Why Parkin Belongs to Cold Evenings

There is a particular sort of comfort that only arrives on a dark, drizzly evening: a thick square of parkin, still faintly warm, and a mug of tea strong enough to stand a spoon in. Parkin is a Yorkshire cake, traditionally eaten around Bonfire Night, but it is really winter food. Oats, black treacle, ginger and dark brown sugar bake into something dense and sticky, closer to a soft flapjack than a sponge. It keeps beautifully, it improves with keeping, and it costs very little to make.

The other virtue of parkin is that it is forgiving. You can bake it on a Sunday afternoon, forget about it for four days, and it will be better on Thursday than it was straight from the oven. That makes it ideal for anyone who wants seasonal home comforts without a great deal of fuss.

What You Will Need

This makes one 20cm square cake, which cuts into sixteen generous squares. You will also need baking parchment, a small saucepan, a large mixing bowl, a whisk and an airtight tin.

• 200g medium oatmeal — not jumbo rolled oats
• 100g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger, plus a pinch of mixed spice and a pinch of fine salt
• 100g unsalted butter
• 200g golden syrup
• 100g black treacle
• 100g soft dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten with 150ml milk

Oats, Treacle and Ginger: Getting the Details Right

Medium oatmeal is the traditional choice and gives parkin its slightly nubbly texture. Coarse oatmeal works too, though the crumb will be more open. Avoid jumbo rolled oats, which stay obstinately chewy and never quite soften into the cake.

Treacle is the soul of it: dark, faintly bitter, with a whisper of liquorice. Golden syrup alone makes a pale, one-dimensional cake, while all treacle can taste almost medicinal. Two parts syrup to one part treacle is the balance most Yorkshire kitchens settle on. As for the ginger, ground ginger loses its heat surprisingly quickly once the jar has been open a few months, so taste a pinch before you commit. If it seems dull, add another half teaspoon and a grating of fresh root ginger for warmth.

Mixing the Batter

Tip the oatmeal, flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, mixed spice and salt into a large bowl and stir them together with a whisk so everything is evenly distributed. Make a well in the middle.

In the saucepan, melt the butter with the golden syrup, treacle and brown sugar over a low heat. Stir gently and patiently — you want a smooth, glossy liquid, not a boil. Once the sugar has dissolved, pour it into the well and stir with a wooden spoon until no dry patches remain. Then add the beaten egg and milk and mix until you have a loose, dark batter, more like thick pouring cream than a cake mixture. If it feels stiff, loosen it with another splash of milk.

Baking It Low and Slow

Heat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan, gas mark 2). Line the base and sides of a 20cm square tin with baking parchment, leaving a little overhang so you can lift the cake out later.

Pour in the batter, spread it level and bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Parkin wants a low oven; a hot one will catch the edges and leave the middle raw. When it is ready it will have risen slightly, be firm at the edges and still a touch soft in the centre, and a skewer will come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. That is exactly what you want — overbaking dries it out and makes the oats gritty.

Leave it in the tin for fifteen minutes, then lift it out, peel off the paper and cool it completely on a wire rack.

The Tin Makes the Cake

Here is the part that catches people out. Parkin is not at its best on the day it is baked. Wrap the cold cake first in baking parchment and then in foil, or slide it into an airtight tin, and leave it somewhere cool for at least three days — a week is better. The treacle and sugar slowly draw moisture through the oats, and the crumb darkens, deepens and turns properly sticky.

Kept in a tin, it will happily last a fortnight. If it does dry out, lay a slice of apple on top of the cake overnight and the moisture will find its way back in. Squares also freeze well between sheets of parchment for up to three months.

Serving It on a Winter Evening

Cut parkin into squares and eat it as it is, or warm a square for twenty seconds and let a knob of butter melt into the top. A spoonful of thick cream turns it into pudding; a crumble of Wensleydale alongside is a proper Yorkshire pairing. To drink, brew a strong, plain tea and add milk but no sugar — the cake is sweet enough. A glass of stout on a cold night does no harm either.

Make a batch this weekend, hide the tin at the back of the cupboard, and by the middle of next week you will have the best winter tea break in the house.