Parkin/Gingerbread recipe please!

Whiff

nightowl every recipe I was taught for Parkin didn't have oats and of course black treacle . That gives the Parkin its taste and rich colour.

nightowl have you got a recipe you use. As I will like to make your family one.

Oh dear Whiff, I will have to search for my mum’s recipe (which I believe was my granny’s). I’m ashamed to say it’s been so long I’m not sure where it is . I’m away at the moment so can’t look until the weekend.

I will have a look and come back or pm you when I find it
- I must admit I was just intending to use a recipe from the internet - I just get worse don’t I? Im a rubbish cook, not a bad baker, but that’s why I said I couldn’t argue with your expertise

I’m sure there must be some excellent Yorkshire bakers on here who have a good recipe.

Pigma in later years my mum used rolled or porridge oats. I think what you use depends whether you like a rough or smoother texture, which you would get from a finer oatmeal.

I’m really not a Parkin expert, my main contribution was to eat it!

Likewise, night owl!!!

Good luck! You will hardly taste the black treacle - I like it in , but you could always substitute it for extra golden syrup. It is easy honest 😀!

The Parkin gingerbread issue is interesting. Just looked online and many Yorkshire Parkin recipes contain oats . One website tells me that Lancashire parkin has oats in but Yorkshire Parkin does not, but does however have the black treacle in - very confusing! All I know is I was brought up in Yorkshire and Mums Parkin did not contain oats. Either way I am sure it is very tasty!! If this thread has got people in the mood for baking Parkin ( whatever the recipe) enjoy!

Years ago I posted Molly Greenwoods Parkin recipe in the recipe section.. It may still be in the recipe section. I make it every year. I have never tasted a better one. It’s worth remembering that oatmeal can go off if you don’t use it frequently so make lots to freeze.

Well, Saint Delia’s recipe for Traditional Oatmeal Parkin includes ‘medium oatmeal’. She also recommends keeping the finished parkin for at least a week before eating, because that makes it more moist and sticky. I can confirm that that is true. About now would be the time I would make parkin for Bonfire Night.

I grew up in Yorkshire and all the parkin I came across had oatmeal in it, giving it a slightly gritty texture.

In my scruffy folder of recipes I have a newspaper cutting from 2011, giving a recipe for parkin which starts off:
54lb margarine, 212lb golden syrup, 132lb fine oatmeal…… It was the recipe used by Whiteley’s bakery in Huddersfield for their famous Yorkshire parkin (the cutting goes on to give a scaled down version of the recipe for home use!). Whiteley’s used golden syrup, not black treacle. Delia uses both.

I guess it’s just what you like!

So, my friends, after all that I have been granted a reprieve and am now making sausage casserole for the bonfire party and not parkin or gingerbread. Phew! So I can now experiment at leisure with your recipes rather than having the pressure of having to get it all sorted quickly - as a non-baker I can’t tell you how stressful I was finding it all. So thank you so much for all your help and advice and recipes, I’m looking forward to having a play in the kitchen at some stage.

I will have a go at Delia's recipe Granva. I can use my craft group as taste testers. Made mango chutney this morning by my way . Like everything I cook plenty of short cuts.

Pigma you may have to make 2 if there are any vegetarians.

Found recipe will bake it ready for 2 weeks but bake it days before as it says to keep it. I bake every 2 weeks. It was lemon drizzle this week.

This has made me want to make parkin and ginger cake, so I went to find my mother's old cookery books. I have 'Yorkshire Cookery', published by Dalesman Books in 1974 and 'Yorkshire WI Recipe Book' (Through Yorkshire's Kitchen Door) from the 1960s or early 1970s. They each have a recipe for parkin and both have oats in them.

Whiff I made your recipe today and it's delicious and very easy to make.

My (Yorkshire) mum's parkin recipe definitely uses oatmeal!
Oats just wouldn't give the same texture.

In recent years she has got very annoyed because it is no longer readily available in the local supermarkets all year round like it used to be.

I did wonder if oats would give a different texture which is why I asked the question. I’ve found recipes by Drlia, Mary Berry and Good Housekeeping that use oatmeal so don’t think it can just be American and I have seen it in the shops locally but didn’t really want to buy it specially if I could use oats which I already have. Anyway, thanks to the recipes posted here I can make something nice and seasonal using neither! Now there’s no pressure I can take my time and have a play. Will report back on the results of my endeavours.

Moonwatcher glad you like it. Everything I do I adapt to make them easy because of my limitations. Only 2 things I can't make that's muffins always come out like rubber balls. And Swiss roll which always cracks and is dry.

Going to try some gluten free cakes using gluten free flour I have 2 friends who can't have gluten. So will be a learning curve.

Whiff - just made your cake, it’s in the oven right now. Referring back to your recipe, I used one and a quarter spoons of bicarbonate of soda, hope that’s right as my spoons measure in quarter, half or a full teaspoon. Smells delicious so I hope that’s right. Is it vital to keep til the next day? Hubby is looking very hopeful having scraped out the bowl and declared it delicious, he may not be able to wait til tomorrow!!

Pigma I should have written it better one and half level teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. I always my half teaspoon measure and make sure it's level.
The amount you used will be fine. Once cold if your husband wants a piece he should have one. But when he tastes it tomorrow it will be more tasty as the ginger will be stronger in taste.

Ah, I understand now, thanks for clarifying that, Whiff. It did look just fine when it came out of the oven but I’ll know for next time. We’ve agreed to hold off on the tasting til tomorrow so it’s all wrapped up and out of temptation’s way til then! Thank you for replying so promptly, doesn’t take much to throw me into a panic with baking! I’m fine with cooking, just not baking - all seems a bit too scientific. I’ll report back when we’ve done the taste test.

Reporting back after our coffee and cake tasting session! A delicious everyday sort of cake, not too gingery and quite light. Thank you, Whiff. Will now have a go at Shelflife’s recipe as something inside me hankers for that old-fashioned dark sticky stuff of our childhood! Presume that’s the black treacle? Is that what they put in that dark bonfire toffee? Do you think my ancient tin of black treacle will still be ok? Had it years and not sure what I ever used it for! Having fun baking and tasting, that’s for sure!

Might try that later Whiff. I make a sticky stem ginger cake, with lemon icing, which is very popular with the family. It’s a BBC Good Food recipe.

Ooh, that sounds lovely, Patsy. Will have a look at the website. There are so many recipes out there it’s good to get some personal recommendations.

Good thread, thanks everyone.

Hellogirll:
Thank you Shelflife, I was born and bred in Yorkshire, raised on regular helpings of parkin ..

I too am from Yorkshire, but have lived in the south for a number of years. I haven't heard of Parkin in the south. There are lots of foods we have in the north that you don't find in the south

I was going to make Delia Smith's Parkin recipe. But found Nancy Birtwhistle's recipe so going to make that instead . In her recipe she says you don't have to buy fine oatmeal just blitz some porridge oats to fine . Woman after my own heart always a different way to do things.