This One's For You, Guy Fawkes

I spent the month of September in England on a family history research trip, specifically in Cornwall in the southwest where my father’s ancestors lived. But I also have roots in the northern county of Lancashire where my maternal ancestors once lived, and still do. And that’s where Jenny comes in. I discovered Jenny on Ancestry.com and it turns out that we share great, great, great, grandparents and she is my fourth cousin.

Thanks to Jenny’s parents (her mother Gillian is my third cousin once removed) who invited me to their home in Devon, I got a chance to meet Jenny in person after corresponding with her via email for almost two years. The occasion (as if we needed any other reason to meet!) was a family birthday and Jenny was serving a dinner of traditional British dishes: cottage pie and Parkin, a rich and dense gingerbread kind of cake that I think the English would call a “sticky pudding.” Whatever you call it, Parkin is delicious and as an added bonus it has an historic pedigree.

The recipe has been around for ages and although it originated with working class families in Yorkshire during the Industrial Revolution, today it is enjoyed everywhere in England, including Lancashire. “It’s something our ancestors would have eaten,” Jenny assured me. And with that, I immediately felt connected to all our shared family members who went before us through the ages. It is traditionally served on Bonfire Night, which is November 5^th, a night that has been commemorated in England since 1605. That was the night that 17^th century scoundrel, Guy Fawkes, was executed for treason for his part in the Gunpowder Plot, the failed attempt to assassinate King James I.

Jenny very kindly sent me home with a copy of her recipe and I made up my mind to bake a Parkin on Bonfire Night, even though by then I would be back home in California where bonfires are forbidden. Little did I know the extent of the battle that was about to begin. First of all, Jenny’s recipe is stated in metric and Imperial units, and call me naïve, but I was confident I could simply do the arithmetic to convert grams and and milliliters into cups. I went online looking for conversion charts and adapted recipes, but the more I learned the more I understood that volume and weight are not the same thing. I then turned to my brilliant British pal Katrina who worked on converting the recipe, but finally advised me to use a kitchen scale calibrated to make accurate conversions. That’s when I gave in and bought a digital scale that shows tare weight in grams.

Next, I tackled the ingredients that called for items not available in the U.S., like golden syrup and treacle. I was ready to make do with light and dark corn syrup when I ventured into a local shop run by a lovely British lady who pointed out her small collection of imported British products, and there they were: authentic golden syrup (much darker and richer than that thin, watery Karo syrup I thought would do), and jars of double cream that I knew would be the perfect topping for my finished Parkin. For treacle, I substituted dark molasses, which worked well enough.

So after almost a month of trying to decipher this recipe and gathering the right equipment and authentic ingredients, I was ready to start baking. That’s when an email from Jenny arrived, encouraging me to remember my British relatives on Bonfire Night. And along with it, the taunting photo of a perfectly beautiful Parkin that had just been baked by her 9-year-old son Rory! My determination surged to new heights. If a small boy can make a Parkin, then by golly so can I! And so today, November 5^th, I baked a Yorkshire Parkin. Tonight when I tuck into it, there will be no bonfire and no party. Just a warm connection to my heritage and my English family with every gooey bite.

 Baked Parkin (in U.S. measurements)

1 ¼  Cups self-rising flour

Pinch of salt

3 Tablespoons ground ginger

2 Teaspoons nutmeg

1 Teaspoon mixed spice (I used pumpkin pie spice)

1 Cup oat flakes (I used Coach’s Oats)

¾ Cup golden syrup (Lyle’s is best, if you can find it)

¼ Cup black treacle (I used molasses)

1 Stick + 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

¾ Cup dark brown sugar

2 Medium eggs, beaten

1 Tablespoon milk

Pre-heat the oven to 275 F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line with parchment paper.

Sieve the flour, salt, ginger, nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice together into a large bowl. Mix in the oats.

Place the golden syrup, molasses, butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan and melt over low heat, but do not boil. Stir into the flour mixture.

Mix the beaten egg and milk to a soft, pourable consistency. Mix into the flour/syrup mixture, and pour all into the buttered baking pan. Bake for 1-1 ½ hours until firm in the center. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the baking pan for 5-10 minutes before turning out.

British cooks insist that Parkin in best eaten after it’s been wrapped and stored for a minimum of one day, and preferably more, before slicing into squares. Parkin can be served with ice cream, a seasonal fruit compote, or a generous glob of whipped cream.