This is not the parkin I recall eating as a kid on fireworks nights; this is just a tribute…
Parkin is one of those things found in the North of England (Yorkshire/Lancashire) which seems just about unheard of elsewhere, It’s a peasant food dating back to the 1700s, made from oats and treacle, since these were more readily available than sugar and flour at the time.
I have fond memories of eating parkin on bonfire night; in our village, someone was always handing out pieces and it was sweet and spicy and sticky, just what you needed on a cold night.
As an adult, I tracked down and tried a number of recipes before finally giving up and making my own. This probably doesn’t taste anything like the parkin I ate as a kid, but it does taste just how I remember it tasting. Enjoy!
Ingredients: A list
175g almond flour
175g porridge oats
2 eggs
150ml almond milk
1 tsp baking powder
200g Crystallised Ginger
Ingredients: B list
125g unsalted butter
300g black treacle
3 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160°C
- Mix the A list ingredients, and leave to stand while you…
- Put the B list ingredients on a double boiler and stir until smooth
- Mix all the ingredients together
- Put in a baking tin
- Cook at 160°C for 50-60m.
Notes
- The almond milk and eggs will soak into the oats and soften them a little while the other ingredients are melting. It will also help the oats act as a binding agent.
- Mixing the spices with the butter and treacle releases more of the flavours than if you just put them in the dry ingredients (oils carry flavour better than water).
- Legend tells that this cake is best if left to age in an air-tight container for a few days before eating. Ours never last that long, so I can neither confirm nor deny.
Vegan modifications
125g butter –> 100g coconut oil
150ml almond milk –> 175ml almond milk
2 eggs –> 2 cooked and pureed Granny Smith apples (10 mins in the microwave in a bowl with an inch of water followed by a minute in the blender should do it)
Consider swapping the almond flour for plain flour if you’re OK with gluten, since the apples don’t bind as well as eggs do.