Following on from last weeks Sticky Ginger cake I found myself browsing again through Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer by Jane Brocket  drooling over all the tea time treats so carefully described in children’s reading books when I came across a well loved cake that I’d always wanted to try – Parkin! Having read so many children’s stories about the wonders of a tin of parkin being bought out to ward off the cold during bonfire night or enjoyed with pots of steaming tea after damp autumn or frosty winter walks I felt I knew this cake well, but as a child or adult had never tried it. I knew it was treacly and sticky and dark, so I was surprised to find it contained oatmeal.

Of course oatmeal is not that easy to find in a modern day supermarket, so I’ve had to substitute porridge oats in mine, I promise to try it again with the right ingredient next time, but after a scan through the internet I found other recipes that had done the same.

As with the Sticky Ginger Cake, one warms the sugars and butters together melting them, this cake requires one whole tin of black treacle, wow!  that’s going to put hairs on your chest, as my father would say, along with brown sugar and butter, interestingly no egg is in the recipe.And then we mix this sugary aromatic concoction into the dry ingredients along with milk. pop into a ready prepared tin and place in the oven for an hour.A quick scrape around the bowl for a little taste reveals a wonderful combination of treacle toffee and flapjack.

After an hour I tested the cake and thought it was just a little bit too damp, so gave it an extra ten minutes, your milage may vary.  It smelt glorious. As I am storing the cake for a couple of days before trying it I have decided to store it with the parchment intact to retain all its natural moistness and allow the flavours to really develop – that’s if we can wait that long. It is Tuesday now so I think it will be perfect for my birthday treat,  I must say it does look and smell very good.Double wrapped to play pass the parcel with on Thursday – I wonder who will be the lucky person!