Name: Lancashire Maple-Oat Parkin Cake for a Summer Evening
Yield: 12-16
Ingredients: 2 eggs; 1/2 cup milk; 225 grams flour; 225 brown sugar; 2 tsp baking powder; 22 grams medium oats; 1 tablespoon powdered ginger; 225 grams melted butter; 225 grams golden syrup; 1/2 cup maple syrup

Baking

Lancashire Maple-Oat Parkin Cake for a Summer Evening

With the days getting cooler, especially the evenings, I start thinking more about baking. This Lancashire Maple-Oat Parkin Cake is a fantastic late summer bake with it’s ginger, treacle and maple syrup flavours.

A few weeks ago, my cousin Anne in Scotland, sent me a lovely little vintage Trex Cookery cookbook. She knows that I love cooking and baking and spotted this booklet in a vintage shop. The first recipe that I spotted was the Lancashire Parkin and knew straight away that would be the first recipe to try. Lancashire Parkin checked all the boxes for me for a lovely bake: oats, syrup, ginger and Demerara sugar. She also sent me a beautiful cake tin decorated with a lovely photo of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to store my cake in.

Lancashire Parkin is the Northern England version of gingerbread. It is a sticky, moist lightly spiced cake. It originated in Yorkshire, but is also popular in Lancashire, which is just to the west. No one seems to know where the name Parkin comes from.

Parkin cake is traditionally eaten in England on Bonfire Night, November 5th. Bonfire Night celebrates the epic failure of Guy Fawkes, a Yorkshire man, who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605.

Parkin Cake is a moist chewy cake due to the addition of oats. This cake also always contains sweeteners such as molasses, black treacle or golden syrup, and light or dark brown sugar. I added maple syrup to my Lancashire Maple-Oat Parkin Cake, to reflect my Canadian roots.

Parkin Cake improves in flavour about 3 days after it’s been baked. This is to allow the oats to soften and the spices and sweeteners to really do their job. So, let this cake sit in a sealed container for 3 days before it is ready to eat. So, don’t be tempted to cut a slice immediately after baking. Wrap it up after it has cooled, and then patiently wait for 3 days to slice it up. You will be glad you did.

Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Lancashire Maple-Oat Parkin Cake for a Summer Evening

Serves: 12-16

Cooking Time: 40-60 minutes

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
225 grams flour
225 brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
22 grams medium oats
1 tablespoon powdered ginger
225 grams melted butter
225 grams golden syrup
1/2 cup maple syrup

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. Prepare a 9 X 12 inch baking tray with parchment paper.

Melt the liquid ingredients together (butter, golden syrup and maple syrup). Let cool to room temperature, about ten minutes.

Mix the milk and eggs together and whisk until the eggs are incorporated into the milk.

Mix the dry ingredients together.

Add melted mixture and egg mixture to dry ingredients. Stir until all the ingredients are mixed together well.

Pour into baking dish.

Bake for about 60-90 minutes. It should be a nice golden colour on top when done. And a cake tester should come out clean.

Keep in the pan for about 1-2 hours, until cool. Then turn out onto a cake rack until cold.

Once cold, wrap in plastic wrap or place in a plastic container and store for about 3 days.

Slice and enjoy!

1:00 am

Baking

Honey Maple Whole Oat Granola Recipe

This is a fantastic recipe for Honey Maple Whole Oat Granola. It is chock full of dried fruit, nuts and toasty oats.

When I was a teenager I went through a phase of making granola for practically every big gathering with my friends. I made granola for potluck dinners, going away parties and camping trips. Whatever the event, I would be there with a 3 pound bag of my latest granola invention.

Granola is super easy to make. You don’t really need a recipe to make granola, but it is good to have a basic one to know the proportions of wet to dry ingredients as well as the amount of fruit and nuts to use. Homemade granola is also much healthier as it is lower in sugar and salt than store bought. And just by changing the sweeteners and using an assortment of nuts, dried fruit, and grains you can make hundreds of different combinations.

You could increase the sweetness to go on top of an apple crumble or to sprinkle on ice cream for dessert. Use less sweetener for a breakfast granola, or extra nuts for energy snacks for hikes or bike rides. A handful of chocolate chips or chocolate nibs after baking adds a burst of sweetness for a fantastic boost in energy. Excellent sweeteners to use range from maple syrup in the spring when the sap is running or honey in the fall when farmer’s market stalls are bursting with pails of wild flower, clover or buckwheat honey.

My son and I really like this granola for breakfast or snack with yogurt. It’s not too sweet and the cinnamon and ginger adds a lovely hint of flavour.

Print Recipe

Honey Maple Whole Oat Granola with Vanilla and Cinnamon

Serves: 12-16

Cooking Time: 30

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup quick oats
1 1/4 cup whole oats
1/4 cup honey
2 T butter
1 T maple syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup whole almonds, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Melt the honey, butter, vanilla and maple syrup in a small pot on the stove or in a bowl in the microwave.

Mix together the two oats and spices. Pour the liquid into the oat mixture and stir to combine.

Pour onto the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread out the oat mixture a bit, but not too thin as the individual oats will cook too fast and dry out or burn.

Bake granola for 10-12 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes then add: the cranberries, raisins and chopped almonds.

Continue cooking for about 5 minutes more, until oats are starting to turn golden, then remove from oven.

Put the tray on a wire rack. Leave the granola on the tray until cool. Store in a cool, dark place.

icy rosebud

12:30 pm