Peckish for a Parkin

Baking seems to have come back into 'fashion' as it were. With all things British and patriotic being promoted this year thanks to the Jubilee and the Olympics (I miss it already...), and shops like Cath Kidson making twee prints and traditional past times cool again, home baking seems to be on the rise.

After my Nick Nairn class the other week and watching the Great British Bake-off with Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins last night, I was in the mood for cooking up my own tasty creation. A banana loaf is my usual go to recipe for a quick bake- just lob all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk. Fairly foolproof.

But after watching the contestants make rum baba's, upside down fruit cakes and hidden interior design cakes (?), I thought I would be slightly more adventurous and go for something new. A Ginger and Banana Parkin is what I went for and having tasted a slice (or two) I would thoroughly recommend giving it a go. Heres the recipe I used.

For 12 Squares

200g Plain Flour
2tsp Bicarb. of Soda
2tsp Ground Ginger
150g Medium Oatmeal (I used Scots Porridge Oats)
4 tbsp Dark Muscavado Sugar
75g Sunflower Margarine
150g Golden Syrup
1 Egg
3 Ripe Bananas, Mashed
75g Icing Sugar
Crystallised Ginger, To Decorate

1. Preheat Oven to 160C. Grease and Line an 18 x 28 cm cake tin.
2. Sift together the flour, bicarb., and ginger then stir in the oatmeal. Melt the sugar, butter and syrup together in a pan then stir into the flour mixture (it will still be very dry so don't be tempted to add any liquid! ). Beat in the egg and mashed bananas.
3. Spoon into the tin and bake for about an hour or until firm to the touch (mine took 45 minutes in a fan oven). Allow to cool in the tin then turn out and cut into squares.
4. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in just enough water to make a smooth, runny icing. Drizzle the icing over each square and top with pieces of ginger.

So I hope you enjoy giving this easy recipe a go. And the best thing is, it will keep for up to two months and will actually improve with age! But somehow I don't think mine will be around for that long... nom nom nom.