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Parkin - The Sticky Bonfire Night Cake That Makes You Wait
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- Prep20 min
- Cook1 hr
- Mature3 days
- Makes16
- Calories~240
Calories are approximate, per piece, worked out from the ingredients. Brands and portion sizes vary.
This parkin recipe makes a dark, sticky ginger cake from black treacle, golden syrup and oatmeal - bake it for about an hour at 140C fan, then wrap it up and leave it alone for 3 days.
Parkin is the only cake I know that tells you to go away.
You bake it. It comes out of the oven smelling like a Yorkshire bonfire. And then you're not allowed to eat it. For three days.
It's the cake equivalent of being put on hold.
But on day three something happens. The dry, crumbly slab turns dark, sticky and squidgy, like the top of a malt loaf, and you understand why the North has been doing this for 300 years.
Bonfire Night is 5 November. Reading this on the 4th? Don't panic - there's a section for you further down. It involves custard.
What is Yorkshire parkin?
Parkin is a dark ginger cake made with oatmeal and black treacle, from Yorkshire and the north of England, and it's eaten on Bonfire Night.
Think gingerbread, but heavier, darker and with a Yorkshire accent.
The oatmeal gives it a slightly nubbly, chewy texture. The black treacle gives it the colour of a coal scuttle and a flavour somewhere between toffee and liquorice.
Ginger does the warming. Golden syrup does the sticking.
It isn't pretty. A proper parkin cake is brown, square and flat. So is Aaron's hairline, and we love him too.
Why is parkin eaten on Bonfire Night?
Because parkin was the North's early-November cake long before Guy Fawkes - the Gunpowder Plot just gave it a bonfire to sit next to.
The oldest written mention found so far is in a Yorkshire court record from 1729, where a servant in Elland was asked to "steale meal" to "make a parkin".
The first recorded parkin was an inside job. Tyson respects that.
Oats grow better than wheat in the cold, wet North, so oatmeal went into everything. Bettys points out that some families still keep a "Parkin Sunday" in early November.
The early parkins were thin oatcakes cooked on a hot stone. The cake we know only arrived when homes got ovens and bicarbonate of soda in the 1800s. By the 1860s, Leeds was calling 5 November "Parkin Night".
Nobody knows where the name comes from. Isaac's theory is that a man called Parkin invented it. Isaac's theories are usually right. This one is unproven.
What you need
- 200g medium oatmeal. Not porridge oats - unless you blitz them first (see the questions at the bottom).
- 200g plain flour
- 1 tbsp ground ginger. Yes, a whole tablespoon. This is parkin, not a polite biscuit.
- 1 tsp mixed spice and ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda. Not baking powder. Different job.
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 50ml milk
For the treacle pan
The wet half of parkin is 170g butter, 120g black treacle, 100g golden syrup and 100g dark brown soft sugar, melted together gently.
This is where parkin gets its colour, its stick and its slight air of menace.
- 170g butter, cubed
- 120g black treacle. The bit that makes it Yorkshire.
- 100g golden syrup. The bit that makes it sticky.
- 100g dark brown soft sugar
Treacle and syrup are a nightmare to measure in a spoon. Put the saucepan on the scales and pour them straight in. No spoon, no washing up, no treacle on the ceiling.
Kit
- A 20cm square cake tin - not loose-bottomed. The batter is runny. A loose base is an escape route.
- Baking paper, and kitchen scissors to cut it to size
- A medium saucepan
- A balloon whisk with a silicone scraper. Whisk the batter smooth, then scrape every last drop of treacle out of the pan. Treacle left in the pan is treacle not in the parkin.
- A large mixing bowl and a jug
- Kitchen scales
- A skewer, to test it
- An airtight tin, for the three-day wait
How to make parkin
Step 1 - Line the tin and heat the oven
- Heat the oven to 160C (140C fan, gas 3).
- Grease the tin and line the base and sides with baking paper. Kitchen scissors make short work of the corners.
- Let the paper stand a little above the sides. It's your handle for lifting the parkin out later.
Aaron had a set square out. For a square tin. I didn't ask.
