This put me in mind of a recipe for “Funeral Biscuits”, which I cut from a magazine (and baked) in 1990. The recipe states that “Leftover Funeral Biscuits were saved from one funeral to serve at the next in 18th-century America, which helped to keep alive memories of a community’s deceased”. Like the recipe for Caraway Cookies, this one includes caraway seeds. But there end the similarity; Funeral Biscuits contain butter (not cream), eggs, milk, ground ginger and molasses in addition to flour and granulated white sugar. But – maybe they are in some way descended from or related to Caraway Cookies? They’re from the same century. (BTW, the Funeral Biscuits are very good.)

• Reply