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Parkin

The northern bonfire-night ginger cake made with oats, treacle and golden syrup. About 13p a square and it gets better every day you leave it.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Servings: 12 squares
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: british
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 100 g plain flour
  • 100 g medium oatmeal or porridge oats
  • 100 g dark brown soft sugar
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • pinch of salt
  • 100 g butter or baking spread
  • 2 tbsp golden syrup
  • 2 tbsp black treacle
  • 200 ml whole milk

Method
 

  1. Line a 20cm square tin with baking paper. Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan.
  2. Melt the butter, golden syrup and treacle together in a pan over a low heat, stirring until smooth, then set aside to cool slightly.
  3. Mix the flour, oatmeal, sugar, ginger and salt in a bowl. Stir the bicarbonate of soda into the milk, it will fizz a little.
  4. Pour the melted syrup mixture and the milk into the dry ingredients and beat well with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth, loose batter that drops lazily off the spoon.
  5. Tip into the tin and bake for 50-55 minutes until firm to the touch and springy in the centre. A skewer should come out with a few sticky crumbs rather than wet batter.
  6. Cool completely in the tin, then wrap the whole thing in baking paper and foil. Parkin is best after 3-5 days resting and will keep up to 2 weeks, getting stickier and darker as it sits.