Step 2 - Melt the treacle, syrup, butter and sugar
- Put the saucepan on the scales and weigh in the butter, black treacle, golden syrup and dark brown sugar.
- Melt it over a low heat, stirring now and then, until the butter's gone and the sugar has dissolved.
- Don't let it boil. Boiled syrup turns to toffee, and toffee makes hard parkin.
- Take it off the heat and let it cool for a few minutes.
Low and slow on the treacle pan. The moment it bubbles, take it off. Boiling it is the most common reason parkin turns out hard and chewy.
Ayden stood over the pan with his eyes shut, breathing it in. Lara told him he looked like a bonfire guy. He's still upset.
Step 3 - Mix the dry ingredients
- In a large bowl, stir together the oatmeal, flour, ginger, mixed spice, nutmeg, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
- Make a well in the middle.
Erin decreed the ginger be doubled. The recipe overruled her. The recipe is not a monarchy.
Step 4 - Make the batter
- Pour the warm treacle mixture into the well and stir it in.
- Beat the egg with the milk in a jug, then add it to the bowl and whisk until smooth. The whisk with the scraper gets the last of the treacle out of the pan as well.
- You want a loose, glossy batter that pours. Too stiff to pour? Add another splash of milk.
Tyson has now licked more treacle off the floor than went in the tin. He's had a lovely afternoon.
Step 5 - Bake for about an hour
- Pour the batter into the tin and level it.
- Bake for about 1 hour - start checking at 55 minutes. Some ovens need up to 1 hour 10.
- Don't open the door for the first 50 minutes. Cold air in the middle of the bake is how parkin sinks.
- It's done when it's firm in the centre and springs back when pressed, and a skewer comes out clean.
Aaron sat in front of the oven for the full hour. He said he was keeping an eye on it. He was mostly keeping an eye on Dexter.
Step 6 - Cool it, wrap it and wait
- Leave the parkin in the tin for at least 30 minutes, then lift it out by the paper and let it cool completely on a rack.
- Wrap it, whole and uncut, in baking paper, then put it in an airtight tin.
- Leave it somewhere cool for 3 days. Do not open the tin. Do not check on it. It's fine.
The waiting is part of the recipe. Fresh parkin is dry and crumbly. After 3 days in a tin, the treacle pulls moisture back in and it turns sticky. Skip this and you've made a ginger brick.
Three days is a long time to stare at a tin. Erin managed it. Twice a day.
Step 7 - Cut into squares and serve
- Unwrap it onto a chopping board and cut it into 16 squares.
- Wipe the knife between cuts. It's sticky now. That's the point.
- Serve on its own with a cup of tea, or warm with custard. And a bonfire, if you've got one.
Oliver says the first square is quality control. Oliver says that about every square.
How long does parkin need to mature?
At least a day, ideally 3 days, wrapped in baking paper in an airtight tin. It keeps getting stickier for up to a week and keeps for about 2 weeks.
| When you eat it | What you get |
|---|---|
| Same day | Dry and crumbly. Serve it warm, as a pudding, with custard |
| Day 1 | Softer, starting to turn sticky on top |
| Day 3 | Sticky, dark and squidgy - the sweet spot |
| Week 1 | Stickier still. Traditionalists wait this long |
| Week 2 | Still good. Most recipes say eat it by now |
Felicity Cloake in the Guardian keeps hers for up to 3 weeks. Erin has never let one survive past day 4. Royal privilege.
Baking parkin late for Bonfire Night?
Bake it the day before if you can - one night in a tin makes a real difference. Baking it on the day? Serve it warm, as a pudding, with custard.
Warm parkin hasn't had time to go sticky, so don't serve it as a cake - serve it as a sponge. Cut it while it's still warm, put it in a bowl and pour hot custard over it.
Nobody at the bonfire will know it was supposed to wait 3 days. Aaron will know. Aaron will mention it.
Whatever you don't eat, wrap and tin as normal. Day-three parkin is the reward for having self-control on the 5th.
Doing a bigger spread? Our Bonfire Night food menu has the jacket potatoes, toffee apples and the rest.
