This week's Beginner Baking is a seasonal treat - parkin. This is a heavy, sticky, gingery cake, traditionally eaten by northerners around the time of Hallowe'en and Bonfire Night. Controversially I used a southerner's recipe - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's variation on a Derbyshire cook's recipe - rather than a Lancashire or Yorkshire version, though it's not noticeably different to all the other parkin recipes that I found.
I made it a few days before Hallowe'en in the hope that it would mature. It started off strong and dark though and J thought that his piece would keep him going for a few months. Perfect winter food. Just a shame that summer is fast emerging here!
The true test will come later today when my parents arrive and conduct a taste test to determine how close it is to the original Lancashire cake. Fingers crossed!
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