Recipes for Beltane
Foods associated with Beltane include:
Dairy foods such as custard and ice cream.
Eggs.
Oatmeal cakes.
Asparagus, brussels sprouts, spring lettuce salads.
Beltane is a floral and holiday, so prepare foods using edible flowers! Edible flower you can use at this occasion include the petals of roses, marigolds, daisies, angelica, and woodruff (which should only be used in wines).
Other plants and herbs associated with Beltane (not all of which are edible): bluebells, primroses, lilac, hawthorn, birch trees, and rosemary. Also included are almond, ash trees, cinquefoil, frankincense, ivy, and satyrion root.
Brussels Sprouts
7 to 10 brussels sprouts per adult person
1/4 cup melted butter
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
If you can, get your brussels sprouts from a store that sells them in loose bins. Pick out the smaller, tight sprouts.
To cook them, clean and trim the sprouts, removing the bottom stem and tougher outside leaves (very important!). You've already cut the bottom of the stalk off: now cut an "X" into the bottom of each sprout (about an 1/8 of an inch deep). Steam the sprouts for about 20 minutes, until they are soft. (This is not a vegetable you want to eat crispy, believe me.) Pour over the melted butter and season lightly with salt and pepper. Enjoy!
Oatmeal Cakes
1-1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup oats
1/2 cup creamed butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
honey
Pour boiling water over oats and let stand 20 minutes. Combine butter (creamed), brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, sifted flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add oatmeal mixture. Stir until well mixed. Spoon into oiled muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes or until tops are golden and springy. Sprinkle a little honey over each oatmeal cake.
Beltane Bread
Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and combine:
4 cups sifted flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
2 cups sugar
1 tube almond paste
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
5 eggs
When dough is worked to medium soft, shape into flattened balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool, ice with white Solar Cross. You could try this as a single loaf. I also like to make an almond biscuit with biscuit mix, almond extract, sugar, cinnamon, and eggs, but in smaller proportions.
Source: Ann Moura (Aoumiel)'s book Green Witchcraft: Folk Magic, Fairy
Lore & Herb Craft,
Llewellyn Publications, 1996.
Beltane Marigold Custard
2 cups milk
1 cup unsprayed marigold petals
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 to 2-inch piece vanilla bean
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1/8 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. rose water
whipped cream
Using a clean mortar and pestle reserved for cooking purposes, pound marigold petals. Or, crush with a spoon. Mix the salt, sugar and spices together. Scald milk with the marigolds and the vanilla bean. Remove the vanilla bean and add the slightly beaten yolks and dry ingredients. Cook on low heat. When the mixture coats the spoon, add rose water and cool.
Top with whipped cream, garnish with fresh marigold petals.
Source: Scott Cunningham, Wicca: A Guide For The Solitary
Practitioner,
Llewellyn Publications, 1988/1990.
Fried Honeycakes
These small cakes are not unlike those made on the night before Beltane by women around the turn of the century. These cakes were left in the garden to please fairy vistors.
1/2 cup sweet white wine
1 egg
2/3 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon sugar
1 cup honey
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Oil for frying
Beat the wine and egg in a medium bowl. Combine the flour, cinnamon, salt and sugar in a small bowl. Stir into the egg misture. Let stand 30 minutes.
Combine the honey and nutmeg in a small bowl. Heat 1/2-inch of the oil in a frying pan until hot but no smoking. Drop the batter into the oil 1 tablespoon at a time; fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Dip into the honey.
Yield: 1 1/2 dozen
Maibowle (Waldmeisterbowle)
This is a traditional German Mayday or Beltane drink.
A gallon of white wine
10 sprigs Sweet Woodruff, coarsely chopped (an ounce dried will do in a pinch)
4 Tablespoons sugar (or to taste)
1 bottel ginger ale or sparkling mineral water (optional)
A Lemon, thinly sliced
A good mitful of strawberries, if available
Sprigs of Sweet Woodruff with flowers
Add the chopped woodruff to the wine & let sit overnight. Strain. Add sugar to taste. Add the remaining ingredients; the sprigs with flowers make a nice garnish. Serve cool.
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