Beltane Recipes with Correspondences and Vegan Alternatives
- 1 cup milk (almond or soy for vegan or dairy free)
- 2 tbsps unstated butter or margarine
- 1/4 cup honey (agave for vegan)
- 1/4 cup water, lukewarm
- 2 1/4 tsps instant yeast
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup oats (instant or old fashioned)
- 1 1/2 - 2 tbsps honey, warmed (agave for vegan)
- In a small bowl heat the milk so that it is warm enough to melt the butter, but not boiling. Add the butter, stirring until melted, then stir in the water and honey.
- Stir the yeast into the mixture and let sit for 15 minutes until bubbly.
- In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the flour, oats, and salt.
- Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture, mixing with a dough hook or spoon until it just comes together to form a dough. Knead in the mixer or by hand for 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Cover the bowl with a clean dry towel and allow to rise until doubled, about 1/2 to 1 hour.
- Once doubled, with your fingers, flatten the dough into a 9 by 12-inch rectangle. Tightly roll the dough, tucking the ends as needed, into a loaf. Place the shaped dough into a lightly greased 9×5-inch loaf pan, cover with a clean dry towl, and allow to rise until doubled, about 1/2 to 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 C). Place an empty loaf pan on the bottom rack of the oven and bring 2 cups of water to a boil.
- When the loaf is doubled again, brush the top with the warmed honey and sprinkle with the oats.
- Place the bread in the oven and pour the boiling water into the empty loaf pan on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the bread is deep golden brown and the internal temperature is about 190 degrees.
- Transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before serving.
Magickal Correspondences:
- Bread ~ (in general) kinship, sustenance
- Oat ~ grounding, prosperity
- Butter ~ smoothing relationships, spirituality, tenacity
- Milk ~ Goddess energy, love, nurturing, spirituality
- Flour ~ revealing hidden matters, consistency
- Honey ~ happiness, healing, love, lust, purification, spirituality, sweet things in life, weight loss, wisdom
- Salt ~ cleansing & purification, grounding, protection
- Yeast~ grounding, purification
Lemon Chamomile Whipped Shortbread Cookies
- 2 cups salted butter or margarine, very soft
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tsps loose chamomile tea
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lighty grease three baking sheets.
- Using a hand-held electric beater, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla until very creamy.
- Gradually beat in the cornstarch and flour.
- Beat in the lemon zest and chamomile. Continue to beat the batter for a full 10 minutes until it looks like slightly overbeaten whipped cream (see notes).
- Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake the cookies for approximately 15-20 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven just as they start to brown on the bottoms.
- Let the shortbread cookies cool on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Do be careful when moving them as they will fall apart if you transfer them too soon.
- If you use a stand-mixer instead of a hand held electric beater, the cookies will fall flat. If you want to use your stand mixer, please make sure to reduce the time you mix the batter.
Magickal Correspondences:
- Cookies ~ (in general) nurturing, love
- Lemon ~ faithfulness, friendship, happiness, longevity, love, marriage
- Butter ~ smoothing relationships, spirituality, tenacity
- Vanilla ~ joy, love, luck, lust, mental powers
- Chamomile ~ the sun, purification, protection, calming, luck
- Flour ~ revealing hidden matters, consistency
- 1 1/2 cups honey lavender simple syrup (recipe below)
- 2 1/2 cups water, sparkling water, or sparkling wine
Honey Lavender Simple Syrup:
- I cup honey (granulated sugar for vegan)
- Stir all ingredients together in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
- Remove from heat and refrigerate. Strain out buds before using.
- Stir all ingredients together until combined. Serve over ice.
Magickal Correspondences:
- Lemonade ~ love, purification
- Lemon ~ faithfulness, friendship, happiness, longevity, love, marriage
- Honey ~ happiness, healing, love, lust, purification, spirituality, sweet things in life, weight loss, wisdom
- Lavender ~ fertility, love, purification, relaxation, rest
