VEGAN PARKIN - the concise recipe (And Ginger Cake)

(The story behind this recipe.) (Ginger cake recipe at the foot of this post)

Simple Parkin (vegan)

Ingredients:

100g porridge oats

100g wholemeal flour (for a gluten-free (ish) version, substitute with Dove's gluten free flour)

2 and 1/2 tsps baking powder

4 tsps ground ginger

1 tsp mixed spice

100g sugar

100g blackstrap molasses (or treacle if you can’t find molasses)

220g lukewarm water

25g vegetable oil

Method:

•       Preheat the oven to 180C [or see microwave version below - recommended]

•       Measure the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, ginger and mixed spice and stir to distribute the ingredients

•       Gently heat the molasses and water together to approximately blood heat and add to dry ingredients

•       Add the oil to the mix and stir – initially with a large spoon or spatula, then with a whisk

•       Pour in to an oiled and lined 20cm (8” inch) cake tin

•       Put in the oven and cook for between 35-40 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean

•       Leave on a cooling rack in the tin for ten minutes

Turn out on to the cooling tray

With a traditional parkin it is recommended you leave it for several days to mature. This is supposed to enhance the taste. I’ve no idea whether this works with this recipe – as, in this house, the parkin disappears very quickly after cooling. It is simply gorgeous from the moment it is cool enough to eat.

The only way I’ve found not to gorge on this cake is to, as soon as possible, cut it into, say, 50g pieces, then put them in the freezer. This way I can allow myself one piece per day.

If anyone has the strength and fortitude to keep the parkin for several days to see if it does in fact improve with keeping, I’d be very glad to hear from them!

Variation: For a gluten free version of this, simply use Dove’s gluten free flour in place of the wholemeal flour - and you'll need GF oats.

27th July.
Following a conversation on the Wildfood forum about microwaving carrot cake, I decided I'd try this with parkin.

I put my 800w microwave on for 3 minutes - and the parkin looked like this:

Baked in the oven my silicon cake form contains the parkin easily - but it rose much more in the microwave, as you can see! 

Once it's turned out onto the cooling rack, you can't tell the difference between a cake made in the oven - or in the microwave!

Comparing the two methods of baking:
40 minutes in the oven (with 10 minutes warm-up time), as against 6 minutes in the microwave - and you get a better risen cake!

Ginger cake (latest attempt below)

Ingredients:

200g s/raising flour

100g sugar

4-5 tsps ground ginger

1 tsp mixed spice

100g blackstrap molasses (or treacle if no molasses)

300g water

Method:

Measure the flour, sugar, ginger and mixed spice and stir to distribute the ingredients

•       Gently heat the molasses and water together to approximately blood heat and add to dry ingredients

•       Add the oil to the mix and stir – initially with a large spoon or spatula, then with a whisk

•       Pour in to 20cm (8” inch) silicon cake former
•       Place in the (800W) microwave for approx 8 minutes

Latest variation - 8th Feb 2020

This was merely leaving out the sugar and doubling up the blackstrap molasses. Gives a deeper flavour, I feel.

Portfolio for students

This post is intended as a resource for my students, giving them an idea of what breads can be made on my courses. The pics have been gathered from over the past couple of years.

It's by no means an exhaustive list, if there is a bread that a student would like to make that isn't here, then we'll have a go at making it.

To begin with, here's a comparison between the three types of yeast, with a half and half white and wholemeal flour mix.

Dried active yeast (100% pure yeast) Sainsbury's 'fast action' dried yeast (93% yeast plus additives) and fresh yeast

After an hour's proving, the dried yeast and the fresh yeast doughs were slightly better risen. The fast action yeast dough would catch up, given time

I've divided the breads into three categories:
Plain
Savoury
Sweet

Plain breads - tinned loaves, freeform loaves, focaccia, ciabatta, etc,

Ciabatta

Focaccia with rosemary

Grissini with chopped sun-dried tomatoes. The slight kink enables you to turn them over easily to cook the bottoms if they're not done enough.

