Traditional Cranachan Recipe

5 from 2 votes

This tasty cranachan is a celebration of Scottish flavors: raspberries, oats, heather honey, and whisky. You only need a few simple ingredients to make this mouthwatering dessert for St. Andrew's Day, Burns Night, or any celebration!

Prep Time30

Cook Time4

Total Time34

Servings:

Calories: 575kcal

Author: Brooke & Emma

Ingredients

▢ ½ cup steel-cut (pinhead) oats
▢ 1 pound fresh raspberries preferably Scottish
▢ 2 teaspoons sugar optional; omit if using Scottish raspberries
▢ 1¾ cup heavy whipping cream (double cream)
▢ 3 tablespoons runny honey preferably Scottish heather honey
▢ 3 tablespoons unpeated Scottish whisky single malt or blended

Instructions

Preparing the Cranachan

Spread the oats on a small baking tray and toast them under the broiler on high in the upper third of the oven for 3-4 minutes, or until they are browned and smell nutty. Stir them halfway through, and watch them closely to prevent burning.
Optional: Soak three quarters (64g) of the oats in ⅓ cup (78 ml) of whisky overnight. Reserve the remaining toasted oats for garnish.
Reserve 12 of the best-looking raspberries for garnish, then crush the remaining berries in a large bowl. If you're not using sweet Scottish raspberries, add the sugar and stir well, then set aside to macerate.
Pour the cream into a large mixing bowl and beat with a mixer until it holds soft peaks. Add the whisky and honey, then beat until combined. Adjust amounts of whisky and honey to taste, then beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.

Serving the Cranachan

For layered cranachan, pipe or spoon a layer of the whisky cream into the bottom of four heavy-based, lowball whisky glasses. Sprinkle with the toasted oats, then add a layer of the raspberry mixture, then add another layer each of cream, oats, and raspberry.
For all-in-one cranachan, fold three quarters of the toasted oats (or all of the whisky-soaked oats) into the cream mixture, reserving the rest for garnish. You can also fold in the raspberry mixture if you like, or layer it with the cream.
Alternatively, you can keep all the ingredients separate and allow each guest to assemble their own cranachan they way they like best.
Garnish each glass with a sprinkle of toasted oats, a drizzle of honey, and three fresh raspberries.
Serve immediately for a crunchy cranachan, or chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours to allow the oats to soften before serving.

Notes

The ingredients in cranachan are quite simple, so make sure you're using Scottish ingredients or at least the best quality ones you can get.
Raspberries: Scottish raspberries aren't available in the US, but don't worry! Simply add a little sugar to the mashed berries to simulate the sweeter Scottish ones.
Oatmeal: The traditional choice is to use steel cut oats (pinhead in the UK). Some people prefer using rolled porridge oats or medium oatmeal instead, but we like the texture of pinhead.
Whisky: Any good scotch will work well here; just make sure that it's unpeated and has a sweet, fruity finish. (Some people like the earthy, smoky flavor of a peated whisky in cranachan, but an unpeated whisky does blend better with the cream and berries.) Either single malts or blends work well; we used a single malt.
Honey: Use Scottish heather honey in the cream, which has a lovely flavor. If you can't get heather honey, use a good quality runny honey (not creamed honey). We used local honey.

Nutrition