Enjoy this bewitching recipe by Isabeau Finne (aka Iliana Evenwicht)~
It’s finally October! Are you excited? I’m excited.
The air is cooling. The leaves are beginning to change to fiery shades and dance to the ground.
Autumn has arrived and along with it all the magic of the season. I grew up in a house of Sióg
O’Cailleach—Witches of the Fae—so Fall is and always will be the biggest of big deals in my
home. And October 7 th is my birthday, so there’s always an extra dose of celebrating.
In my house, birthdays were always extra special. It was an all day and into late-night revel with
friends and relatives, decorations galore with balloons, confetti, sparkling wrapping paper, and a
multitude of magical confections. There was music and dancing, bonfires and feasting. At the
end of the night after all the guests had left, it was tradition to slip between the sheets with a
Dream Scone and a cup of Divination Tea to get a glimpse of the year ahead.
In celebration, I’d like to share a couple of special family recipes with you all, but before I spill
the recipes, here’s a wee little story…
My mum had a wonderful little shop that was a combination coffee, tea, and book shop. She,
along with her best friend Amelie, had baked all the delectable and magical little confections and
pastries themselves, as well as hand blending their own brand of teas. Thinking back on the shop
was always a morsel of bittersweet. I’d grown up from infanthood behind the counter and in the
kitchen. I’d cut my teeth on biscotti and various book bindings, graduating in middle-school to
busser, and then barista in high school. During what would have been my college years— had I
chosen that route rather than following in her bohemian, gypsy-hearted footsteps— my mum
taught me some of her more difficult secret recipes passed down through her family’s maternal
side. I never knew until much later they were somewhat on the unusual side of the cooking arena.
Other moms didn’t cook like my mum. Lavender-infused butter was always utilized for her
Slumber cookies, while Mugwort and Elderflowers were added to the Dream cookies, and her
teas were all mysterious and purposeful.
~ Excerpt from Nine While Nine by Stasia Morineaux
Dream Scones are known for the divinatory dreams they can arouse after eating, and are just
one variance of our family recipe for Sióg Cakes.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp dried lavender buds - crushed
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup cold butter cut into cubes
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp orange extract
1/4 cup elderberry syrup
Turbinado sugar
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Whisk together flour, sugar, lavender buds, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
4. Using a pastry blender, or your fingers, combine butter with dry ingredients until it
resembles coarse cornmeal
5. Add elderberry syrup, vanilla extract, and orange extract to your heavy cream, reserving 2
tbsp for brushing on scones.
6. Add cream to dry ingredients and combine.
7. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead quickly until dough takes shape.
8. Pat dough into a rectangle shape.
9. Cut the rectangle lengthwise and then each rectangle in half. Cut each piece diagonally in
half so that you end up with eight triangles.
10. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Brush the top of each scone with the liquid you are using,
and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
11. Bake for 15 minutes until golden.
12. Cool on a rack.
Divination Tea is a tasty potion that was handed down from my great great something-or-other
grandmother.
1 tbsp English or Irish Breakfast tea
2 tsp lemon balm
1 tsp eyebright
1 tbsp mugwort
1tbsp rose hips
2 tsp elder flowers
Combine herbs. Place 1 tbsp of herbs for every 8 oz of water into a pot on the stove. Bring to a
boil, then reduce to a simmer and steep for 10-15 minutes. Strain and sip!
Wishing you all the best and most wonderful of the season!