Old Fashioned Yorkshire Parkin Food

OLD FASHIONED YORKSHIRE PARKIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 170c conv/150deg Fan Assisted. Grease and line an 8"/20cm square, loose bottomed cake tin with baking parchment.
• Place the butter, Black Treacle, Golden Syrup and Brown Sugar in a pan over a low heat. Gently simmer until all the sugar and butter have melted.
• Take off the heat and leave to one side to cool a little.
• Place all the dry ingredients consisting of Oatmeal, Flour, Baking Powder and Ginger, into a large heat proof bowl and gently mix together.
• Pour the cooled sugar treacle mix over the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
• Add the milk and give it all a good mix. Gradually add the eggs and mix until well combined. Remember that the mixture may still be a little hot. Take care as you don't want scrambled eggs.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 35 - 45 mins or until cooked, testing the centre of the cake with a skewer until it comes out clean.
• Leave in the tin to cool for around 15 mins before removing from the tin then leave to cool completely.

YORKSHIRE PARKIN

Steps:

• Generously grease an 8x8 inch baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Place the medium oatmeal in a large bowl along with the flour, spices, salt and baking powder.
• In a medium saucepan add the brown sugar, black treacle, golden syrup, butter and lard (if using). Heat the mixture until the sugar is melted (don't boil it) and remove from the heat. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
• Pour the hot mixture into the dry mixture and stir well to combine. Add the candied ginger, egg and milk and stir well to combine. The batter will be liquid and sticky.
• Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake 70-80 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. The cake should be fairly firm but springy. Let the cake cool in the pan. Invert the cake onto a platter. Peel off the parchment paper. Cut the parkin into squares.Place the squares into an airtight container and let it sit for at least 3 days before eating. This is critical (see blog post).

EASY YORKSHIRE PARKIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2 and line a small, deep baking tray with parchment paper. Combine the oatmeal, flour and ginger in a large mixing bowl.
• Melt the sugar, butter, syrup and treacle in a bowl in the microwave or in a saucepan over a low heat. Pour the melted ingredients into the flour with the eggs and milk and stir well.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tray.
• Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown, but still soft and sticky on top. Reduce the oven to 130C/250F/Gas 1 and bake for a further 30 minutes until firm to the touch.
• Allow to cool, before tightly wrapping in cling film. Store for at least three to five days to mature.

YORKSHIRE PARKIN - STICKY OATMEAL GINGERBREAD FOR BONFIRE NIGHT

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 170C/340F/Gas 3 to 4. Grease and LINE with baking paper a large roasting tin or Pyrex roasting/lasagne dish - I use a 9" by 14" glass dish for mine.
• Mix the flour, sugar, oats, ground ginger and chopped preserved ginger together in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre.
• Melt the butter in a saucepan and then add the golden syrup and treacle, warm them through but do not allow them to boil.
• Pour the butter mixture from the saucepan into the well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Drop the bicarbonate of soda on top and then sprinkle the vinegar over the soda and watch it fizz.
• Meanwhile, add the milk to the butter and treacle saucepan and heat it up gently - not TOO hot, hand hot is fine.
• Add the milk to the ginger parkin mixture and mix thoroughly. It should be a fairly loose batter. Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin/tray and bake just above the middle of the pre-heated oven for 1 hour. (The parkin is cooked when it springs back when touched and is a dark brown with a sticky-ish surface.).
• Allow it to cool completely in the tin/tray, then cut into slices or chunks and store in an airtight tin for 2/3 days before eating. It can be frozen at this stage too. You can eat it straight away, but it is always better after 2 to 3 days!

PARKIN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Butter a deep 22cm square cake tin and line with baking parchment. Beat the egg and milk together with a fork.
• Gently melt the syrup, treacle, sugar and butter together in a large pan until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat. Mix together the oatmeal, flour and ginger and stir into the syrup mixture, followed by the egg and milk.
• Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 50 mins - 1 hr until the cake feels firm and a little crusty on top. Cool in the tin then wrap in more parchment and foil. Keep for up to five days before eating if you can - it'll become softer and stickier the longer you leave it, up to two weeks.