Parkin is one of the most popular traditional desserts in Britain. It’s a Yorkshire cake usually made for bonfire night, but you can buy it at markets throughout the cold, winter months. Traditional Yorkshire parkin is made with a load of treacle (molasses), giving it a rich, dark color. It’s the kind of cake you can imagine ramblers taking to fortify them on a wild, blustery walk on the moors.
I’ve adapted the old-fashioned parkin recipe somewhat (which is probably sacrilege), but even just looking at a traditional recipe for parkin is enough to make your teeth fall out. Most call for 200 grams of treacle, plus at least 150g of golden syrup, plus a considerable amount of sugar.
I love sweet stuff, but I can’t even cope with that. I’m also not the biggest fan of treacle, so I’ve made a lighter, brighter parkin cake recipe and added a pear topping. It’s still gingery and made with plenty of rolled oats, so it’s got that parkin texture – somewhere between cake and flapjack.
Feel free to add treacle or pumpkin spice if you want, especially for that bonfire flavor. But here is a simple and healthy pear parkin recipe:
Pear Parkin
Ingredients
- 100 g golden syrup
- 100 g light brown sugar
- 100 g butter
- 170 g self-raising flour I used a gluten-free blend
- 150 g rolled oats I used certified gluten-free oats
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 100 ml milk
- 3 tsps ground ginger
- ½ pear
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170oC, and line a shallow, rectangular baking tin.
- Heat a pan of water on the stove and place a bowl over the top.
- Put the golden syrup, sugar and butter into the bowl, and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted.
- Remove the bowl from the heat and fold in the flour, oats and ginger.
- Stir in the egg and milk.
- Cut half of a pear into long, thin strips
- Transfer to the tin, and top with the pear slices.
- Bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until golden and hardened on the surface.
- Cool on a wire rack, then cut into small squares.