Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, to celebrate their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
Trick-or-treating began in areas of the United Kingdom and Ireland when people went house-to-house "souling" - asking for small breads called "soul cakes" in exchange for prayer. Adults also went door-to-door asking for food and drinks in exchange for a song or dance. Immigrants from Ireland and Scotland brought Halloween to the United States in the 1800s. Haitian and African immigrants brought voodoo beliefs about black cats, fire, and witchcraft. Today we enjoy Halloween by handing out candy and dress up in the most creative costumes.
So here is a cake that looks like a witch's hat. It is an almond cake with almond buttercream filling. Trick-or-Treat!
Did you know? One quarter of all the candy sold annually in the U.S. is purchased for Halloween. Total spending on candy is estimated to reach $9 billion in 2018.
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