Bake Off Recipe: Prue Leith’s Sticky Vegan Parkin

It was Autumn Week on last night’s episode of Great British Bake Off, which helped inspire this week’s technical challenge: parkin, a dark and spicy gingerbread cake historically eaten on Bonfire Night. The traditional version isn’t too tricky to master, but Prue Leith decided to add a new challenge by asking contestants to make a vegan version using baking powder and oat milk – with no eggs. ‘There are aspects of this bake that will take much longer than you think,’ Prue told bakers. Fancy giving it a go yourself? We’ve shared the recipe below.

What Is Parkin?

Parkin is a rich, dense cake originating in Northern England. It’s made using ingredients like black treacle, oatmeal, ginger and spices, creating a moist, sticky consistency – and it gets even stickier when stored for a few days. In places like Yorkshire and Lancashire, it’s a key part of Bonfire Night traditions, along with sticky toffee apples and fireworks. 

Gill, Sumayah, Dylan, Illiyin, Christiaan, Georgie and Nelly.

Great British Bake Off Technical Challenge No. 6: Sticky Vegan Parkin

Beautifully spiced, parkin is the ultimate warming, sticky cake ─ perfect with a cup of tea on an autumn afternoon, or even better as a treat on bonfire night, with loved ones huddled together against the chill. Vegan or not, everyone will be wanting a slice.

Serves 16

Ingredients:

For the crystallised ginger

• 120g piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
• 200g caster sugar, plus 2 tbsp for sprinkling

For the parkin

• 100ml vegetable oil
• 140g golden syrup
• 60g black treacle
• 160g dark muscovado sugar
• 60g soft pitted prunes, finely chopped
• 25g peeled and finely grated fresh ginger (prepared weight)
• 125ml oat milk
• 200g plain flour
• 80g fine oatmeal
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ tsp fine salt
• 2 tsp baking powder

For the glacé icing

• 125g icing sugar, plus extra if needed
• 1 tbsp reserved ginger syrup

Equipment

• Baking sheet lined with baking paper
• 20cm square, loose-bottomed cake tin, oiled, then lined (base and sides) with baking paper

Method:

1. Make the crystallised ginger. Tip the ginger into a small saucepan, add the 200g of sugar and 200ml of water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until soft and translucent. Pass the ginger through a metal sieve over a heatproof bowl and reserve the ginger syrup. Spread out the cubes of ginger on the lined baking sheet and sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons of caster sugar. Place in the warming drawer or airing cupboard for 30 minutes to dry and crystallise.
2. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4.
3. Make the parkin. Warm the oil, syrup, treacle, muscovado sugar, prunes and grated ginger in a pan over a low heat, stirring until combined. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the oat milk.
4. Tip the flour, oatmeal, ground ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, salt and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and whisk together to combine. Make a well in the centre and pour in the syrup mixture. Whisk slowly, using a balloon whisk, without incorporating any air, until the mixture is smooth apart from tiny pieces of ginger and prunes.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top with a palette knife. Bake it in the middle of the oven for 40-45 minutes, until well risen and the sponge bounces back when pressed.
6. Remove the parkin from the oven and leave it to cool in the tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Brush with some of the reserved ginger syrup.
7. Make the glacé icing. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Add the 1 tablespoon of reserved ginger syrup and stir until the icing becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If necessary, add more ginger syrup to make the icing runnier, or if the icing becomes too runny, add a spoonful of additional icing sugar to thicken.
8. Remove the parkin from the tin and transfer it to a wire rack. Spoon the icing over the cake in a backwards and forwards motion to create rough diagonal lines. Decorate the top with the crystallised ginger, then cut into 16 equal squares.

Recipe from thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk