Yorkshire Parkin Mini Bundt #BundtBakers

Yorkshire parkin is a rich gingerbread made with treacle and golden syrup. It's a traditional baked treat that might well have been enjoyed by the characters in the beloved children's book, The Secret Garden.

This month my Bundt Bakers group was challenged by our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime, to create a Bundt with the theme Secret Garden. I'm not sure if it's what Sue intended but my mind immediately went to one of my all-time favorite books, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It's a book I have read over and over through the years. If you haven't read it, I recommend that you do. The Kindle edition is free on Amazon right now.

It's the story of an expat kid who loses her whole family to an epidemic and must return alone to England from the only home she's ever known in India. Her supposed home country is foreign to her as are the ways of the local people. After finding the secret garden to nurture in her mysterious uncle's estate, Mary grows from a sour-faced, spoiled and finicky child into one with pink cheeks and a wholesome appetite under the care of a kind Yorkshire maid and her down-to-earth brother, Dicken.

In 1999, Amy Colter published The Secret Garden Cookbook, with recipes inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic book. I must confess that I do not own that book but as I was reading its reviews, parkin was mentioned several times as a particularly traditional Yorkshire treat contained therein. I consulted The Google and found this recipe on BBC Good Food, which I adapted to fit my smaller Bundt pan.

I like to think that Mary took parkin just like this from the big house out to share with Dicken and the wee Robin Red Breast who first showed her where the secret garden was hidden.

Ingredients
1 medium egg
2 tablespoons milk
100g butter, plus extra for greasing the baking pan
1/3 cup or 80ml golden syrup
1/4 cup or 50g soft brown sugar
2 tablespoons treacle (or molasses)
1 cup or 125g flour, plus extra for pan
Slightly rounded 1/2 cup or 50g oatmeal
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Optional: powdered sugar to serve

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and liberally butter and flour your 2 1/2 to 3-cup mini Bundt pan. (Follow the original recipe for a larger pan. This just happened to be the only pan I own where I am staying right now. Traditionally parkin is baked in a square pan and cut into squares to serve.)

Beat the egg and milk together in a small mixing bowl. Set aside. Mix the flour, oatmeal, ginger, baking soda, baking powder and salt together.

In a small saucepan, gently warm the butter, brown sugar, golden syrup and treacle until the butter is just melted. Remove from the heat and continue to stir until the brown sugar has dissolved.

Add the dry ingredients to the warm butter mixture, followed by the egg and milk. Stir until well combined.

Pour the batter into your prepared Bundt pan.

Bake in the preheated oven about 30-35 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean and the top is a bit crusty.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before turning the parkin out on a wire rack to cool.

The BBC recipe says to wrap it up tightly in parchment paper and foil and to keep it for a few days before eating, as it gets softer and stickier the longer you keep it. I don’t know about that (time will tell!) but I can assure you that even straight out of the pan, it goes quite excellently with a strong cup of Yorkshire Tea, the brand my younger daughter happens to favor.

Enjoy!

Check out all the other Secret Garden recipes the Bundt Bakers are sharing today!

• Almond Lavender Bundt by The Queen of Scones
• Carrot Bundt Cake with Chamomile Orange Icing by Patty's Cake
• Chocolate and Mint Cake by Baking Yummies
• Ginger & Lemon Crackle Courgette Bundt Cake by Baking in Pyjamas
• Elderflower and Lemon Bundt by Jane's Adventure in Dinner
• Lavender & Honey Bundt by Living the Gourmet
• Lavender & Lemon Bundt Cake by I Love Bundt Cakes
• Lavender Lemonade Bundt by All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Lemon and Rosewater Cake by Palatable Pastime
• Lemon Balm Bundt Cake by Magnolia Days
• Lemon Zucchini Bundt with Sugared Pansies by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Mojito Bundt Cakes by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Spiced Zucchini Bundt Cake by Making Miracles
• Sweet Chocolate Feel the Beet Cake by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Vanilla Rose Bundt with Edible Flowers by Our Good Life
• Yorkshire Parkin Mini Bundt by Food Lust People Love
• Zucchini, Cheddar and Chive Bundt by Cookaholic Wife

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme.  Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.

