Yorkshire Sponge Parkin

 There have been a few blog posts on blogs I follow recently, which have featured gingerbread or parkin, so I thought I would add to the seasonal baking idea and include Yorkshire Sponge Parkin.  It doesn't contain treacle, so is lighter than a traditional parkin, but with the spices and ginger, it is perfect for this time of year and is really easy to bake.  I was given the recipe by a work colleague, (Sally, who came from Yorkshire) about 12 years ago and it has always turned out beautifully.
Ingredients:
4 oz soft margarine
8oz Self raising flour
½ a cup of golden syrup (I use a small plastic picnic cup for both golden syrup and water)
4 oz granulated sugar
2 eggs
½ a cup of water
1 heaped teaspoon of ground ginger
1 heaped teaspoon of mixed spice

Method:
1. Cream the margarine and sugar together.
2. Add all other ingredients and mix well.
3. Pour into a deep 9 inch round, greased and floured tin.
4. Bake on a low shelf for 40 minutes at Gas 3, then reduce to Gas 2½ for the final 35 minutes.
5. Cool in the tin, then turn out onto a cooling rack.

I have never needed to use baking parchment in the tin and this is probably due to the slow cooking time at a relatively low heat.  While still warm, it makes a lovely pudding with custard or ice cream and as a cake, it is delicious accompanied by a cup of tea. Enjoy!

Christmas Baking (part two)

 I shall redeem myself a bit with this post as the baking really is Christmassy!  These are iced star biscuits, made for a vegan friend, and they are yumptious.  It is a very simple recipe where all the ingredients go into the bowl and are kneaded together (even the golden syrup), rolled out like squishy pastry and cut into whatever shapes you would like (or have the cutters for).  The recipe is reasonably economical too as you can get lots of biscuits (depending how big the cutter is) out one one batch.

The end result is crunchy on the edges and chewy-ish in the middle, with a flavour of ginger, so perfect for this time of year.  I added an icing outline on the top but how you decorate them is up to you.  When I worked in schools, this recipe was a great one for the children to make and the toppings they put on the biscuits were quite a sight to see. More was quite definitely more!  The only limit to decorating them is your imagination and possibly your budget.
Here is the recipe:
4 oz butter (or vegan margarine - this gives a much stickier end mixture)
4 oz light brown sugar
4 level tablespoons golden syrup
8oz plain flour (you will need more than this if using margarine - add at kneading and rolling out stages as necessary)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Gas 5, 190 degrees C, 375 degrees F

1. Put all ingredients into a bowl and knead.
2. Roll out mixture onto well floured surface and cut into shapes. (The thicker you have the dough, the chewier the biscuits will be)
3. Place on greased baking sheets/trays and bake for 10-15 mins max, or until golden brown.  They are really easy to overcook.
4. Take them off the tray while still hot - they will be very floppy but will harden as they cool.
5. Decorate if required when cold.
6.  Enjoy!

Apple crumble bars

I recently found a recipe for apple crumble bars which tempted me to make them. The apple is coated with a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, then placed over half the crumble mixture and topped with the other half.  The addition of the spices gives a very autumnal flavour to the bar.  My first attempt was, ahem, rather a disaster, due to me thinking that I knew best on the quantities and ending up with a very soggy cake-type creation (although it did taste nice).  I had only said to Chris a few days previously that baking is the one thing where you have to stick to the recipe, so I have no-one to blame but myself.  However, not to be discouraged, I decided to have another go, this time following the recipe exactly.    It has turned out with more crunch to it, but I still feel that it will go soggy.  Perhaps this is something that needs to be eaten quickly - never a problem in our house!

Grantham Gingerbreads

More food, but this time, home made biscuits called (as the title suggests) Grantham Gingerbreads. They are very crunchy with hollow spaces inside and are flavoured with ginger as you might expect. I thought that they were an old family recipe, closely guarded through the generations and only written down in the family recipe book, but I then discovered the recipe in a commercially printed biscuit book! All my romantic notions quickly crumbled away.
Despite this disappointment, it remains one of my favourite recipes as they are quick and easy to make and usually turn out very well. In fact, to be very pretentious, they are the closest thing I have to a 'signature dish'!