Add the ground oats to a large bowl along with plain flour, baking powder, ground ginger, mixed spice and a pinch of salt. Whisk it all together until well combined.

It's a time of year when comfort baking is in full swing. True Yorkshire Parkin contains Oatmeal and any cake without it is simply a Ginger Cake/Bread and nothing more. In fact, when you look at the list of ingredients, it is very similar to Lancashire Parkin. To a saucepan add dark brown soft or muscovado sugar, golden syrup, treacle and vegan butter, heat gently until it is melted. The parkin pig, this an elusive character, often found hiding in the hedgerows of toffee, rolling in the golden syrup or snuffing its snout in the forests of ginger and perhaps no match for the gingerbread man. Yorkshire Parkin is a kind of Gingerbread. The difference between the two recipes is Parkin contains a form of Oats or Oatmeal, but Gingerbread does not. The taste and texture are also quite different. Parkin often contains dark Treacle as well as golden syrup, giving it that rich dark colour and flavour. Gingerbread, such as Gingerbread Biscuits, contains Golden Syrup with no dark treacle, which gives the Gingerbread Men and Gingerbread Houses, a light golden colour. Other Ginger Flavoured Cakes that you may Like to TryNote that parkin is one of those cakes, like malt loaf, that carries on getting better for some weeks after making, so if you enjoy these, bookmark this article to make again in mid October 2018.) Historically, tharf cakes were also eaten during the Twelfth night or Twelve days after Christmas, and traditionally on the 1st November on All Saints Day or 2nd November, during All Souls Day. Other traditional medieval biscuits for All Souls Day are Soul Cakes which are a crisp biscuit that also contain oatmeal and spices. True story. And that was one of the first ever published references to Yorkshire parkin, the crime of theft, of culinary passion, all in the name of this centuries-old cake.

Parkin is a traditional ginger cake which originates from Yorkshire and Lancashire. It is baked throughout the winter months but it is traditional to eat it on bonfire night/Guy Fawkes night (the 5th November). Its best to use an oatmeal that is intended for baking, and this is sometimes called 'medium oatmeal' or 'Scottish oatmeal' which is ground to a finer consistency compared to steel-cut oatmeal. Although the medium oatmeal is ground it is not exactly flour-like in texture, it is just smaller and finer compared to steel-cut oatmeal. For this reason I can't claim that my recipe is the ultimate vegan parkin recipe. However, I did test eight (yes, eight!) different versions and this one was by far mine and my husband's favourite, so it is my personal ultimate vegan parkin. Northerners must leave their disdain at the Watford Gap, because I’ve never met anyone with anything but very vocal affection for parkin – and after this week, I can see why. If you too feel the ache of loss every time you stand around a bonfire with a mere toffee apple in hand, or simply live outside parkin’s sphere of influence and want to know what all the fuss is about, here are your options for making your own. The oatmeal used for this recipe was Hamlyn's Scottish Oatmeal which we sourced in our local Co-op [UK].

Perkins Recipe

Hello again Kimberley. Well I got around to making a 10 inch 8 inch, 6 inch and whilst my batter looked the part …. it seemed to take an age to cook. I put the oven at 10 °c lower as I was using a fan assisted…. I.e. instead of 300 °f I preheated the oven to 138 °C to account for the fan assisted oven. Milk: I like unsweetened soy milk best for baking as it has the highest protein content. We are using it to replace an egg so high protein is best! Any variety will work however if you don't have soy, but do go for unsweetened if you can, there is already quite a lot of sugar in this cake! This product has a minimum shelf life of 4 months from baking so there is plenty of time to enjoy this treat. In a large chilled bowl, combine the flour, sugar, oatmeal, baking soda, ginger and cinnamon. Stir them together, then add the 2 tablespoons of chilled butter. With your fingertips, rub the flour and butter together until they look like flakes of coarse meal. I’m normally meticulous when baking as I bake cakes for friends and family, ‘ lot’ So I’m a little disappointed in myself given its the first time I’ve tried this.