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Nordic Walnut Cake with Coffee Icing #FoodieExtravaganza

Nordic Walnut Cake is loaded with finely chopped walnuts that, along with the butter, give it a lovely richness. It’s perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. 

So what’s Nordic about this Nordic Walnut Cake? Our Foodie Extravaganza host, Laura of Baking in Pyjamas set us a theme of Midsummer Eve Desserts this month, which made me think of the northern European celebrations around the time of the summer solstice. A quick search revealed many traditional recipes from countries that celebrate, including Sweden and the like.

I decided on this walnut cake from a website called Nordic Recipe Archive for two reasons. First, the method of making the batter by mixing the other ingredients and then folding in the stiffly beaten egg whites intrigued me. I wondered if a batter filled with chopped walnuts could be lightened. I've baked with ground nuts before and the result is always a dense, rich cake. Secondly, that coffee icing! I am a sucker for all things coffee. I’m not much of a sweet eater, but add coffee and I’ll give your cake a chance.

This cake did not disappoint on either promise. While still rich, the walnut cake is much lighter than my other bakes with ground nuts. And I could have eaten that very simple coffee icing with a spoon!

Ingredients
For the cake:
2/3 cup or 150g butter plus more for greasing the pan
2/3 cup 132g sugar
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites
3 1/2 oz or 100g shelled walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup or 83g flour plus more for coating the pan
1 teaspoon baking powder

For the coffee icing:
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup or 95g icing sugar

For garnish:
2 1/2 oz or 70g walnuts, roughly chopped

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your loaf pan by buttering it and then coating with lightly with flour.

Use a food processor to finely chop the walnuts for the cake batter.

Melt the butter and the sugar in a small pot over a low heat. Gently bring the mixture to the boil and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring continually. Do not let it brown or burn. At first the butter doesn't seem to want to mix in but just keep stirring. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. We are going to be mixing the egg yolks in and you don't want them to cook upon contact.

Use hand held beaters or your stand mixer to beat the egg whites until stiff. Set aside.

Whisk the egg yolks and the vanilla extract in the sugar-butter mixture.

Mix in the finely chopped nuts.

Then the flour mixed with the salt and baking powder.

Gently fold the stiff egg whites into the batter a dollop at a time.

Pour the mixture into your prepared loaf pan.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes or until the cake is nicely browned and a toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cake cool for a few minutes in the pan, then remove it to cool completely on a wire rack.

For the icing:
Melt the butter, milk and instant coffee in a small saucepan over a low heat. Mix in the icing sugar and vanilla extract.

Whisk until smooth.

Pour the icing over the cake on a serving plate. Top with the chopped walnuts while the icing is still soft. They set and stick as it hardens.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to Laura for this challenge. I’ve got to say that I have found a new favorite cake! I ate several slices before I finally shared with my neighbor and send the rest home with my mom.

Check out the rest of our Midsummer Desserts:

• Blueberry Slab Pie by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Carrot Vanilla Custard by Sneha's Recipe
• Chocolate Fondue with Strawberries by Making Miracles
• Dark Berry Gelato by Baking in Pyjamas
• Egg Free Mint Gelato by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Kladdkaka by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Mango Souffle by G'Gina's Kitchenette
• No Bake Lemon Cheesecake by Fearlessly Creative Mammas
• Nordic Walnut Cake with Coffee Icing by Food Lust People Love
• Simple Peach Crisp by Cooking with Traci
• Swedish Cheesecake with Strawberries by Caroline's Cooking

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays or shares recipes with the same ingredient or theme every month.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook group Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

If you're a reader looking for delicious recipes, check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out here.

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Almond Orange Basbousa Bundt #BundtBakers

This Almond Orange Basbousa Bundt takes the best of the Arabic sweet treat basbousas - semolina, coconut, almonds, orange syrup and lots of butter - and bakes them into a tender, buttery crumb cake I think Scheherazade would be pleased to serve.

This month my Bundt Bakers are taking inspiration from the tales that Scheherazade told over 1001 Nights to create Bundt cakes with Arabic flavors. I decided to recreate the sweet treat basbousas that I made a while back for a Creative Cookie Exchange post, but instead of using camel milk caramel to glaze the cake, I took a more traditional route with orange syrup. Basbousas are normally adorned with almonds but I took the liberty of adding dates as well since those often feature in Middle Eastern desserts. The result was a lovely cake with a great buttery crumb, very much like a basbousa in Bundt form.

