Soul Cakes from Shropshire

Soul cakes are a very British treat traditionally served during Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Simple, sweet, delicately spiced and packed with juicy currants this recipe for Shropshire soul cakes is quick and easy to make.

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Soul cakes go by quite a few names including soulmass cakes, all soul’s day cakes, all saint’s day cakes and somas cakes. And they also go by a few different recipes, depending where in the country you are.

Unlike soulmass cakes from more northern regions in England (where they are commonly called harcakes), Shropshire soul cakes are not related to parkin. Instead they are rather like a combination of a scone and a biscuit. They are quite flat but soft and they have a delicate sweetness about them that tallies with the baking spices and tangy currants perfectly.

Although traditionally eaten during Allhallowtide (31st October to 2nd November) in my mind they are tasty enough to warrant being made any time a fruity sweet craving hits.

As Shropshire is located in the West Midlands region, my recipe for Shropshire soul cakes forms part of my collection of recipes from The Midlands. Take a look at the rest of them to discover some hidden gems.

What are all soul’s day cakes?

Soul cakes are small round cakes that are made for Halloween, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day to commemorate the dead. They are flavoured with baking spices and currants and have a deep cross cut into the top of them.

In England, the giving of soul cakes is an old-fashioned tradition that stems from medieval times. Plenty of other nationalities, including the Portuguese and Filipinos, embraced this tradition long ago too.  

What is souling?

In England, it was common for soul cakes to be handed to soulers (usually children and the poor) who would go from door to door begging for them during Allhallowtide. As they were handed their soul cakes the soulers would sing and say prayers for the souls of the cake givers and their deceased relatives and friends.

When did souling become less popular?

The souling tradition began to wane in England following the 1870 Education reforms which got more children into school (hurrah). As the children were occupied in school, this meant that they were not available to go a-souling (boo). Although souling has died out across England now, the custom did persist in Shropshire and nearby Staffordshire right up until the 1950s.

Exact tradition varies according to regional localities but, in Shropshire, children had a special soul cake song to sing when they went a-souling:

Why you’ll love these All Saints Day cakes

Despite the custom of souling having faded drastically over the last century, there are still plenty of reasons to make Shropshire soul cakes:

• They are fun to make – get the children involved as they will love cutting the crosses into their All Saints Day cakes.
• The recipe uses basic baking ingredients so they are cheap to make.
• And the recipe makes plenty so it’s great for feeding a crowd.
• Soul cakes make a welcome change from the predictable sweets and chocolate handed out at Halloween parties – especially when catering for an older age group who might not, perhaps, be quite so enamoured by Haribo sweets (that’s me).
• The balance of flavour is ideal for anybody who prefers their bakes not too sweet. The natural sweetness of the currants and a scattering of caster sugar over the top is just right. There’s no call for icing here.
• My soul cake recipe includes more dried fruit than is usual, ensuring that fruity flavour is delivered in every bite.
• They go wonderfully well with a cup of tea or coffee… at anytime of the year, not just Allhallowtide.

And, of course, it’s always fun to educate the young (or not so young) about our historic British traditions and special regional bakes. Children might be impressed by the notion that to go a-souling was in fact a precursor to our very modern-day custom of going trick-or-treating. On that note, don’t miss telling them about Thor cake either – it’s another tasty bake emanating from an ancient English festival and ties in neatly with Bonfire Night.

Ingredients notes

The ingredients for soul cakes are humble, rustic, frugal and easy to obtain. Here’s a little more information about the key ingredients:

Flour: this should be plain flour rather than self-raising flour. As only a small amount of baking powder is required to provide a limited rise to the dough, it’s wiser to use plain flour so that the amount of baking powder added is easy to control.

Currants: always use currants from a packet that has not been opened for too long to ensure that the currants are soft and juicy (they can get hard if the packet has been opened for a long time or not sealed well after first use). My favourite currants are Vostizza currants, which I first found in M&S a few years ago. I’ve seen them in other UK supermarkets more recently though.

Spices: I’ve used a blend of mixed spice and ginger as, reading around, these seem prevalent in recipes for Shropshire soul cakes. However, you should feel free to adapt my spice suggestion as you see fit. Plenty of other recipes list allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger.

Note: Mixed spice is readily available in the UK. It’s a blend of various spices typically including cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander seed, ground ginger, cloves and caraway seeds. Feel free to use any similar spice mix or perhaps your favourite chai blend or pumpkin spice blend.

Egg yolks: these serve both to bind the ingredients together and to bolster the final flavour of these All Saints Day cakes, adding depth and richness. They are essential. Use large eggs.

Butter: use real butter if budget and diet allow for the best flavour. If you need to use an alternative, ensure you use block baking margarine or block vegan butter. Don’t opt for the softer versions that are spreadable straight from the fridge.

Milk: a dash of milk is also required to help form the dough. Although I’ve tested this recipe using just cow’s milk I see no reason why dairy-free milk, such as almond milk or oat milk could not be used instead. I would, however, suggest avoiding coconut milk as it has a much thicker texture than cow’s milk and a stronger flavour than alternative dairy-free milks.

Step-by-step instructions

Full instructions are given in the recipe card at the end of this post.

1. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (use electric beaters) then add the yolks and beat well.
2. Stir in half of the flour (sifted) along with all of the mixed spice, ginger and salt.
3. Mix in the milk.
4. Now stir in the remaining sifted flour along with the currants.

5. Keep on mixing with the spoon until no streaks of flour remain. The dough should be fairly firm.
6. Roll it out on a floured worktop to around ½cm thickness then use a 7cm cutter to punch out your cakes. Reroll the dough once to enable more cakes to be cut out.
7. Prick each cake all over with a fork then cut a deep cross into the top of each one using a blunt knife.
8. Transfer to lined baking sheets and cook for 15 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time to ensure they bake evenly.
9. When lightly golden take out of the oven, sprinkle with caster sugar, transfer to a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.

Expert tips

• Whether or not to use a straight-sided or fluted cutter is entirely up to you. I went with straight-sided, but I’m not going to judge you for going down the fancy route.
• When it comes to cutting the crosses, you may prefer to transfer the cut-out soul cakes onto the baking sheets before doing this. They can be fiddly to transfer once cut.
• Do take care to cut the crosses deeply (you can even gently wiggle the knife from side to side to widen the cut) but don’t go all the way through the dough.
• Although traditional recipes do not suggest doing so, I also found that recutting the cross in the part-baked dough at the halfway point of baking ensured that the cross was nicely pronounced. This step is not essential though.
• If your baking sheets are on different shelves in the oven swap them over at the halfway stage of cooking (at the same time that you rotate the baking sheets). Again, this will help ensure the entire batch cooks evenly.

Frequently asked questions

More traditional British bakes

If you like making traditional British baking recipes, be sure to take a look at these delicious sweet and savoury bakes too.

Have you made my Shropshire soul cake recipe? I hope you enjoyed them if you did. Please consider leaving a comment and/ or rating if you have made them as it really helps other readers know that they can trust my recipe.

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