I think this was two thirds wholemeal and one third white - 800g of dough just comes up to about 2/3rds of the way up the tin

Fully risen and ready to bake. I should have put it in the oven earlier and allowed the loaf to rise in the oven - oven spring as it is known. 

Think I may have added sesame seeds to the mix - I made this last December, and I can't remember. Looks like it!

A batch of white rolls, huddled together to form a loaf

They were proved and baked for the first 10 minutes under a metal toasting dish - hence the flat top

Well risen, but it's not easy to see the crumb as my camera isn't that great!

More rolls - wholemeal this time.

Fancy dinner rolls

I made 70 altogether for a friends birthday party

Savoury - pizzas, sizzlers, pane casereccio,

Garlic batons. Dough rolled out flat, covered with mashed garlic and olive oil, then rolled up like a Swiss roll

This method infuses the whole loaf with garlic

Pane casereccio. Dough rolled out flat, covered with a filling, rolled up and the ends tucked in

The finished article. The filling leaked a bit - bursting with good ingredients, I say!

From memory, the filling was mushrooms, peppers and onions poached in a little sauce. Traditionally a PC would contain Gruyere and Italian sausage, but, in truth you can put anything in there!

Haggis en croute - plus some spare breadsticks

Yeast-Rise canapés - mushroom pate, pesto and mushrooms

Field mushrooms, stuffed with pesto and mushroom pate, and covered with a tasty bread dough
(dough flavoured with bouillon powder and curry powder)

Vegan pizza with mushroom pate (Pateole) and pesto, peppers and tomatoes

Sweet - spicy fruit buns, Chelsea buns, petit pain au chocolat, jam doughnuts

Swedish Tea Ring. Fruited dough rolled out as if for Chelsea buns, but covered with oil, sugar and flaked almonds. Rolled up, formed into a circle and cut half way across at intervals. Dredged with icing sugar.

Chocolate and banana bread. One circle covered with chocolate spread and banana, the other placed over the top and tucked in all round

Then given a sugar glaze when it is baked

The gooey, soft, middle. I never seem to put enough filling in - the bread always rises too much!

Christmas loaf (or Celebration bread). The slices will show up yellow, red and green - very festive! It's a variation of a stollen - and the dough can be as rich or as plain as you wish

My grandchildren call this 'Traffic light bread'!

A sugar glaze just finishes it off

Belgian buns made with soaked cranberries. The method is very similar to Chelsea buns - the difference being the dough is rolled up along the short side making for a thicker roll - the slices are cut thinner, making for flatter buns.

Huddled together - I should have put the smallest ones in the middle

Decorating isn't my strongest suit. I'm always happy to see my students bread made neater than mine - not too difficult!

Large jam tarts, made with a sweetened dough

Iced buns and croissants

Italian chocolate bread

A BASIC LOAF OF BREAD - 3 different methods

 There are several methods I use to make a loaf of bread, depending on how much time I have available.

Method A uses the traditional flour to water ratio of 1lb of flour to 1/2 pint of water (500g flour to 315ml). I used this for many years, both at home and it was also used in the bakery where I worked for a while. The dough is mixed, kneaded for a short time, shaped and put to prove.

However, over the past couple of years I’ve become aware of the benefits of adding more water to a mix – the dough rises better and the bread also keeps longer.

There are two methods I use to get more water in a mix, these are detailed in Methods B and C.

Method B is a bit more ‘hands on’ – involving several short kneadings over a 30-45 minute period starting with a fairly sticky dough. Each time the bread is kneaded, the dough gets less sticky. Then the dough is left for an hour or so to rest before shaping and baking.

Method C is what I call the ‘Overnight, no-knead loaf’ and is the easiest method of the three. The dough for this is simply mixed together, left to prove overnight and results in a loaf that’s full of flavour. For this I find a food storer with a snap-top lid is invaluable. I use one which holds 2.8ltrs.

