Halloween is officially over for another year, which means that people are officially counting down to Christmas, but first it’s Bonfire Night, with all its annual traditions. Each year we’d flock to my primary school to watch a display of kaleidoscopic fireworks while nursing a cup of hot chocolate or tea.
I never grew up with any traditions so to speak, especially when it came to food. This year I tried my hand at making a traditional British dish to celebrate Bonfire Night: parkin. The first time I’d ever heard about parkin was during a season of Great British Menu, when a chef whipped up a parkin toast as an accompaniment to one of their dishes.
The dish itself is a traditional ginger cake hailing from Yorkshire, made with oatmeal, black treacle and a blend of spices.
It’s long been associated with Bonfire Night, especially in northern England. However, the tradition of eating special and seasonal cake is way older than the Gunpowder Plot.
I never grew up with any traditional Bonfire Night food, so it’s comforting to experience something delicious along with remembering the blazing of parliament. I used a trusty recipe from Good Food, which explained that it can be served for a cosy Bonfire Night or as an addition to an afternoon tea.
A key part of the recipe is oatmeal, which you usually don’t find in a lot of cake recipes. It’s not a traditional batter, using a lot of wet ingredients to ensure a moist texture.
Using light soft brown sugar will also help deepen the spiciness coming from the ground ginger. I’ve read that the best thing to do is let the parkin mature for a few days to really intensify the stickiness.
Even though I’ve only made this once, the maturing process is well worth the wait. Obviously if you can’t wait, definitely eat it warm. It would pair perfectly with some ice cream or cream.
I was initially worried that the cake was too firm after it came out of the oven, but allowing it to cool for three days allowed it to steep in the golden syrup and treacle. Using light soft brown sugar really helps create a fudgey, more moisture texture. I prefer using soft brown sugar or muscovado sugar for baking over caster sugar for this exact reason.
The rich molasses and ginger together personify the taste of autumn. I wonder if the spices are supposed to emulate the bonfire itself?
Parkin tastes like a cake your nan would enjoy, one that’s been passed from generation to generation; a slice of home comfort during the winter season. Is it the most exciting or innovative cake I’ve ever made? No, but not all cakes need to be showstopper-worthy.
Parkin has its place, preferably by a fire on a cold night, wrapped up in a blanket with a hot drink. Bonfire Night just wouldn’t be complete without a slice.
Ingredients
- 200g butter, plus extra for greasing
- One large egg
- Four tbsp milk
- 200g golden syrup
- 85g treacle
- 85g light soft brown sugar
- 100g medium oatmeal
- 250g self-raising flour
- One tbsp ground ginger
Method
Heat the 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 minutes to one hour 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.