If it goes wrong
Sunk in the middle? The oven door was opened too early, or it came out before the centre was set.
Fix: keep the door shut for the first 50 minutes and only take it out when the middle springs back and a skewer comes out clean. A sunken parkin is a parkin with a moat. Fill it with custard and call it a feature.
Hard and chewy, like toffee? The treacle pan boiled.
Fix: melt the butter, treacle, syrup and sugar on a low heat and take it off the moment it starts to bubble. Boiled parkin is technically a building material. Isaac's taking it to school for a project on bricks.
Dry and crumbly? It's been eaten too soon, or baked too long.
Fix: wrap it in baking paper, put it in an airtight tin and give it 3 days. Next time, start checking at 55 minutes. Patience is a virtue. Parkin is a test of it. Most of us fail.
Stuck to the tin? No paper, or a loose-bottomed tin let the batter seep under.
Fix: line the base and sides with baking paper, use a solid tin, and lift it out by the paper once it's cooled for 30 minutes. What was left in the tin was scraped out by Dexter. He gives it five stars.
Burnt on top but raw in the middle? The oven's too hot.
Fix: bake at 140C fan (160C, gas 3). Cover the top loosely with foil if it's browning before the middle sets. Parkin wants a slow, gentle bake. It's from Yorkshire. It won't be rushed.
Not sticky after 3 days? The tin wasn't airtight, or it was wrapped in cling film instead of paper.
Fix: wrap it in baking paper inside a tin with a tight lid, and give it another day or two. Erin has issued a royal decree that parkin must be sticky. Parkin has been informed.
Yorkshire vs Lancashire parkin - what's the difference?
Parkin from Yorkshire is made with black treacle, so it's darker and stronger. Lancashire parkin tends to use golden syrup instead, so it's lighter and sweeter.
There are other local versions too. In Hull and East Yorkshire, parkin is drier and closer to a biscuit.
Ours is Yorkshire style, with a bit of golden syrup for stick. We're Peterborough way. We're staying out of it.
Parkin questions people actually ask
The short answers: blitz porridge oats if you can't find oatmeal, keep it in a tin for up to 2 weeks, and yes, it freezes.
Can you use porridge oats instead of oatmeal in parkin?
Yes. Blitz 200g of porridge oats in a food processor until they're fine, like coarse sand, and use them instead of the oatmeal.
Unblitzed, they make a chewier, lumpier parkin. Aaron calls it "rustic". Aaron calls a lot of things rustic.
How long does parkin keep?
About 2 weeks, wrapped in baking paper in an airtight tin somewhere cool.
In our house it keeps about 4 days. Not because it goes off. Because of Oliver.
Can you freeze parkin?
Yes. Let it mature first, then wrap it well and freeze it - whole or in squares. Defrost it in the wrapping.
Freezing it straight from the oven skips the bit that makes it parkin. Mature first. Freeze second. Lecture over.
Is parkin a cake or a biscuit?
Mostly a cake - a dense, sticky ginger cake cut into squares. Some places, like Hull, make a drier, biscuit-style parkin.
Ayden says it's a cake because you can't dunk it. Lara dunked it. It's now a pudding.
What's the difference between parkin and gingerbread?
Oatmeal and black treacle. Gingerbread is usually all flour and lighter; parkin uses oatmeal and black treacle, so it's darker, heavier and stickier.
What do you eat with parkin?
A cup of tea, mostly. Warm with custard as a pudding, or the Yorkshire way - with a slice of Wensleydale cheese.
Building a proper board? Here's how to put together a cheese board people actually fight over. Parkin and cheese sounds wrong. Try it. Then tell me it's wrong.
Is parkin gluten-free?
Not as written - the flour has gluten, and oats can carry traces. Use a gluten-free flour blend and certified gluten-free oatmeal.
Bonfire Night is one of Britain's great food dates. The rest of the year's are on our guide to traditional British food.
Something gingery for the kids to decorate? Try our gingerbread men.
Now go and cook something. Then leave it in a tin for three days.
