PARKIN - CAKE FOR THE DEAD

by Ariane

Ingredients:
6 oz. flour
2 oz. medium oatmeal
3 oz. brown sugar
4 oz. molasses
3 oz. butter
1 egg
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. ground ginger
Milk

Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. Melt sugar, molasses and butter in a pan and pour over the dry ingredients. Mix in enough milk with the beaten eggs to make a soft consistency. Pour into a well greased and floured square pan and bake at 325 degrees for approx. 1 hour. Cool and cut into squares.

Ariane's NOTES: My friend HesterNic from the Crone's Cottage Club posted the following. I hope you can covert from ounces to regular measurements:

"Here is my friend Cerridwen's recipe for Parkin."

'Parkin is traditionally eaten around Samhain and the British "Guy Fawkes Night" (Nov. 5th). It's similar to the Lancashire Harcake or "soul mass cake", which is also associated with this time of year. Har is the Norse name for Odin so it seems likely that the origins are pagan. Both Parkin and Harcake were placed on the graves of departed family and friends so that they would not go hungry in the after life.'

"Since my friend was born and raised in the north of England, her traditional recipes are in pounds and ounces. I'll have to make the conversion to cups before I bake this."