Homemade Parkin Recipe

A delicious and simple yet classic autumnal recipe of homemade Parkin. A warming, perfect bake for the colder rainy season

Autumnal recipes 

There’s nothing quite like autumn baking to make your home feel warm and cosy as the days get shorter and the weather turns. It’s the perfect time to dig out the mixing bowls and fill the kitchen with the comforting scents of cinnamon, brown sugar, and buttery goodness. Classic autumn bakes like my homemade cinnamon rolls are always a hit, especially fresh out of the oven and drizzled with icing.

If you’re after something with a bit of nostalgic British charm, homemade Hobnobs are a must-try. These oaty, chewy biscuits with their signature chocolate topping are even better when baked from scratch. For those craving a proper pud, a Biscoff sticky toffee pudding is the ultimate indulgence with a rich sponge, deep toffee flavour, and a generous drizzle of toffee sauce, all with that delicious Biscoff twist.

And if you’re after a quick treat, my snickerdoodle cookies are perfect. Rolled in cinnamon sugar and baked until just golden, they’re ideal with a cuppa or for sharing around the fire on Bonfire Night. Whether you’re baking for family, friends, or just for yourself, these comforting autumn recipes bring all the seasonal vibes and sweet smells that make this time of year so special… and my new Parkin recipe is perfect to join that group. 

What is Parkin

I will say that something such as Parkin, as it has been around for so long, can vary slightly in ingredients. I am basing this recipe off a family recipe (from South Kirby in Yorkshire) that has been around for a long time and I have always made it this way – so just beware if you’ve made one slightly differently before. 

Parkin is a traditional gingerbread-like cake from the north of England, especially Yorkshire and Lancashire. Made with a mix of oatmeal, black treacle or golden syrup, or both, ginger, and brown sugar, it’s dense, sticky, and richly spiced and it’s the kind of bake that gets better the longer it sits. The texture is moist and chewy thanks to the treacle and oats, and the flavour is deep and warming, It’s often left to mature for a few days after baking, which helps develop its signature sticky top and rich flavour.

Parkin is closely associated with Bonfire Night in the UK, but for me it’s really a true autumnal recipe that I just adore. It’s amazing served as it is on its own, but I can’t resist a pouring of custard with mine because I just love custard. 

Wet Ingredients 

For the wet ingredients in this recipe, it is quite a mix. Yes, it’s more than your typical basic sponge cake but it’s meant to be to create the delicious recipe and texture you are after, with a homemade parkin recipe. 

• Butter – I’m including butter in the wet ingredients, as you melt it in a pan in the recipe. I tend to use block butter, but you can use baking spread for this base 
• Syrup – the lighter sweetness that comes from golden syrup is wonderful and delicious
• Treacle – the depth of the Parkin comes from the additional black treacle 
• Eggs – the addition of eggs is essential, I always use medium eggs in my bakes these days for ease
• Milk – I use whole milk as I find using full-fat ingredients is best in baking 

Dry Ingredients

For the dry ingredients it is quite simple, but still a reasonable few if you count all of the spices separately. 

• Sugar – I use dark brown soft sugar as I want the really rich deep molasses flavour from the sugar, but if you want a lighter flavour you can use light brown soft sugar 
• Oatmeal – I used ready made oatmeal, just buying it in the supermarket, but you can make your own by just blitzing up oats to a finer texture.  
• Flour – self raising flour is important to use to get the little bit of rise you need, but you can make your own using 2 level tsps of baking powder per 150g of plain flour, and mixing in before using in a recipe 
• Spices – I use a mix of ground ginger, and then the addition of mixed spice and a little nutmeg. You can play about with these, and if you like these sort of spices quite intense, I would add a little more. 

Making the Parkin 

Add the treacle, syrup, sugar and butter to a pan, melt until smooth, and then leave to cool slightly in the pan. In a new bowl, I add my flour, oatmeal, and spices and mix these together to combine them and prevent any lumps in the batter. I then pour in the liquid mix from the pan and mix to combine again. I just do all of this in a bowl with a spatula, I don’t feel the need for a mixer.

After this, I then add in the eggs and milk and mix again briefly to combine, and then I pour into my lined 9″ square tin and then bake in the preheated oven. It’s best to bake this at a lower temperature, and for longer, to get the texture you are after in the cake.

Once the cake has baked, you have the important (but optional) step. I let the cake cool fully in the tin, and then I leave the cake in the tin, but wrap the entire thing in foil. I would really recommend then leaving the cake, wrapped, for at least 5-7 days. Due to the ingredients, it’s totally fine to do this and your cake will be fine to leave – but basically the longer you leave the cake, the better (even up to two weeks!). It will increase the flavour, and make the texture better, but you can eat it fresh if you want.  

Tips & tricks

• This cake is best left for at least 5-7 days once made, for flavour and texture. You can leave it wrapped for two weeks. 
• You can eat the cake immediately after the cake has baked and cooled in the tin, but it won’t be quite the same 
• In total, the cake will last for about 2 weeks at room temperature 
• You can freeze the cake for 3+ months
• You can use all treacle if you want for a deeper flavour – the cake will be darker in colour
• You can also use all golden syrup in the cake for a lighter flavour, the cake will be lighter in colour 
• You can but oatmeal ready in the supermarket, or you can make your own by blitzing the oats to a finer crumb 

Homemade Parkin

A delicious and simple yet classic autumnal recipe of homemade Parkin. A warming, perfect bake for the colder rainy season

Print Pin Rate

Category: Cake

Type: Cake

Keyword: autumn, Ginger

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Resting time (optional): 5 days days

Total Time: 5 days days 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 16 pieces

Author: Jane's Patisserie

Ingredients

• 225 g unsalted butter
• 150 g golden syrup
• 100 g black treacle
• 100 g dark brown soft sugar
• 125 g oatmeal
• 250 g self raising flour
• 2 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 0.5 tsp nutmeg
• 2 medium eggs
• 75 ml whole milk

Grams - Ounces

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 160ºc/140ºc fan and line a 9" square tin with parchment paper
• Add the butter, syrup, sugar and treacle to a medium sized pan and melt together on a low-medium heat, until smooth
• Cool the mixture for five minutes
• In a new bowl, add the oatmeal, flour, ginger, mixed spice and nutmeg and mix together to combine
• Pour in the mixture from the pan, and stir until smooth.
• Add the eggs and milk, and mix again until combined
• Pour into the lined tin, and bake for 40-50+ minutes. (It should spring back slightly when it's done)
• Cool the cake fully in the tin and then wrap the tin in foil, and store away for 5 days, and then slice and enjoy

Notes

• This cake is best left for at least 5-7 days once made, for flavour and texture. You can leave it wrapped for two weeks. 
• You can eat the cake immediately after the cake has baked and cooled in the tin, but it won't be quite the same 
• In total, the cake will last for about 2 weeks at room temperature 
• You can freeze the cake for 3+ months
• You can use all treacle if you want for a deeper flavour - the cake will be darker in colour
• You can also use all golden syrup in the cake for a lighter flavour, the cake will be lighter in colour 
• You can but oatmeal ready in the supermarket, or you can make your own by blitzing the oats to a finer crumb 

Enjoy!

Find my other recipes on my recipes page!

You can find me on:
Instagram
Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter
Youtube

J x

© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.