Soul Cakes for Samhain: Honoring the Old Ways with a Simple Tradition

As the air turns crisp and the veil between worlds grows thin, we find ourselves in the season of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). This ancient Celtic festival marks the end of the harvest and the beginning of the darker half of the year.

In the old traditions, Samhain was considered the Celtic New Year — a time when one year’s work was complete, and the next was about to begin. The final crops were gathered, herds were brought in from the fields, and people turned inward to rest, reflect, and prepare for winter. It was a moment between endings and beginnings — when the boundaries between this world and the spirit world were said to blur.

Before modern Halloween traditions of costumes and candy, people celebrated Samhain with bonfires, feasts, and small offerings for wandering spirits. One of the sweetest and most enduring traditions from this time is the humble soul cake.

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What Are Soul Cakes?

Soul cakes are small, round cakes flavored with warm spices and often dotted with raisins or currants. Traditionally, they were baked and shared on All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day , the three days following Samhain.

In Medieval England and Ireland, people would go “souling”, or visiting homes and offering prayers for the departed in exchange for a cake. Each cake given or received was said to represent a soul freed from purgatory. Over time, this gentle act of remembrance evolved into the trick-or-treating we know today.

Though the ritual has faded, the meaning remains timeless: to remember those who came before us and to share sweetness with others.

A Moment to Reflect

In our modern, fast-paced world, small rituals like baking soul cakes anchor us. They remind us of a slower, quieter rhythma time when community, remembrance, and seasonality mattered deeply.

Samhain invites us to close one chapter and open another. As the Celtic New Year begins, it’s a meaningful time to pause, reflect, and set gentle intentions for the months ahead. Baking, sharing, and enjoying these soul cakes is a way to connect with the old ways and to bring their meaning into our present moment.

At Shade Tree Naturals, we believe in the power of ritual, handcrafted care, and seasonal awareness. These soul cakes fit beautifully with that ethos: they are not only a treat, but a bridge between past and present, between sweetness and remembrance, between the home you build and the legacy you honour.

So as the days shorten and candlelight becomes our companion, take a moment. Bake this recipe, share it with someone you love, set aside one cake in quiet honour, and remember: the old ways are never truly gone. They live in the things we make, the stories we tell, and the care we share.

Ingredients (makes approx 24 biscuits):

300 g all purpose flour

150 g butter or margarine

½ tsp ground nutmeg 

1 tsp ground allspice 

¼ tsp sea salt 

150 g granulated sugar 

75 g dried currants

2 Tbsp Rolled Oat

70 ml milk 

1 tsp apple-cider vinegar 

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat your oven to  350 °F . Line two baking trays with parchment paper. 
2. Stir the milk and the apple-cider vinegar together in a small bowl; set aside. 
3. Cut butter into flour in a medium sized bowl with a pastry cutter or a fork. 
4. Stir in the salt, nutmeg, allspice, oatmeal, sugar and currants.
5. Pour in the milk-vinegar mixture and stir until the dough begins to clump together. If needed, dust hands and surface with flour to help bring it into a manageable dough.
6. Divide the dough in half, refridgerate covered for 30 minutes. On a floured surface, roll out one portion to about ½ cm thick. Using a cookie cutter, 2-3 inches in diameter, cut out rounds, placing them on the baking trays. Repeat with the second half of dough.
7. Use a knife or kitchen tool to score a cross on each soul cake — a symbolic gesture of blessing and remembrance. 
8. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden. The biscuits will firm up and crisp as they cool.
9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a biscuit tin or jar for up to a week, or freeze for 2-3 months if wrapped well.

Serving suggestion: Enjoy with a warm cup of herbal tea or cider. Set aside one or two cakes as a quiet offering for ancestors or for anyone you wish to honour.

 

Comment below and let me know what you think of this recipe and if you've tried it!