PARKIN WITH YORKSHIRE RHUBARB

Prep time: 15 minutes, plus cooling Cook time: 1 hour

Serves 6-8

Parkin often takes on the name of the county it’s made in, so you may well come across Yorkshire, Lancashire and Derbyshire parkins; you might even see it called the old name of ‘tharf cake’. In a Dorothy Hartley book I have from 1954, she suggests it was popular practice to make an extra panful to serve hot with apple sauce, almost like a sticky toffee pudding, but since the forced Yorkshire rhubarb season has started, what better accompaniment can there be to this regional ginger cake?

INGREDIENTS For the parkin

– 150g butter, plus extra

for greasing the tin – 225g plain flour

– 1 tsp bicarbonate

of soda

– 2 tsp ground ginger

– 1 tsp ground cinnamon – 1 tsp mixed spice – 110g coarse oatmeal

(pinhead oatmeal) – 175g dark muscovado

sugar

– 80g golden syrup – 120g black treacle – 150ml milk

– 1 large egg, beaten

For the rhubarb sauce

– 30g caster sugar

– 1 tbsp grenadine

– 2 tsp cornflour diluted

in a little cold water

– a couple of sticks of rhubarb, trimmed and cut into rough 1cm cubes

– a couple of cubes of crystallised ginger, finely chopped

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 175C/155C fan/gas mark 3½. Grease a non-stick loaf tin measuring approximately 28 x 12cm and 10cm deep.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, spices and half a teaspoon of salt into a bowl. Stir in the oatmeal and sugar and make a well in the centre.

Melt the butter, golden syrup and treacle over a low heat, whisking to emulsify, then remove from the heat and leave to cool a little. Pour into the well and stir into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon. Beat the milk and egg together and stir this in until well mixed.

Pour the mixture into the greased tin and bake for 35-40 minutes, leaving the mixture slightly soft to the touch. Leave to cool for 30 minutes or so before turning out.

Meanwhile, make the rhubarb sauce. Add 300ml water to a pan with the sugar and grenadine, bring to a boil, then stir in the cornflour and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the rhubarb and ginger, bring back to a simmer, then turn off the heat and cover with a lid, until the rhubarb is cooked through but not falling apart.

Serve slices of the cake alongside the rhubarb and juices.