Please good Mistress, a soul cake,
An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry,
Any good thing to make us all merry.
One for Peter, two for Paul,
Three for him who made us all.
~The Cheshire Souling Song
Sarah and I started a tradition for our family a couple of years ago of baking soul cakes for Halloween, All Saint's Day, and All Soul's Day. We didn't get around to making them for the kids' Halloween party this past Saturday, so I'm hoping we can whip some up tonight for Jamie to take to his school tomorrow or the next day.
Here is a write-up on the tradition of soul cakes from CatholicCulture.org:
Soul CakesSee also my post on All Hallows' Eve
The old English custom of "soul-caking," or "souling," originated in pre-Reformation days, when singers went about on All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, November 1 and 2, to beg for cakes in remembrance of the dead. The "soulers," as the singers were called, droned out their ditties repeatedly, tonelessly, without pause or variation. Doubtless Shakespeare was familiar with the whining songs because Speed, in Two Gentlemen of Verona, observes tartly that one of the "special marks" of a man in love is "to speak puling, like a beggar at Hallowmas."
Allhallows e'en, or eve, a night of pranks and fun in North Country homes, was celebrated with many wholesome games. Young people, for example, read future events from the way roasting chestnuts sputtered and jumped next to the red-hot coals. They bobbed for apples and flung snakelike apple parings behind themselves, to learn the initials of future mates. Our British ancestors brought these old folk practices to the New World, where generations of adolescents have observed them on the night that witches traditionally ride broomsticks and hobgoblins venture abroad.
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Soul cakes and souling customs vary from county to county, but souling practices always flourished best along the Welsh border. Even there, the custom is rapidly dying out. In hamlets of Shropshire and Cheshire, in parts of the Midlands, and Lancashire one sometimes hears the soulers chanting old rhymes such as:Soul! Soul! for an apple or two!In olden times "soul papers," with solicitations of prayers for the deceased, accompanied the cakes which were given to the parish poor. Householders, as well as churches, bestowed soul cakes as a charity in behalf of the departed.
If you have no apples, pears will do.
If you have no pears, money will do.
If you have no money, God bless you!
Soul cakes were of different kinds. Formerly, some cakes were flat and oval. Others were plump and bunlike. There was a spiced-sweetened variety, and the sort that resembled a small fruit cake. All were rich with milk and eggs.
Soul cakes as adapted to American tastes from early English recipes, make delicate tea-time or party buns. Instead of the saffron and allspice of the original cakes, use a few drops of yellow vegetable coloring as well as nutmeg and cinnamon.
The following recipe is an adaptation of an old Shropshire formula. The light fluffy buns, delicious for any occasion, are especially appropriate for Halloween. Serve them hot, with plenty of butter and strawberry or raspberry jam. Accompany them with mugs of cider; or with hot chocolate, topped with marshmallows, for the young; or with coffee or tea for those who are older.
DIRECTIONS
Cream shortening and sugar. Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup lukewarm water to which a teaspoon of sugar has been added. Set aside. Scald milk and add to the creamed mixture. When cooled add yeast mixture and stir until thoroughly blended. Sift together flour, salt, and spices, and add gradually to other ingredients, kneading into a soft dough. Set sponge to rise in warm place in greased covered bowl. When doubled in bulk, shape into small round or oval buns. Brush tops with slightly beaten egg white. Bake in moderately hot oven (400° F.) for 15 minutes. Drop temperature to 350 ° F. and bake until delicately browned and thoroughly done.
Recipe Source: Feast-Day Cakes from Many Lands by Dorothy Gladys Spicer, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960
"Souling" was introduced in the Philippines by Spanish colonizers of the 17th century. The tradition still survives in that country.
ReplyDeleteThe Filipinos have their own version of soulcake. It's made with glutinuous rice (or rice flour) mixed with coconut milk and sugar and topped with roasted sesame seeds or grated coconut.
Souling in the Philippines has its own song. Roughly translated, it goes like this:
"The souls from the land of the dead stand under your front window, ringing our bell, waking up the householder...If you plan on giving us alms, please do so in haste, or Heaven's gate would close upon us."
The "alms" that the poor souls asks of the householders are understood to be prayers, small sacrifices, and the Holy Mass. But kids representing the souls necessarily expect the "alms" to be goodies, in the form of snacks, such as rice cakes.