Many thanks to our host Lara of Tartacadabra for the wonderful challenge. Make sure to scroll down to see the other wonderful 1001 Night Bundts we have for you this month.

Ingredients
For the Bundt:
16-20 whole skinned almonds
8-10 whole seeded dates
1 1/4 cups or 250g medium coarse semolina
3/4 cup or 50g freshly grated coconut
1 cup or 125g flour plus more for flouring the pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 115g unsalted butter, softened, plus more for buttering the pan
2/3 cup or 132g sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup or 100g thick plain yogurt
1/4 cup or 60ml milk

For the orange syrup
1 orange
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
Pinch salt

Method
Cut the dates in half and press on almond into each half. Butter your 10-cup Bundt pan well then coat with a light dusting of flour. Set aside.



Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Whisk together the semolina, coconut, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

With electric beaters or in the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy. Add in the egg and vanilla and beat again.



Add the flour mixture along with the yogurt and milk to the mixing bowl and then beat until well combined.



Press date covered almonds down into the bottom of your prepared Bundt pan, almond side down.



Spoon in batter to cover them carefully, trying not to dislodge them.



Press date covered almonds into the sides of your Bundt, tucking them down to secure them.



Keep spooning the batter in carefully. Smooth out the top of the batter, working it to the sides to hold in the date covered almonds. They won't all stay exactly in place but do your best.



Bake in your preheated oven for 55-60 minutes or until the Bundt is golden and a toothpick comes out clean.



While the Bundt bakes, measure your sugar into a small pot. Grate in the zest of your orange and then squeeze in the juice, using a small strainer to catch any seeds.

Heat the sugar and juice until the sugar dissolves. Add the pinch of salt and cook until the syrup starts to thicken slightly, about 5-8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

When the Bundt is baked, remove it from the oven. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack. Loosen the sides of the cake with your toothpick then turn the cake out onto the wire rack.



When it’s still quite warm, start brushing on the orange syrup, allowing it to soak in as you do. Put it on your serving plate or put a plate underneath to catch any drips.



Keep brushing and soaking until all of the orange syrup has been absorbed.

Cut into slices and serve with cups of hot tea.



Enjoy!

Oh, if only Scheherazade could bake like my fellow Bundt Bakers! She wouldn't have had to make up all those stories to keep her husband, the king interested. Seriously. Check 'em out.

• Almond Date Bundt Cake by Magnolia Days
• Almond Orange Basbousa Bundt by Food Lust People Love
• Arabian Nights Bundt Cake by Tartacadabra
• Honey Almond, Apricot, and Cream Cheese Filled Breakfast Cake by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Moroccan Bundt Cake by I Love Bundt Cakes
• Orange Cardamom Bundt by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Orange and Mint Bundt Cake by Our Good Life
• Persian Orange Cake by Making Miracles
• Pistachio Lemon & Rose Drizzle Bundt Cake by Baking in Pyjamas
• Roohafza Almond Bundt Cake by SimplyVeggies
• Saffron and Apricot Cake by Jane's Adventure in Dinner
• Saffron and turmeric mini bundt cakes by Patty's Cake
• The Blue Djinn of Babylon Persian Cardamom Bundt Cake by The Queen of Scones
• Turkish Delight Bundt Cake by All That's Left Are The Crumbs

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.

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Sock It To Me Cake #BundtBakers

A throw back to the ‘70s, Sock It To Me Cake is made with a simple cake batter, all fancied up inside by the addition of pecans and brown sugar, and outside with a little glaze. 

My mom says that my grandmother didn’t bake much when she was growing up. I guess my grandmother didn’t have much time for that sort of thing, working a full time job running the family and the family business next door to their home. She and my grandfather had their own store, selling major appliances like washers and dryers and refrigerators. Paw would take care of sales unless he was out on a service call or in his workshop making repairs. Mo answered the phone, did the bookkeeping and billing and handled the sales floor when my grandfather was out. She would nip home each morning and get lunch started on the stove, returning occasionally to check on the smothered round steak or simmering chicken stew. At least that’s how I remember it.

