How to Make Parkin

Some Yorkshire people claim Parkin belongs in the White Rose county. People from Lancashire disagree; "Yonners" will tell you Parkin comes from Red Rose country to the west of the mighty Pennine mountain chain. In the 15th Century the Wars of the Roses took the dispute to the field of honour.

Parkin distinguishes itself from plain old ginger cake by being made with oatmeal. It is traditionally eaten on Guy Fawkes Night. And that provides the link to my hometown of London. This cockney boy doesn't care which side of the Pennines Parkin comes from as long as warring northerners keep their gunpowder north of the M25 ;-)

But seriously though, Parkin is welcome on my plate. It is easy to make, tasty, filling and economical. There is more than one way to make it, so if this recipe isn't the way you remember it - you may be from the wrong side of the Pennines!

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain flour
• 2 cups oatmeal (I used Hamlyn's Oatmeal from Blighty's)
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons Lyles Black Treacle
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg

Preparation

• Thoroughly mix the flour, oatmeal, ginger, salt and baking powder in a large bowl
• Gently heat the milk, treacle, butter and sugar in a saucepan until you have a smooth sauce
• Remove the sauce from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes then stir in one well-beaten egg
• Stir the sauce into the flour and oatmeal mixture until the texture is sticky and smooth
• Pour the batter into a greased ovenproof baking dish and bake at 350F for about an hour
• When cool, place in a cake tin with a lid and store for a day or two before eating (I don't know why but northerners recommend it!)

John's Notes
Delicious! Sticks to your teeth but it really is very, very good. This recipe was requested by Alison Hird who manages the excellent "Whats On Ontario" website at http://www.whatson.ca.

Blighty's Brown Sauce Recipe

This week I set out to make my own HP Sauce. The original recipe is a commercial secret but many have tried to copy the flavour. There are a lot of "HP Sauce" recipes available on the Internet and I doubt if any of them are authentic. Nonetheless, it is fairly easy to make a decent brown "ketchup" style sauce. I didn't want to join the bandwagon of HP imitators so I gave mine an honest name: Blighty's Brown Sauce.

The real HP Sauce was first made by a grocer in Nottingham in the late nineteenth century. He called it "HP" because he had heard that his product was being used in the Houses of Parliament in London. A picture of the Houses of Parliament has been on the label for many years. Sadly, HP Sauce is now made in the Netherlands but still retains its distinctly British reputation.

HP Sauce is a great accompaniment to hot or cold meat. For that reason I made a tomato-based ketchup with a spiced beef flavour. Here is how I did it.

Ingredients

• 4 cups crushed tomatoes
  
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 chopped onion
• 3 tablespoons Lyles Black Treacle
• 3 Oxo cubes
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
  

Preparation

• Put all the ingredients into a large saucepan
• Bring to the boil then simmer for one hour
• Allow to cool then use a blender to make sure the sauce has a smooth texture

John's Notes
I made enough very tasty brown sauce to fill about four or five HP bottles for a fraction of the cost of the real thing. But did I achieve the same flavour as the original? To be honest, no; but I did produce an inexpensive brown sauce that is every bit as good as HP.

How to Make Incredible Mince Pies!

You might be tempted to think "why do I need a recipe for mince pies? They are easy to make." After all, you just pick up a jar of Robertsons Mincemeat, make some small pastry shells and lids, bung it in the oven and Bob's your uncle.

Others might just shrug and say "thanks but there is nothing better than Mr Kipling Mince Pies, so I'll just buy a couple of packs and save myself the bother of making them."

And then there is me. I thought to myself, okay, nobody is going to be interested in a mince pie recipe unless the result is so good that beings from other planets will visit the Earth to taste it. Well, I haven't seen any flying saucers in my backyard yet, but I think I created an incredible mince pie recipe!

If you really want to pop into my little shop and buy yourself some Robertsons Mincemeat, or some Mr Kipling Mince Pies this Christmas you will be very welcome. But, if you don't try out this recipe you will miss one of the great taste sensations in this sector of the galaxy.

Yes, Mr Kipling Mince Pies are very good. Very good indeed in fact. So good that I used them as a standard against which to compare the ones I made myself. The mincemeat had to be sweet, spicy and mouth-wateringly good. The pastry had to be firm and light with a smooth texture. Move over Mr Kipling, you have met your match.

