Baked Ginger Parkin, Rhubarb Ice Cream
It's not surprising that this pudding featuring two great Yorkshire stalwarts parkin and rhubarb should be an all-time favourite at The Star Inn, Harome. As chef/patron Andrew Pern says "everybody loves it and in season, it's been featured on the menu for at least five years."
To get the rich depth of fruitiness from the ice cream, Andrew advises that although it can be made in advance, don't store it any longer than 48 hours. Otherwise it begins to lose its flavour.
Serves 8
For the Rhubarb Ripple Ice Cream
200ml full fat milk250ml double cream
½ vanilla pod, split and scraped out
6 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
250g chopped slightly stewed rhubarb
Approx 50g sugar to sweeten.
For the Ginger Parkin
100g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
2 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp mixed spice
75g oatmeal
175g golden syrup
50g black treacle
100g butter
100g soft brown sugar
1 beaten egg
2 dessertspoons milk
For the Hot Spiced Treacle
200ml golden syrup
10ml cider
½ tsp ground mixed spice
Method
To make the ice cream, use the first five ingredients to make a créme Anglaise mix. Bring the milk, cream and vanilla pod to almost boiling point in a pan then set aside to infuse for 20 minutes, then scrape out the seeds from the vanilla pod and stir into the liquid.
Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale, then pour in the vanilla-infused liquid very slowly, whisking constantly. Pour this back into the pan and stir over a low heat until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Allow to cool, then churn in an ice cream machine.
Meanwhile, sieve the stewed rhubarb and reduce down the juices until thick and syrupy. Make sure this is cool and add to the ice cream. When nearly frozen add the pulp to the ice cream to give the ripple effect, then turn off the machine.
Preheat the oven to 140C/285F/gas mark 1.
To make the parkin, sieve together the flour, salt, ginger, nutmeg and mixed spice. Mix in the oatmeal. Melt down the syrup, treacle, butter and sugar and simmer but don't boil. Then stir in the dry mix and blend together. Add the beaten egg and milk to the mixture to create a soft almost pouring consistency. Pour into a greased 20cm square cake tin. Bake for 1¼ hours until firm in the centre.
When cooked allow to stand for 15 minutes before turning out. This can then be served. However, if kept in an airtight container, it will, like a good wine, improve with age. You can keep it for up to three weeks, if you can bear to wait that long.
To serve, warm the ingredients for the hot spiced treacle in a pan, then pour over the barely warm parkin. Serve with the rhubarb ice cream on the side and a glass of Rhubarb Schnapps.