But some time in the 1970s, that began to change. Different desserts started to appear at Sunday dinner.  Banana Split Pie with a graham cracker crust, strawberry shortcake made with those little store bought sponge cakes with the indentation in the middle, some sort of “salad” with pistachios and green Jello (Yuck. I think it was called Watergate Salad. Just why?) and Sock It To Me Cake made with Duncan Hines cake mix. I loved Sock It To Me Cake because of the brown sugar and pecans in the middle. But more that that, I liked the name.

Sock It To Me, baby. And cut me another slice, please. In other news, it's entirely possible that I was an odd child.

This month my Bundt Bakers group is taking retro desserts and turning them into Bundt cakes. Very creative, right? But since my favorite retro dessert was already a Bundt cake, how could I not share it? I’m not much of one to use cake mixes, especially for simple yellow cake – not that I have anything against them – so I adapted the batter from my favorite yellow cake recipe in The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, 1980 edition. The filling is straight off the Duncan Hines site, adjusted for size (and the fact that I'm not using their cake mix), plus a pinch of salt. Nowadays, Duncan Hines wants you to warm some of their icing as glaze though. Just no.

Many thanks to our Bundt Bakers host this month, Felice from All That’s Left are the Crumbs. Make sure you scroll down to see all the other hip retro desserts made into Bundts at her instigation below.

This will bake you a smaller cake using a 6-cup Bundt pan.

Ingredients
For the cake batter:
1 1/8 cups or 140g flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
1/3 cup or 80g canola or other light vegetable oil
1/3 cup or 80ml sour cream
2 eggs

For the filling:
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup or 65g finely chopped pecans
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch salt

For the glaze:
1/2 cup or  62g powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C. Grease and flour 6-cup Bundt pan. (Mine is called the 6-cup Anniversary Bundt pan by Nordic Ware, in case you are curious.)

In a small mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another small bowl, mix together all of the ingredients for the filling.

In your large mixing bowl, whisk together your oil and sugar.

Add in the eggs, one at a time, whisking until light and creamy.

Add in the sour cream and whisk again.

Tip in the flour mixture and whisk one last time.

Pour two-thirds of the batter into your prepared Bundt pan.

Spoon in the filling mixture.

Pour the last third of the batter over to cover the filling.

Bake in your preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Leave to cool for about five minutes in the pan.

Run your toothpick around the edges of the cake to loosen, then turn it out onto a wire rack. Leave to cool completely before drizzling on the glaze.

To make the glaze, mix the sugar and the vanilla. Add teaspoons of milk till you reach your desired consistency. Pour or drizzle over the cooled cake.

Enjoy!

What was your favorite retro dessert? Here are some of ours, either originally Bundts or Bundtified.

• Boston Cream Bundt by Andrea at Adventures in All Things Food
• Boston Cream Pie Bundt Cake by Mary at Los Chatos Chefs
• Campbell's Tomato Soup Cake by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Coca~Cola Bundt Cake by Mondo at I Bake He Shoots
• Hummingbird Bundt Cake by Teri at The Freshman Cook
• Inside-Out Ho Hos Lava Bundt Cake by Colleen at Faith, Hope, Love & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Key Lime Bundt Cake by Sarah at The Chef Next Door
• Lemon Meringue Pie Bundt by Felice at All That's Left are the Crumbs
• New York Style Crumb Cake by Tammy at Living the Gourmet
• Nutella Chocolate MIlkshake Bundt Cake by Bea and Mara at I Love Bundt Cakes
• Orange Creamsicle Cake by Sue at Palatable Pastime
• Pantera Rosa Bundt Cake by Rocío at kidsandchic
• Root Beer Float Bundt Cake by Rebekah at Making Miracles
• Sock It To Me Cake by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Strawberry Milkshake Swirl Bundt Cake by Laura at Baking in Pyjamas
• Tomato Soup Bundt Cake by Tux at Brooklyn Homemaker
• Tunnel of Fudge Cake by Kelly at Passion Kneaded

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving Bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest Board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme or ingredient.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers can be found on our homepage.

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