Recipe: Parkin cake makes the perfect cycling snack

Parkin cake is a traditional ginger sponge from the north of England which always goes down well after a day in the saddle. Last year, we presented Bank View Café with the Cyclist Café of the Year Lifetime Achievement award and learnt how to make this customer favourite. 

For many of us, café stops are sadly not an option right now - all the more reason to give this simple recipe a whirl at home.

Ingredients

• 12oz golden syrup
• 6oz butter or baking margarine
• 8oz black treacle
• 13oz oats
• 3 eggs
• 7oz self-raising flour
• 9oz dark brown sugar
• 3 tsp milk
• 3 tsp ginger powder

Method

1. Mix together the golden syrup, butter and black treacle.
2. Pop them in the microwave for two minutes to loosen up.
3. Pour the mixture into a large bowl of oats, and stir.
4. Add the remaining ingredients (eggs, flour, sugar, milk and ginger powder) and mix well.
5. Pour into a lined tin and bake on the top shelf at 160° for 45 minutes.
6. Leave the sponge in the tin to cool, then wrap it in baking paper and foil (still in the tin).
7. Store for five days before eating (if you can wait that long!). The cake becomes stickier and softer the longer you leave it.
8. Cut into squares. Eat within two weeks.

Vote for your top café of 2020

To recognise amazing cafés like Bank View, Cycling UK is running its Cyclist Café of the Year awards for the third year running and is looking for nominations from up and down the country.

Tell us about your favourite bike-friendly refreshment stop and what makes it so special. Is it the warm welcome? The cracking coffee? Or maybe the tasty takeaway treats? There will be a winner for each of the four nations of the UK, and voting closes on 30 October 2020.

Vote Now

For a quick video demonstration of the recipe, and to get a flavour of the competition, watch Cycling UK ambassador and TV presenter, Angellica Bell as she surprises the 2019 Lifetime Achievement award-winner with a visit.

To discover more delicious recipes and find out about last year's winners, visit our Cyclist Cafe of the Year page.