children dressed up as St. Elizabeth of Hungary and St. George. Someday I will be organized enough to make my kiddos fun saints costumes. Until then, baked goods will have to suffice.
I was inspired by this recipe. I used less sugar, tinkered with the spices, and used GF baking mix instead of all-purpose flour. They turned out delicious, although a bit crumbly (as GF stuff always does).
Gluten-Free Soul Cakes
Ingredients:
Raisins: 1/2 cup (plus some to decorate top)
Butter: (softened) 3/4 cup
Sugar: 2/3 cup
Eggs: 3 yolks
Gluten-Free Baking Mix: 1 3/4 cup
Nutmeg: 1/2 TSP
Cinnamon: 1 1/2 TSP
Cloves: 1/2 TSP
Milk: 1/2 cup
Preheat oven to 375. Grease muffin tin (I used butter). Cream the softened butter with the sugar. Add egg yolks and mix. Combine with GF baking mix, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, milk, and raisins. Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way up with mixture. Add raisins on top in the shape of a cross. Bake for 15 minutes (longer if your muffin tin is for larger muffins, mine is for smallish ones). Check to see if your Soul Cakes are done by seeing if a knife comes out clean. And carefully remove them from muffin tin (I used a spoon to separate the edges from the muffin tin and only one of them ended up impossibly crumbly, so success!).
It’s such an easy recipe that my 3-year-old was able to help with everything except separating the egg yolks from the whites. And he LOVED adding the cross-shaped raisins on top. In fact, at this very minute he is in bed singing to himself: “Soul a’soul, a’soul cake. Please good missus a soul cake…”
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