Bonfire night is usually an explosive one in my family, we gather to celebrate Guy Fawkes’ night and enjoy a bang or two ourselves. When I was younger, it was an annual occasion with a fire in the back garden, spinning fireworks, jacket potatoes and toffee apples. Nowadays, it’s homemade Parkin, a few beers or hot chocolates, wherever we end up.
Here’s my Yorkshire Parkin recipe to share with you all.
You will need (makes two cakes):
170g black treacle
330g golden syrup
220g butter
220g light brown sugar, sifted
220g self- raising flour
450g oats
4 tsps dried ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
4 medium eggs, beaten
2 tbsps milk
Making the cake:
- Line two trays (approximately 20cm by 8cm). Preheat oven to 140oC/ 120oC Fan. Place the treacle, syrup, sugar and butter in a Pyrex bowl. Melt over a pan of boiling water.
Before: the mixture will combine.
After: the mixture will look glossy. - Once melted, allow to cool for a few minutes. Meanwhile, sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Mix them together and make a hole/ well in the middle.
- Add the treacle mix to the dry mix bit by bit, slowly, mixing as you do.
- Next, add the beaten eggs and milk. This will make the mixture glossy and combined well.
- Finally, pour the mixture into two lined tins.
- Bake in the oven for one hour to an hour and a half. The cake could dry out so keep an eye on it after an hour. Depending on the size of your tin it could take longer (i.e an hour and a half).
- Once cooked leave to cool and then wrap in baking parchment. The Parkin is best left for 1-5 days to develop stickiness. I usually can’t resist after the first day. Then you can cut it into pieces. Wrap it up like it’s Christmas!
