Parkin

Like many other bloggers, we decided to make parkin in honour of Guy Fawke’s Night. Neither of us had eaten it before so weren’t sure what to expect, the combination of ginger and cinammon sounded irresistable though so off we went to purchase the huge amounts of sugar, butter, treacle and syrup we needed. I could feel my teeth complaining before I even started trying to measure out the ingredients (does anyone have a foolproof recipe for measuring sticky substances like treacle?) and mixed it all together.

Aside from covering myself and the kitchen in a sugary mess, it was very easy to make and came together just as the recipe said it would. Unfortunately, I had the oven too high and I think I’ve over cooked it. It has a dark, deep flavour but does taste slightly burnt and a little dry. Leaving it in the tin for a few days has helped though and I think serving it with brandy butter would be brilliant.

Recipe as used by Penny, Sylvie and Jules:

125 g butter (if using unsalted butter add 1 tsp salt)
125 g golden syrup
125 g black treacle
125 g golden caster sugar
250 g plain flour
250 g medium oatmeal
4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, beaten

1) Preheat oven to 150°C/Gas 2/300°F and line a 10×10 baking pan. Gently heat the butter, golden syrup, treacle and sugar in a pan, stirring constantly until all the sugar is dissolved.

2) In a bowl sift together flour, oatmeal, baking soda, salt (if using), ginger and cinnamon. Make a well in the centre and pour in the melted butter mixture, beat until everything is combined.

3) When combined add the egg and mix until you have a smooth soft batter. If the batter seems to be stiff add 1tbsp of milk.

4) Pour into the tin and bake 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool before removing and cut into squares