Parkin

Parkin

A traditional sponge cake from Northern England flavoured with syrupy molasses, oatmeal and ginger

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5
 stars 6 ratings 5

Recipe by Sarah Cook

Tested

Difficulty and servings

Easy

MAKES 16 squares

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr

Method

  1. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease a deep 22cm/9in square cake tin and line with baking parchment. Beat the egg and milk together with a fork.
  2. 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.
  3. 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 and keep for 3-5 days before eating if you can - it'll become softer and stickier the longer you leave it, up to 2 weeks.

PER SERVING

248 kcalories, protein 3g, carbohydrate 33.3g, fat 11.4 g, saturated fat 6.7g, fibre 0.9g, sugar 18.5g, salt 0.5 g

Recipe from bbcgoodfood.com, January 2012.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • 06 February 2012

    betty commented on this recipe

    This cake is perfect to banish those winter blues, the ginger and treacle combo is a sure fire winner!

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  • 07 February 2012

    Julie Bahrain rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Used fine oatmeal as that was what I had. Lovely straight from the oven and it gets even better.............. :-)

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  • 18 February 2012

    Marcula rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Gorgeous! No chance of it being left 3-5 days however. Made it this afternoon and looks like I'll have to make another tomorrow! My wife said it's the best parkin she's ever tasted. Can see this being made on a regular basis, so easy too

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  • 22 February 2012

    Honeybee rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Lovely, easy and quick. Will add more ginger the next time though. Real comfort food.

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  • 10 March 2012

    Woodyweb commented on this recipe

    Fantastic recipe, so easy yet so tasty! Trying to leave it a few days, haven't managed it yet!

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  • 13 April 2012

    recipes commented on this recipe

    Really tasty parkin. I increased the oatmeal and decreased the flour by 25g and added more ginger. The best one yet

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  • 15 June 2012

    evelyn-r commented on this recipe

    I'm from Leeds, and this doesn't look dark enough for Parkin to me. It's a cake traditionally served on Bonfire Night (only, or thereabouts) and is usually made with more treacle and less golden syrup. You MUST make it in advance and save it for the day of your Bonfire or Firework Party. It goes beautifully sticky over a few days.

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  • 26 October 2012

    janine rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    amazing, quick and simple, managed to abstain for 2 days, now really sticky and delicious, hubby says needs more black treacle thou, definitely making for bonfire party next weekend

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  • 31 October 2012

    marlene commented on this recipe

    I would love to make this Parkin, but how do you measure syrup and treacle by weight withoiut scales? Any ideas out there!

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  • 31 October 2012

    Rach commented on this recipe

    This is not a true Parkin recipe; where's the lard, vinegar & bicarb? Yorkshire Parkin is dark, slightly sticky and better for leaving a few days before eating. This is more like the gingerbreads favoured in the south.

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  • 04 November 2012

    nikki rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    Tastes nice but best eaten when still warm, I found it went dry when left for a few days.

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  • 06 November 2012

    Tilly commented on this recipe

    Message for Marlene..how to weigh syrup, put your pan on top of your scales and turn the dial to 0 zero....then weigh amount of syrup required e.g. 200 grams, then 85 grams black treacle (285) on dial, then add rest of ingredients....and heat in same pan.hope you can understand what I'm talking about.

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  • Binder photo Dee

    07 December 2012

    Dee rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I wanted to make something like gingerbread (I'm in the US) but I didn't want to fuss too much with creaming butter and sugar. I found this recipe (had Lyle's in the cupboard and substituted molasses for the treacle) and I baked it this afternoon. Wow...this is absolutely delicious. I expected it to be heavier especially with the all the butter and treacle/molasses but this is going to be great with some tea.

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  • 18 December 2012

    Nicola commented on this recipe

    Very easy to make. Went down well with warm custard.

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  • 22 December 2012

    Michael commented on this recipe

    I agree with Rach. More syrup, where's the lard, and ADDING AN EGG!!!!????? Still I'm sure it tastes nice enough. As for the rest of you, suck it up and leave it for a week minimum as it tastes MUCH better. If you can get it off your teeth in less than 10 mins, it's too young, my Mum used to leave it for 4 weeks before we were allowed to try it. To quote from the Wikipaedia entry, 'Fresh parkin is frowned upon'.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

MAKES 16 squares

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr

Ingredients

  • 200g butter , plus extra for greasing
  • 1 large egg
  • 4 tbsp milk
  • 200g golden syrup
  • 85g treacle
  • 85g light soft brown sugar
  • 100g medium oatmeal
  • 250g self-raising flour
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
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PER SERVING

248 kcalories, protein 3g, carbohydrate 33.3g, fat 11.4 g, saturated fat 6.7g, fibre 0.9g, sugar 18.5g, salt 0.5 g

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