Beautifully spiced, parkin is the ultimate warming, sticky cake ─ perfect with a cup of tea on an autumn afternoon, or even better as a treat on bonfire night, with loved ones huddled together against the chill. Vegan or not, everyone will be wanting a slice.
Prue Leith
Series 15
Serves:
16
Difficulty:
Easy
Baking Time:
45 mins
- VG
- Ingredients
- Method
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Method
Step 1
Make the crystallised ginger. Tip the ginger into a small saucepan, add the 200g of sugar and 200ml of water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until soft and translucent. Pass the ginger through a metal sieve over a heatproof bowl and reserve the ginger syrup. Spread out the cubes of ginger on the lined baking sheet and sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons of caster sugar. Place in the warming drawer or airing cupboard for 30 minutes to dry and crystallise.
Step 2
Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4.
Step 3
Make the parkin. Warm the oil, syrup, treacle, muscovado sugar, prunes and grated ginger in a pan over a low heat, stirring until combined. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the oat milk.
Step 4
Tip the flour, oatmeal, ground ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, salt and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and whisk together to combine. Make a well in the centre and pour in the syrup mixture. Whisk slowly, using a balloon whisk, without incorporating any air, until the mixture is smooth apart from tiny pieces of ginger and prunes.
Step 5
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top with a palette knife. Bake it in the middle of the oven for 40-45 minutes, until well risen and the sponge bounces back when pressed.
Step 6
Remove the parkin from the oven and leave it to cool in the tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Brush with some of the reserved ginger syrup.
Step 7
Make the glacé icing. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Add the 1 tablespoon of reserved ginger syrup and stir until the icing becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If necessary, add more ginger syrup to make the icing runnier, or if the icing becomes too runny, add a spoonful of additional icing sugar to thicken.
Step 8
Remove the parkin from the tin and transfer it to a wire rack. Spoon the icing over the cake in a backwards and forwards motion to create rough diagonal lines. Decorate the top with the crystallised ginger, then cut into 16 equal squares.