Method A. If I want to make one in a hurry – say in my sessions or I want to make one for a visitor to take away with them, I make this loaf:

Ingredients:

500g (3 mugs) strong flour, all white – or a mix of white and wholemeal. I use 450g wholemeal to 50g of white

1/2 tsp salt

1 tablespoon fresh yeast (Sainsbury's, at the bakery counter) or teaspoon of dried active 

350ml (1 mug and a bit) lukewarm water

2 tablespoons olive oil (optional, but improves keeping qualities)

Method:

1. Measure the water and stir in the yeast until it has dissolved. Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl, pour in the yeast liquid, then add the olive oil if using.

2. Have a little water to hand to add if necessary, remember, it is better for your dough to be wetter (slack) rather than drier (tight). Begin to mix by stirring the ingredients together with a knife, cutting through the dough as it forms. When it gets too stiff for the knife, use your hand to squeeze the mixture together. As it forms into a solid mass, keep turning it over and pressing it down to pick up the flour at the bottom of the bowl – but make sure it stays soft. Don’t be afraid to add more water to keep it soft! When all the flour has been mixed in, wipe the bowl around with the dough, turn it out onto the worktop and begin to knead.

3. Knead by flattening the dough out, folding it over and flattening it again. If the dough is too sticky, instead of putting extra flour on your worktop, place some in the bowl, put the dough back in and turn it round to coat it all over. That way you keep the flour under control and you won’t be tempted to add too much. Knead until the dough becomes smooth – and then stop before you get fed up!

4. Oil a large loaf tin and have it ready, shape the dough by pressing it out into a rough rectangle and rolling it up tightly. Put the dough into the tin with the seam underneath.

5. Or: For a freeform loaf, shape the loaf by pulling up the dough at the sides with your fingertips and pushing it down in the middle; do that all round the dough. This will have the effect of smoothing the underneath of the dough. Then turn it over and shape it into a round. Place it on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment.

6. Cover with a dry tea towel and leave to prove on your worktop until it has grown appreciably in size. Bake at 220C, 425F or gas mark 7 for about 35-40 minutes.

7. The loaf is ready when it has browned on the sides and bottom. You may need to put it back in upside down, for a few more minutes. It is better overbaked than underbaked.

Method B. If I have more time, but I still want to make it in a morning, or an afternoon, I’ll use the ‘Several short kneadings over 30-40 minutes’ method:

Same amount of flour, salt and yeast, but 375ml of water.

This mixes into a fairly sticky dough.

Once it’s mixed together, pour a little oil on your worktop and place your dough on top of it.

Pour some oil over your dough and begin to knead – but only for a short time – say 10-20 seconds.

Now place your bowl over the dough and scrape off all the dough from your hands.

Leave the dough for 10-15 minutes and repeat the short kneading action, using oil to make it easier to handle. Once again invert the bowl over your dough and leave it for 10-15 minutes.

Repeat the above once more and your dough should by now be manageable without the oil.

Leave it to prove for an hour or two on your worktop. This period of rest gives the bread a better rise.

Form it into your preferred shape and go to Step 4 or 5:

4. Oil a large loaf tin and have it ready, shape the dough by pressing it out into a rough rectangle and rolling it up tightly. Put the dough into the tin with the seam underneath.

5. Or: For a freeform loaf, shape the loaf by pulling up the dough at the sides with your fingertips and pushing it down in the middle; do that all round the dough. This will have the effect of smoothing the underneath of the dough. Then turn it over and shape it into a round. Place it on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment.

6. Cover with a dry tea towel and leave to prove on your worktop until it has grown appreciably in size. Bake at 220C, 425F or gas mark 7 for about 35-40 minutes.

7. The loaf is ready when it has browned on the sides and bottom. You may need to put it back in upside down, for a few more minutes. It is better overbaked than underbaked.

Method C. But the best and easiest method is the ‘Overnight, no-knead loaf’. This is left to prove overnight and produces by far the most flavoursome loaf. For this I find a food storer with a snap-top lid is invaluable. I use one which holds 2.8ltrs.

