Soul, Soul, for a Soul cake
Pray you, good mistress, a
Soul cake…
“Soul day, Soul Day,
We have been praying for the
soul departed.
So pray good people give us
a cake
For we are all poor people,
Well known to you before.
So give us a cake for
charity’s sake,
And our blessing we’ll leave
at your door.
Soul! Soul! For an apple or
two,
If you have no apples, pears
will do,
If pears are scarce, then
cakes from your pan,
Give us our souling and
we’ll be gone.”
My Soul Cakes this year were
shortbread triangles, and I added chopped nuts because, well, the souls for
whom I am praying all tended to be a bit eccentric on occasion.
NUT SHORTBREAD
Soften 1 cup of butter.
Sift flour to make 2-½ cups
Chop nuts to make ½ cup
Preheat oven to 300°
F.
To the butter and flour, add
½ cup of sugar and 1/8 teaspoon of salt.
Mix thoroughly, then stir in the chopped nuts.
Roll out dough to ½ inch
thickness. Cut into triangles,
about 1-½ inch per side more or less (or whatever shape you wish. A shot glass or the round cap from a
spice jar make good cutters).
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
When you enjoy these little
cakes, remember to say a prayer for a soul.
There is more on Soul Cakes (including links to other recipes) here and more recipes for All Souls Day here.
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Artwork:
"Souling", an illustration by 'R. Blum' (Robert Frederick Blum) for St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks, December 1882, p. 93.
[And this time, Wikipedia swiped it from me.]
