Funeral Biscuits (with recipe)
Photo courtesy of Rowan Artistry
Funeral biscuits were a type of biscuit traditionally served at funerals. They’ve been described as "a kind of sugared biscuit, which are wrapped up, generally two of them together, in a sheet of wax paper, sealed with black wax." The biscuits were given to each person attending the funeral.
In early North America, the biscuits were stamped with burial motifs or symbols, such as a winged head or cherub, or an hourglass or skull. (read more on Wikipedia)
The little parcels were sometimes inscribed with poems, Bible verses, or other memento mori. One wrapper, printed in Yorkshire in 1828, to commemorate the passing of one 52-year-old Mrs. Oliver, lamented, “How feeble is our mortal frame! What dying worms we be.” Occasionally, the dough was pressed into molds that left impressions of skulls, hearts, or other shapes. In 18th- and 19th-century England, it was customary for biscuits like these to accompany a formal, printed funeral invitation, “wrapped in a black-edged paper printed with suitably reflective verses and sealed with black wax” and tied with a black ribbon, writes University of Bristol folklorist and historian Helen Frisby in Traditions of Death and Burial. The more ornate wax seals might depict an hourglass, skull, or cherub flying toward Heaven. The cookies were also sometimes handed to mourners directly, or mailed to those who couldn’t make it. (read more at Atlas Obscura)
Photo courtesy of Atlas Obscura
Recipe:
Ingredients
250g butter (at room temperature)
120g caster sugar
4 teaspoons caraway seeds
3 teaspoons ground cardamom
280g flour
80g rice flour
pinch salt
Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the cardamom and caraway seeds.In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, rice flour and salt.Mix the dry ingredients into the creamed butter and sugar until the dough forms into a ball. If it does not bind, add a little iced water (no more than 2 teaspoons).
Cover the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.Preheat the oven to 150° C. Line a baking sheet with non-stick baking paper.
On a floured surface, gently roll out the dough until it is 1cm thick. Cut out 6cm rounds with a pre-floured scone cutter, and space them well apart on the baking sheet. Impress a cross shape into the top of each biscuit.Bake for 20 minutes, or until the biscuits have just begun to turn golden. Allow to cool completely. Once cold, wrap each biscuit individually with paper. (read more at Sydney Living Museums)
Another Recipe here
Let me know if you make these!