Once again, 500g flour to 350ml water, but use half the yeast.

Mix the dough together (I mix it in my food storer, so there’s less washing up) but don’t bother to knead.

Just put the lid on and leave it on your worktop. Generally I make it the following morning, but I have left it for over 48 hours in the past and it’s been fine.

When you’re ready to bake it, place it on your worktop and fold it over several times. It should be quite manageable. If it’s too wet, you may want to knead in more flour – say 25g at a time.)

Then continue from Step 4 or 5:

4. Oil a large loaf tin and have it ready, shape the dough by pressing it out into a rough rectangle and rolling it up tightly. Put the dough into the tin with the seam underneath.

5. Or: For a freeform loaf, shape the loaf by pulling up the dough at the sides with your fingertips and pushing it down in the middle; do that all round the dough. This will have the effect of smoothing the underneath of the dough. Then turn it over and shape it into a round. Place it on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment.

6. Cover with a dry tea towel and leave to prove on your worktop until it has grown appreciably in size. Bake at 220C, 425F or gas mark 7 for about 25-30 minutes.

7. The loaf is ready when it has browned on the sides and bottom. You may need to put it back in upside down, for a few more minutes. It is better overbaked than underbaked.

Note: There’s no doubt that more flavour develops the longer flour and yeast have to mature together. However, in my experience it takes at least 4 hours for the difference in taste to become apparent. That’s why I haven’t included an initial proving time in loaf A.

I find an all wholemeal loaf too heavy for my taste, so I always include some white flour in the mix just to give it a bit of a lift.

A word about yeast. Mostly I use fresh yeast it’s just the easiest to use and the most convenient; occasionally I’ll use active dried yeast; and rarely the fast action yeast.

If you can’t get fresh yeast, use dried active yeast (Allinson’s, in a yellow tin, currently 65p; kept near the flour shelves) – half the amount.

Notes:

Use every loaf that you make as a marker for the next one.

Dough too wet? Reduce the water by 25g.

Too dry? Add another 25g of water next time.

If you do make changes to the recipe, make a note of what you’ve done.

Try and get into a regular bread making routine: Practice makes perfect, etc, and every loaf you make will be better than the last. 

INCREASING ONE'S HAPPINESS

[This is just a draft, ATM. Needs more work, but I want to get it out there.]

Dear fellow activists, if you’re feeling down, ATM, things are getting on top of you, feelings of anxiety are coming to the fore, etc, here’s something that may help. 

It’s so easy to put too much pressure on ourselves - we want to do more for the animals, but if we burn out in the process that doesn’t help them. It’s difficult, but we have to try and take a more detached view of things. What helps me to do this is a book I think very highly of, “The How of Happiness” by Sonja Lyubomirsky. I recommend you get hold of a copy as soon as you can.

It’s an explanation/description of scientific, peer-reviewed methods which are proven to increase one's happiness. Sonja was a student of Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology. He took the view that psychiatrists had only ever used psychology to treat ill patients - but what if we didn’t wait for people to become sick, but used psychology to create optimistic people who were resilient? 

Sonja’s book explains that we all have a basic level of happiness that we’re born with: that’s 50%, which we can’t do anything to change; then, there’s a 10% component, which relates to our circumstances - it’s not easy to change that 10%. But that leaves 40% we can change, and she details 12 happiness increasing activities that have been proven to work. 

My favourite method is ‘Savouring the moment’. So, I’m in the Cube, it’s already cold and there's a lazy wind blowing (one that goes straight through you instead of around you), my hands are freezing, and I need to blow my nose. But: I’m standing shoulder to shoulder with some wonderful people - I can see one of our group talking to someone, perhaps getting out a card - whatever. And I savour that moment, because I’m part of something so important, so worthwhile, that I wouldn’t want to swap places with anyone. And I feel sorry for those members who didn’t, or couldn’t, for whatever reason, make it to the Cube. 

