Bake Off Recipe: Prue Leith’s Sticky Vegan Parkin
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1 week ago
An egg-less twist on the Bonfire Night classic
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.
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:
- 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.
- Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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