Ginger Parkin

Ginger parkin is yorkshire comfort food - and when you try it it's easy to see why. Made with oatmeal, syrup and treacle it cooks to a chewy sticky slab that matures over a few days - if you can resist the temptation. Seems to get more moist as the week wears on rather than stale. Because it is eggless it has a good body to it - seems like a substantial treat mid morning. It makes a good dessert too, with a little custard or clotted cream. Sometimes the old recipes are the best.

I suspect there are probably hundreds of variations on this particular cake. This is one I ripped out of The Guardian.

Ginger Parkin
225g plain flour
3½ tsp ground ginger
¾ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
A pinch of salt
125g medium oatmeal
100g unsalted butter, softened
125g light soft brown sugar
Zest of ½ lemon
100g treacle
75g golden syrup
50ml milk
50g mixed peel, finely chopped

Butter a deep, 20cm square cake tin and line the base with nonstick baking parchment. Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan-assisted)/350F/gas mark 4. Sift the flour, spices, soda and salt into a bowl, then stir in the oatmeal. In another bowl beat the butter, sugar and zest until light and fluffy. Add the treacle and syrup, beat again until creamy and smooth, then add the milk and the dry ingredients, and beat quickly until smooth once more. Fold in the mixed peel, then spoon the mixture into the tin. Cover the top with foil, bake for 40 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.