My Posh Parkin - The Ultimate Ginge

My posh parkin

For the uninitiated, Yorkshire Parkin can be an acquired taste.

Some old school pudding recipes have a lot more dark treacle than mine, are overpowered with nutmeg, and traditionally those little hard bits of oatmeal would be added.

My recipe is lighter, it's more-ish and packs a quality ginger punch that proper warms thi' cockles. It's still good and stodgy, and sticks to yer ribs.

This was one of my best sellers in the food hall of Doncaster market from September - May. As soon as the kids go back to school, thoughts turn to cooler days and cosier bakes, and I'd immediately start getting requests for it.

NOTE: You need to bake this a week ahead so it matures, or 'comes again' as the traditional bakers would say. The top will soften and get sticky - that's when it's perfect.

My Posh Parkin

Prep 30 mins, bake time 45 mins - 1hour

Makes enough to fill a large roasting tin, a 12" square cake tin, or 2 of the widely sold foil trays that measure 30 x 18cm.

It freezes beautifully and is very hard to mess up, so I'd recommend making the big batch, but by all means reduce the recipe by half if you don't want to bake so much.

Ingredients:

• 454g tin of golden syrup

• 454g tin of black treacle

• 750g butter. Baking block will work as well, but nothing from a tub - you need the firmer texture or your Parkin will crumble too much

• 500g sugar - light brown soft is perfect, but golden or standard caster sugar also work well

• 880g plain flour

• 25g bicarbonate of soda

• 100g ground ginger. That's not a typo! ULTIMATE GINGE! (If you haven't got enough in the cupboard, you can sub some with cinnamon or nutmeg, it will still be glorious)

• 700g porridge or jumbo oats

• 750ml whole milk (semi skimmed is acceptable)

• 4 large eggs

• Ginger pieces for topping - either stem ginger from a jar (drained), or the crystallised stuff, chopped as fine as you'd like it.

Method:

1. Line your tin(s) with baking paper. No need to do this if you are using the foil trays, but you may wish to lightly grease with butter or oil.

2. Preheat oven to 130C/270F if you have a fan oven, 150C/300F if not a fan oven, or gas mark 2.

3. In a large pan over a low heat, melt together the golden syrup, black treacle, butter and sugar. Don't boil it - keep stirring regularly until the sugar is dissolved.

4. In a very large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and the ground ginger. Be very careful when sifting the ginger - I can only compare the feeling of accidentally inhaling it, to the time I walked into a cloud of pepper spray in the entrance to a nightclub in 1999. 'Kin hurts.

5. In a jug, whisk the eggs into the milk.

6. Chuck everything into the bowl together, don't forget the oats, and stir with a hand whisk until combined.

7. Pour evenly into the baking tin(s), top with the ginger pieces and bake for approx 45 mins - 1 hour. It's ready when it feels firm and dry when you press on it. If the top is glistening, it needs a little longer. Don't open the oven until at least 40 mins in or it will sink in the middle.

8. Leave to cool completely in the tin. Wrap in cling film and don't touch it for a whole week - the top will then be nice and soft and sticky.

9. Slice it up, freeze what you need to, serve with a strong mug of Yorkshire Tea (this is a legal requirement btw). It will keep airtight somewhere cool for another 2 weeks. If it dries out a bit, no bother - just serve it with some thick custard and/or a second brew.

My Posh Parkin