Parkin squares with black treacle cream cheese frosting
YOU WILL NEED
For the sponge 90g dark brown sugar 200g salted butter 140g golden syrup 140g black treacle 75g oats 275g self-raising flour
1 tbsp ginger 1 medium egg 2 tbsp milk 1 tsp vanilla For the topping 150g cream cheese 500g icing sugar 1 tsp vanilla paste
1 tbsp black treacle 2 tbsp honeycomb pieces
DIRECTIONS
■ Pre-heat the oven to 160°C. Put the sugar, butter, golden syrup, black treacle in a pan and place on the hob over a medium heat until melted, then set aside to cool.
■ Mix the oats, flour and ginger together in a large bowl. Pour the cooled syrup mixture into the flour bowl. Mix until well combined.
■ Beat the egg on its own in a small bowl, then beat in the milk. Pour the egg mixture into the batter, followed by the vanilla.
■ Mix well until you have a lumpy, thick batter, then pour into a greased and lined tray. Level off and bake for 30 minutes until just firm. You can check it’s ready by pushing a cocktail stick into the centre – it should come out clean. Leave the sponge to cool completely on a wire rack.
■ For a true parkin texture, you can now wrap the sponge in foil and leave it somewhere cool and dry to get nice and sticky, but you can move on to the frosting straight away if you wish
■ To make the topping, beat the cream cheese and icing sugar together until thick and pale. Add the vanilla, then the treacle and beat again until you have a thick piping icing.
■ Cut your parkin into 24 equal squares and place the pieces on a wire rack. Transfer your black treacle frosting to a piping bag with the very end snipped off and pipe zig zags of icing across the surface of each square. While the icing is still wet, top each square with a sprinkle of honeycomb pieces and leave to set.
Recipe and image courtesy of AO, ao.com