Ingredients
For the mincemeat:

• 2 cups chopped dried fruit (currants, sultanas, raisins, apple, apricot, prunes, pears - mix and match your own choice of dried fruits)
• 1 tablespoon each of candied orange and lemon peel
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons Lyles Black Treacle
• Sugar to taste
  
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger
  

For the pastry:

• 1 cup fine, soft wheat flour (e.g. "Cake and Pastry" flour)
• 2 tablespoons margarine
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Preparation
Mincemeat

• Bring 1 cup of water almost to the boil and stir in 2 tablespoons of Lyles Black Treacle until dissolved
• Bring to the boil then add all the dried fruit and lemon juice and boil gently for a few minutes
  
• Add the allspice, ginger and sugar, then stir thoroughly
  
• Simmer until the mixture becomes a little thick and sticky; stir frequently
• Spoon the mincemeat into small ovenproof ramekin dishes
  

Pastry

• Rub the margarine, salt and sugar into the flour, in a mixing bowl, until the texture is like breadcrumbs
• While mixing the pastry dough, add cold water a few drops at a time until the dough is slightly dry but workable
• Roll out on a floured board to a thickness of half a centimeter
• Cut circles of dough about a centimeter more in radius than the ramekins
• Mould the dough so that it overlaps and seals against the outside of the ramekins then pierce small holes to allow steam from the mincemeat to escape during baking
• Bake at 350F for about a half hour or until the pastry looks well baked
• Near the end of the bake, sprinkle a little sugar and a few drops of water on top of each pie to create a sweet glaze
  
• Cool for about 15 minutes before eating

John's Notes
Traditional mince pies are made with a pastry shell filled with mincemeat covered with a pastry lid. The mince pies in this recipe only have pastry on the top and that leaves more room for the delicious mincemeat underneath.

The secret to good mince pie pastry is to make sure you use a fine, soft flour. If you make your pastry with plain flour, or "all purpose flour" your pastry will be a lot heavier. My pastry turned out to be every bit as good as Mr Kipling's.

It really is worth the little bit of extra trouble to make your mincemeat from scratch. The flavour is like all the Christmases you have ever seen come together in one day. I was very pleased; you will be too.

Great Custard Tarts

Okay, I know I promised mince pies this week but I just had a craving for custard tarts that wouldn't go away. So we will do mince pies sometime soon (before Christmas - I promise).

I have tried commercially made custard tarts in Canada and have met with some real shockers. One baker (who, mercifully, is no longer in business) made custard tarts with custard sauce (you know the corn starch based stuff that tastes great with dessert but is disgusting when baked in a pastry shell).

Another baker failed to pre-bake the pastry shells before filling them. The result was custard tarts with soggy bottoms.

To be honest, I can't make them taste quite as good as the delicious tarts you find in many small British bakeries over 'ome. But, mine are pretty darn good all the same.

Ingredients

• 1 dozen frozen tart shells (or make from scratch)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 pinch nutmeg

Preparation

• Bake the defrosted pastry shells at 350F for a few minutes (do not overbake) then remove from the oven and allow to cool
  
• Heat, but do not boil, the milk
• Whisk the eggs and sugar together until frothy
• Stir in the hot milk and whisk again for a few seconds
• Carefully spoon the custard into the pie shells taking care to fill each shell without over-spilling
• Sprinkle nutmeg over each tart
  
• Bake at 300F until the custard sets
• Cover and cool, eat the tarts cold

John's Notes
A good custard tart is well filled with custard. The pastry shell MUST be lightly pre-baked. If you try to bake the custard in unbaked pastry shells, the custard will cook but the pastry will remain uncooked and taste 'orrible. I like lots of nutmeg on my custard tarts.

Custard tarts must be made with real custard which means custard made with eggs and milk. Contrary to popular opinion the stuff the English usually pour over desserts is not real custard at all. Custard thickened with corn starch was invented by a famous Mr Bird whose wife loved custard but was allergic to eggs! You can read all about custard in our earlier post "English Custard".

And finally, if you just want to enjoy the custard without the pastry shells then make "custard cups" by baking the custard in small ovenproof dishes.