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Treacle Parkin

Put four ounces of butter with three-quarters of a pound of best treacle into a jar, and place this near the fire until the butter is dissolved, then stir in four ounces of moist sugar. Mix a pound of oatmeal with half a pound of flour, three-quarters of an ounce of powdered ginger, and a quarter of an ounce of caraway-seeds. Stir the treacle, etc., into the oatmeal, and make the mixture into a firm paste with a little flour. Roll it out to the thickness of a quarter of an inch, and bake in buttered tartlet-tins in a moderate oven. If liked, the caraway-seeds may be omitted, and a little sliced candied peel added when the parkin is rolled on the table. Keep the parkin in tins carefully excluded from the air. Or rub one pound of butter into four pounds of oatmeal, add half a pound of sugar, two ounces of ground ginger, and as much warm treacle as will make a tolerably stiff batter. A cupful of milk may be added if liked. Put the batter into buttered baking-tins, or small tartlet-tins, and bake in a moderate oven. In order to ascertain when it is done enough, put a skewer into the centre, and if this comes out dry and clean the parkin is ready. A little sliced candied peel or a few caraway-seeds may be added if approved. Time to bake, according to size: the parkin should be done rather slowly, or the outside will be burnt before the inner part is done enough.