Parkin cake

Parkin is a lovely, sticky, gingery cake slice traditionally eaten on bonfire night in England – hence its presence at our fireside cooking evening. It’s a brilliant sweet to make ahead as it only becomes more delicious after a couple of days when the flavours intensify even further.

• makes

  60

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  1:40 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 440 g (1¼ cups) golden syrup
• 240 g treacle
• 2 tbsp milk
• 100 g unsalted butter
• 100 g lard
• 450 g fine oatmeal (use quick cooking oats at a pinch)
• 200 g plain flour
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 130°C. Grease and line base and sides of a 5 cm x 21 cm x 31 cm slice pan.

2. Place golden syrup, treacle, milk, butter and lard in a saucepan over medium heat and cook for 8 minutes or until melted; don’t let mixture boil.

3. Combine oatmeal, flour, bicarb soda, ginger, mixed spice and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Pour in the warm syrup mixture and stir to combine, then add the eggs and stir to combine. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

4. Bake for 1½ hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the batter has set into a nice, sticky slice.

5. Cut the parkin into 3 cm squares and, ideally, leave for a few days before eating. It will keep in an airtight container for up to 10 days.

As seen in Feast magazine, Issue 11, pg38

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.