Vegan Soul Cakes
Vegan soul cakes - these delicious little spiced cakes/biscuits are a traditional British treat dating from medieval times. They were originally baked for All Hallow's Eve, All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day to commemorate the dead.
Servings 23 soul cakes
Ingredients
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons mixed spice (or pumpkin spice)
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 150 g (⅔ cup) vegan block butter cold and diced
- 150 g (¾ cup) caster or granulated sugar
- 75 g (½ cup) dried currants
- 4 Tablespoons unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy)
- ½ Tablespoon cider or white wine vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180℃/160℃ fan/350℉/gas mark 4. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.
- Mix together the flour, baking powder and spices in a large bowl then rub in the butter using your fingers until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs and no lumps of butter remain.
- Stir in the sugar and currants.
- Mix together the milk and vinegar then add it to the dry ingredients and mix to form a soft dough. You may find it easiest to use your hands to bring it together.
- Roll the dough out on a floured surface to 6-8 mm (¼ in) thick. Use a 6-7cm (2 ½ in) round cutter to cut out as many rounds as possible. Bring the scraps together and re-roll to cut out more biscuits.
- Place the soul cakes spaced apart on the baking sheets. Use the length of a toothpick or the back of a knife to press a cross deeply into the top of each. The cross needs to be quite deep but be careful not to cut all the way through. Wiggle the toothpick/knife from side to side a bit to widen the mark.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Bake the soul cakes for less time for a softer texture, or longer for a crisp texture.
- Transfer the baked soul cakes to a wire rack to cool before serving. Once cool store in an airtight container.
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
- All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!