Late one evening my wife informed me that two of our friends would be calling in on us the following morning as they were travelling back to South-East London. Apparently they wouldn’t require a meal, but were looking forward to a coffee, a chat and some of my baking.

If not eaten “in house”, most of my bakes are given away and I had nothing to offer them. Some quick brownies was my first thought, but then I was reminded that one of them didn’t really like chocolate (yes, very odd, I agree).

Early the next morning it was a case of “Parkin to the rescue”, but not just any parkin. No, I needed something extra, something to give it a bit more character. Raspberries came to mind, but then I remembered that we had a jar of stem ginger in the cupboard. So it was another “adapt a recipe on the hoof” type of bake – and very successful too.

Makes: 16 “moderate” squares or 12 “more significant” pieces

Time: 15 – 20 minutes prep then around 45 minutes in the oven + cooling

Level: Easy

Need: A 20cm/8” square tin, with sides at least 5cm deep, mixing bowls, saucepan and a 350g/12oz jar of stem ginger in syrup

The measurements below are a guide. I know we’re supposed to be exact when weighing out ingredients, but I’ve often erred above or below by at least 10g without any problems.

Ingredients

150ml/5½fl oz milk
50g/1¾oz treacle
25g/1oz golden syrup (or use syrup from the ginger jar)
100g/3½oz golden caster sugar
100g/3½oz light brown sugar
115g/4oz butter or baking spread
150g/5½oz plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
250g – 300g (9oz – 10oz) porridge oats
Pinch of salt
2 tsp ground ginger
150g/5½oz chopped stem ginger

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C / Fan 140°C / 325°F / Gas 3. Grease and line the tin.

2. Put the milk, treacle, golden syrup, sugars and butter into a saucepan. Gently heat with occasional stirring until everything has melted together.

3. Meanwhile, sift the flour and bi-carb soda into a large mixing bowl and add the oats, salt and ground ginger. Stir and mix well.

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to mix thoroughly, making sure everything is coated. Stir in the chopped stem ginger pieces.

5. Pour or spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Tap it firmly on the work surface a couple of time to release any air pockets then bake for 42 – 48 minutes.

6. Allow the parkin to cool then cut into pieces.

I hope you enjoy this tray bake. Feel free to adapt, modify or rectify it in way you choose.

Click this link for more of my traybake recipes. Below are some of my personal favourites that I hope you’ll try. Also, have a look at my site for other recipes, sweet and savoury.

Lemon Millionaires Shortbread