If you are from Lancashire or Yorkshire, you will either regularly enjoy parkin every autumn around Bonfire Night or will remember the hours you used to spend standing around your local community bonfire enjoying it after your little tub of Black Peas.
If, however, you have no idea what parkin is, you really are missing out. It is basically a classic ginger cake recipe, the Northern English version of gingerbread, and is most popular in Yorkshire (as Guy Fawkes was a Yorkshire man).
Parkin Loaf Recipe
There are some subtle variations depending on where you hail from, although the Yorkshire version which includes oats is seen as the most traditional one.
Here is a recipe so you can enjoy some parkin wherever you are from:
You will need:
- 110g self-raising flour
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp mixed spice
- 75g oat flakes
- 175g golden syrup
- 50g black treacle
- 110g unsalted butter
- 110g soft brown sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tsp milk
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 140°C and grease an 8-inch square cake tin
- Sieve the flour, salt, ginger, nutmeg and mixed spice in a large bowl, and stir through the oats
- Heat the syrup, treacle, butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over a gentle heat. Once the butter and sugar are melted, add the flour mix and combine
- Add the beaten egg and milk and mix through
- Pour into the baking tin and bake for around 50 minutes, until firm but cooked through
- Leave to cool before cutting into squares. Serve with ice cream or just a nice cup of tea.
TIP: If you serve it straight away, it will still be sticky, but the longer you keep it, the stickier it will get. For the best taste, bake a few days in advance to allow it to mature. Keep it stored in an airtight container.
Mixing the syrup combination into the flour can take quite a bit of arm work, so if you’d like an appliance which can help you along a little bit, a stand mixer is a great option. Read our reviews of the best stand mixers available here, and find your new best kitchen friend.
