Every year we go on a lovely walk from Crosspool in Sheffield to Bamford in Derbyshire, which has become known as ‘The Tinsel Tour’. Tom and his friends started it years ago and yesterday was the 11th Tour (we worked out that it was probably my 6th). The main aim of the walk is to get to a lovely pub called The Yorkshire Bridge Inn where we have lunch before moving on to other pubs. Yesterday, however, was the wettest Tinsel Tour on record and we were all absolutely soaked to the bone, so we stayed at the Yorkshire Bridge for most of the afternoon!

We usually wear our Santa hats for the walk, and for the 10th anniversary last year we did it in fancy dress – I went as a present made from a large box, which was ok for walking but not for sitting! This year we all wore Christmas jumpers, which gave me the opportunity to make my own (hooray!). I bought the jumper from good old Marks and Spencer and drew out a template for Rudolph, checking that it was the right size.

I used dark brown felt for his antlers and some beige corduroy for his face to give a different texture. I decided to use googly eyes and a pom-pom for a nose (which took ages to make – thanks to Tom for his help!). I used my sewing machine for this but it did take a while to sew some bits, particularly the antlers. But I’m so pleased with the finished jumper! Will definitely have to wear it on Christmas Day!

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Ingredients

125g slightly salted butter, plus extra for greasing

150g porridge oats

125g plain flour

100g plain wholemeal flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground mixed spice

175g black treacle

175g golden syrup

150ml milk

1 medium egg, beaten

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°c/gas mark 3. Grease and line the base and long sides of a 25 x 11cm loaf tin, or one with a capacity of 1.5 litres.

2. Place the oats in a food processor and lightly blend to form a coarse oatmeal texture. Tip into a large mixing bowl and add the flours, bicarbonate of soda and spices then mix together.

3. Cut the butter into pieces and heat gently in a saucepan with the treacle and syrup until the butter has melted (but not boiled). Remove from the heat and stir in the milk and then the egg.

4.Add to the dry ingredients in the bowl and stir until well mixed. Pour into the tin and spread into the corners.

5. Bake for 35-40 minutes (it did take about 45-50 in my old oven!) until well-risen and just firm to the touch. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out just about clean. Leave to cool in the tin.

6. Enjoy! Store in an airtight container. Parkin tastes just as good (if not better) even after a week or so, so you can always make it in advance.

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