A dark and sticky ginger cake with a lick of smokiness: just the thing for watching the fireworks

I went to school in Hull, and this time of year always smelled the best. Firework smoke from Bonfire Night would mix with the ever-present sweet, bready-smelling fug from the city’s bakeries. The culinary meeting of these two scents is the famous Yorkshire parkin: a dark and sticky ginger cake with a certain fire-licked flavour. It’s not a cake for a birthday, nor one for afternoon tea, but it’s perfect to eat tissue-wrapped from a pocket, or after the fireworks to make you feel warm and alive on a cold November night.

Yorkshire parkin with a whisky caramel sauce

The longer the cake is left to sit, the stickier and better it will be. Make it in advance, wrap in greaseproof paper and keep in a tin or container to help it develop.

Prep 20 min

Cook 1 hr 10 min

Serves 8-10

90g soft medjool dates, pitted (from 100g gross weight)

200g sunflower spread – I like Biona

80g soft brown sugar

100g black molasses

100g golden syrup

200g plain flour

175g fine-cut oatmeal

¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground mixed spice

For the whisky caramel sauce

150g sunflower spread

100ml golden syrup

80g soft dark brown sugar

1 large pinch sea salt

1 tbsp bourbon whisky

2 bananas, peeled and cut into coins, to serve

Three great warming wines for Bonfire night Read more

Heat the oven to 160C/320F/gas 2½ and line a 22cm-square cake tin with greaseproof paper.

Put the dates in a bowl and cover with 130ml freshly boiled water. Mash with a fork until the fruit disintegrates and forms a paste.

Place a medium saucepan over a low to medium heat, and to it add the sunflower spread, sugar, molasses, golden syrup and mashed date paste. Warm until the spread has melted and the ingredients just come together, then take off the heat.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, oatmeal, bicarb, ginger, nutmeg and mixed spice, then slowly fold in the wet mixture, until you have a thick, well-mixed batter. Scrape into the cake tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until a skewer comes out clean.

If you’re not storing the cake – it will improve over time, wrapped in tinfoil or an airtight container – cut it into squares and serve it warm with a hot caramel. To make the sauce, put the sunflower spread, golden syrup, sugar and salt into a small saucepan, and leave to melt over a low heat. Simmer for four to five minutes, until treacly, then take off the heat. Leave to cool for a few minutes, then stir in the whisky. Prick the cake all over with a fork, cover with hot whisky caramel sauce and top with the banana coins.

• This recipe was amended on 17 October 2019.



Following revisions provided by the writer, the ingredients and method for the cake have been updated and improved (with no change to the whisky caramel sauce). The original ingredients and method for the cake were as follows:

90g soft medjool dates, pitted (from 100g gross weight)

200g sunflower spread – I like Biona

80g soft dark brown sugar

200g black molasses

200g plain flour

175g fine-cut oatmeal

¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground mixed spice



Heat the oven to 160C/320F/gas 2½ and line a 22cm-square cake tin with greaseproof paper.

Put the dates in a bowl and cover with 130ml freshly boiled water. Mash with a fork until the fruit disintegrates and forms a paste.

In a big bowl, whisk together the sunflower spread, sugar, molasses and mashed date paste, until uniform and bump-free.

In another bowl, mix the flour, oatmeal, bicarb, ginger, nutmeg and mixed spice, then slowly fold in the wet mixture, until you have a thick, well-mixed batter. Scrape into the cake tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until a skewer comes out clean.