Scottish cranachan with a wee twist Recipe

Scottish cranachan with a wee twist Recipe

  • 1 x 250g/9oz jar clear honey
  • 20 cardamom pods, seeds only, finely ground
  • 40g/1½oz medium or coarse oatmeal
  • 200g/7oz raspberries
  • 400ml/14fl oz double cream
  • 2 tbsp cardamom honey (from above), or to taste
  • 3 tbsp malt whisky
  • ½-1 tsp rosewater, or to taste
  • rose petals, to garnish (optional)
  1. To make the cardamom honey, crush the cardamom pods in a pestle and mortar to separate the dry pods from the seeds. Discard the husks. Toast the seeds in a dry pan to release their oils so they become aromatic.
  2. Pour half of the honey into a pan and add the crushed and toasted cardamom seeds. Gently heat through until the honey has become more liquid and starts to bubble at the edges; if you have a probe thermometer, the temperature should be 75C/165F. Remove from the heat and pour the flavoured honey back into the jar with the remaining honey. Stir gently, and leave to cool, uncovered. When cool, put on the lid and ideally store for 24 hours before using.
  3. To make the cranachan, heat a heavy-bottomed pan and toast the oatmeal over a lowish heat, stirring occasionally, until it smells warm and nutty and has changed colour. This will take 10-15 minutes, sometimes as long as 20 minutes. Leave to cool.
  4. In a bowl, crush half of the raspberries to make a rough mash. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream with the honey, whisky and rosewater until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed, then fold in the crushed raspberries.
  5. Fold in the toasted oatmeal and two-thirds of the remaining whole raspberries. Adjust the honey and rose water to taste. Spoon the cranachan into small glasses, and garnish with the remaining raspberries and some rose petals, if using. Drizzle with a wee bit more of the cardamom honey and serve.