Vegan Thor Cake

Vegan thor cake - this delicious vegan cake is made with ginger, oatmeal, treacle and candied peel. It has a hearty, chewy texture, somewhere between cake and flapjack, and a rich, warm flavour.

Originating in Derbyshire and traditionally served on Bonfire Night, Thor cake is a type of parkin that may also be known as Thar, Tharf or Theorf Cake.

What Is Thor Cake?:

Thor cake is a version of parkin thought to have originated in Derbyshire. Parkin is an oatmeal based gingerbread cake popular in northern England, particularly Yorkshire and Lancashire. It is traditionally eaten on Bonfire Night/Guy Fawkes Night (5th November).

There are a great variation of different recipes for parkin, but the common ingredients are oatmeal, ginger and usually (but not always) black treacle. It is usually baked a little while in advance, wrapped and allowed to mature and soften before eating.

Parkin may also be known as Thor, Thar, Tharf or Theorf cake, which are the original, more archaic names for it. While it is now traditional to eat parkin on Guy Fawkes night, early recipes for it predate the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, and it has actually been dated to viking times. The name may have come from the Norse god Thor, alternatively, theorf or tharf are Anglo-Saxon words meaning 'unleavened'. The origins of the more modern name of 'parkin' remain unclear however.

Early recipes would have been made for pagan winter celebrations such as Samhain or winter solstice, and were cooked on a griddle stone by the fire rather than in an oven. Original thar cake recipes would also have been very different to more modern ones!

Unlike most other types of parkin, Thor cake does not contain milk (though I do add soy milk to replace the usual egg), and it is unique in that it includes candied citrus peel. This vegan Thor cake differs to my vegan parkin recipe as it has a denser, more chewy texture, whereas the parkin is a bit lighter and stickier, though still heavier than a traditional cake.

Ingredient Details:

Medium oatmeal: You can buy this, or pulse rolled porridge oats in a food processor until they are finely chopped but still retain some texture.

Vegan butter: Ideally you want to use a block butter/margarine, not the spreadable kind in a tub which has too high a water content for baking and won't yield the best results. I use Naturli Vegan Block or Flora Block.

Black Treacle: This is an essential ingredient for making Thor cake so do get your hands on a tin of it if you can. Otherwise you can use molasses for a similar result.

Milk: I like unsweetened soy milk best for baking as it has the highest protein content. We are using it to replace an egg so high protein is best! Any variety will work however if you don't have soy, but do go for unsweetened if you can, there is already quite a lot of sugar in this cake!

Thor cake does not usually contain milk, it does contain egg however and replacing the egg with milk gives a better result than simply omitting the egg.

Demarera sugar: Using demarera (turbinado) sugar gives the cake a nice texture as well as adding flavour.

Candied peel: Technically you can omit this, but I do recommend including it for authenticity.

Plain flour: While some recipes for Thor cake use all oatmeal, I found that that produced a result that, while delicious, was really just a flapjack and did not resemble cake at all. So I use part oatmeal and part flour for a cakier result.

Baking powder: Gives the cake a little bit of lift so that it isn't overly brick-like.

Spices: Ground ginger is non-negotiable but do feel free to vary the quantity and add other spices to taste. I like to add some nutmeg, but mixed spice, cinnamon, allspice and/or cloves would also be good.

How To Make Vegan Thor Cake:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

Step 1: Whisk together the oatmeal, flour, demarera sugar, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl.

Step 2: Place the butter, treacle and milk in a pan and heat gently until melted.

Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry along with the candied peel and stir until well combined.

Step 4: Pour the batter into a lined 20cm square tin and spread it level.

Step 5: Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Top Tips:

For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.

For the medium oatmeal, you can simply pulse rolled porridge oats in a food processor or blender until they are mostly ground up but still retain some chunky texture; you don't want to blend them too far and make oat flour.

Thor cake contains quite a lot of sugar, this is what gives it it's moist texture and wonderful flavour. Don't reduce it, the results won't be as good.

Be careful not to overbake the cake or it can become dry.

Thor cake is best made at least 3 days in advance of serving. Wrap it well (once cooled) and store in a tin or airtight container at room temperature.

FAQ's:

More Vegan Ginger Cakes:

• Vegan parkin
• Vegan gingerbread muffins
• Chocolate gingerbread cake
• Marmalade and ginger cake
• Banana gingerbread
• Vegan ginger loaf cake
• Easy ginger cake
• Vegan ginger bundt cake

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