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Ragus produce a wide range of Pure Sugar products at its world-leading sugar manufacturing site in the UK, including sugars, refiner’s syrups, treacle and Molasses. Ragus’ manufacturing site produces hundreds of tonnes of sugars and syrups each day, all manufactured to the highest quality to ensure customers’ specifications are met.

Treacle, Molasses And Golden Syrup – The Perfect Ingredients To Bake A Parkin Cake

25/10/2018 By Kay Sandhu in Recipes Black treacle, Cane molasses, Golden syrup

Bonfire night is fast approaching and here at Ragus we are busy manufacturing tonnes of black treacle, muscovado sugar, molasses and golden syrup to be shipped out to our many bakery, cake and dessert manufacturer clients ready for baking and creating their Parkin and ginger cakes. ** See below for our Parkin Cake recipe.

The history behind the Parkin 

Originating in the North of England, typically Lancashire and Yorkshire, Parkin is a strongly spiced gingerbread cake traditionally eaten on Guy Fawkes Night and made with oatmeal and black treacle; two of the key ingredients are treacle and golden syrup.

The idea of Parkin is said to have been created during the Industrial Revolution by working-class folk as oats and treacle were an important part of their diets in those times. Workers were on low incomes and spent long hours at work, returning home with little energy, so they needed cheap, energy dense food, to survive the long days. Oatmeal was the main cereal crop in the Northern climate and black treacle was easily available as it was imported from the West Indies through the ports of Liverpool and Hull.

Ragus produce a wide range of Pure Sugar products at its world-leading sugar manufacturing site in the UK, including sugars, refiner’s syrups, treacle and Molasses. Ragus’ manufacturing site produces hundreds of tonnes of sugars and syrups each day, all manufactured to the highest quality to ensure customers’ specifications are met.

A close up of flap jack, filled with treacle or Golden syrup depending on preference

Many people are confused by the differences between treacle and molasses, but for all intents and purposes they are the same. Ragus produces and supplies molasses, treacle and golden syrup as ingredients to food, drink and pharmaceutical companies for taste, texture and appearance, so here’s some useful information into our formulations and what products they can be used in:

 Ragus’ Golden Syrup This is a traditional golden syrup made from natural sugars. It’s a partially inverted syrup with a sweetness value approximately 20% greater than sucrose, a distinctive, subtle colour, and a mellow flavour. It’s used as a humectant and to reduce crystallisation, which allows it to withstand higher baking temperatures for biscuits and cakes, as well as flapjacks and puddings. It contains no added flavours or colours.

Ragus’ Black Treacle Black Treacle No.1 is a mixture of 50% refiner’s syrup and 50% molasses. It has a robust flavour similar to Cane Treacle, with a more rounded, smoother flavour than molasses. It is used in rich bakery products, Christmas puddings and rich fruit cakes. Black Treacle No.1 is also used as a natural food colorant.

Ragus’ Cane Molasses Cane Molasses is extracted from the juice residues created when sugar cane juice is boiled to extract as much sucrose as possible. These residues are very dark and contain trace minerals, as well as invert sugars, and colours that make up the natural raw flavour and aroma of cane molasses. It has a strong, robust, bittersweet flavour suited to Christmas puddings, toffee, savoury sauces and cooking marinades. Cane Molasses is also used as a natural food colorant and a dietary supplement.

Ragus produce a wide range of Pure Sugar products at its world-leading sugar manufacturing site in the UK, including sugars, refiner’s syrups, treacle and Molasses. Ragus’ manufacturing site produces hundreds of tonnes of sugars and syrups each day, all manufactured to the highest quality to ensure customers’ specifications are met.

Close up of molasses

Parkin Cake Recipe:

Preparation: 20 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

· 200g Ragus’ Golden Syrup
· 85g Ragus’ Black Treacle
· 85g Ragus’ Dark Muscovado/Brown Soft Sugar
· 200g soft butter (extra for greasing tin)
· 4 tbsp Milk
· 1 Large Egg
· 100g Oatmeal
· 250g Self-Raising Flour
· 1 tbsp Ground Ginger

Method · Pre-heat oven to 160C
· Grease square cake tin (line with parchment paper)
· Beat together milk and egg.
· Melt together the syrup, treacle, butter and sugar, stirring continuously until a smooth liquid forms, then remove from heat.
· Mix together the flour, oats and ginger, then add to the syrup mixture stirring constantly. Add the egg and milk mixture.
· Spoon mixture into tin and bake for 50 minutes – 1 hour or until the cake is crusty on top and feels firm.
· Cool and enjoy – *A Parkin cake can last up to 2 weeks and becomes stickier the longer its left!

At Ragus we are specialists in high quality natural pure sugars and pure syrups, from raw cane sugar to specialist glucose-sugar blends. To learn more about our products, please contact our Customer Services Team. To see more sugar news and updates, continue browsing SUGARTALK and follow Ragus on LinkedIn. 

Kay Sandhu

Kay ensures that our customers’ orders are delivered, on time and in full.

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