And I use it when things aren't going my way - I’m in a traffic jam, say, and I really don’t want to be late - but, I’m comfortable, I’ve got some decent music on - and I’ll get there, in the fullness of time. So, once again, I can savour that moment - and in this case, it prevents me from feelings of annoyance, etc, and I can physically feel happier. In situations like that, I often force myself to smile, even though I don’t feel like it - and that always improves things.

Savouring is just one technique: There are 11 more happiness increasing exercises in Sonja’s book; she recommends you choose the 3 or 4 that most appeal to you, and practice those. 

I’ve been described, by Alan Hutchison, Senior Lecturer in Happiness at Winchester University (yes, there is such a subject) as the happiest bloke he knows. I think there are several reasons for this: First and foremost, as an animal rights activist (ARA), I feel I'm doing something positive, in that I'm helping to increase the amount of wellbeing in the world. I've also become good friends with a huge number of ARAs - whom I call my 2nd family. To make such wonderful friends - from all over England - at my time of life, is just a complete joy. Another factor is that I actively work at increasing my happiness and well-being. I also have several forms of exercise I employ on a regular basis. I'm in good health, and, all in all, I have a lot to be grateful for.

PIKELETS (FREEFORM CRUMPETS) - CHEAP AND CHEERFUL!

June 2010.

Placed in the frying pan, a dessertspoon at a time

Oops, seems to be one missing!

There are few things easier than making pikelets (free-form crumpets).  It’s a good way into breadmaking for a beginner.

100ml lukewarm water

1/2 teaspoon yeast – any kind 

Enough strong (breadmaking) flour - around 50g - to make a thickish batter

(Check here for a gluten-free version.)

Start by making a thick paste, then gradually stir in more water to the water/yeast/flour mixture, to make a batter. 

When you're ready to go, lightly oil a frying pan and place over a medium heat.

When the pan is warm enough, place a spoonful of batter in the frying pan to see if the batter is the right consistency. If they spread across your frying pan the batter is too thin and you’ll need to add some more flour to thicken it. Cook them until the top has turned pale and is set in a mass of tiny holes.

As soon as the top is dry – and not before – turn them over to cook on the other side. They should be nicely brown on both sides.

Keep them warm in a folded cloth until they are all done.

For fruit pikelets, as in the pic, add a handful of sultanas after you’ve mixed the batter.

I made these last night and had half the batter left over for this morning’s breakfast. The fruit plumps up lovely.

Note:
These can also be made with self raising flour - in which case, simply mix the batter and go straight ahead.

Tuesday 22nd October 2019

Deciding to go a little bit healthier, I thought I'd make these with wholemeal flour (Doves organic - very tasty).  What stops me making these more often is just laziness - after dinner I generally can't be bothered, but there really is nothing to it. And if I have everything prepped beforehand, I've no excuse.

So this morning, I mixed 4 heaped dsps of w/m flour + 1 dsp sugar (optional, hence the 'almost' above), with enough water to make a thickish batter and a handful of sultanas. I added half a teaspoon of fresh yeast - but half a tsp of baking powder would serve just as well, added just before cooking - stirred it and left it for this evening.

Saturday 28th January 2017

Been making ginger pikelets, recently. Instead of sultanas, I've used chrystallised ginger, chopped into small pieces - and I've added a teaspoon of ground ginger to the batter. Simply wonderful!

Monday 23rd January 2012

Following a discussion on the BBC Food board last night, I made a batch of these, some of which I had last night, and another batch of which I've just eaten for breakfast. 

(When starting a sourdough culture, you're asked to discard part of it regularly during the early stages. However, this discard makes excellent pikelets.)

In the light of this I've updated the recipe (see below) - and I took several more pics:

The first two were cooked on top and the rest are just drying from the sides 

The third one turned over and the others continuing to dry from the edges 

All done - perhaps a little on top...

...and covered with marmalade. Breakfast is ready!

Have to admit I found it hard to resist eating these just as soon as they come out of the frying pan. Had some for my pudding tonight, made some for my wife and made enough for tomorrow's breakfast.