When Ryan and I were in Edinburgh we bought a bottle of whisky. Because, you know, that’s one of the things you do (according to the guide books) when you go to Scotland. We picked out a cute shop along the Royal Mile and browsed around. I asked a woman who worked there what she recommended for people who wanted to have some whisky but aren’t regular whisky drinkers. After giving us some helpful advice she showed us a few bottles. We chose the one that she said was light, had a nice flavor, had no burn, and wasn’t too expensive. It was exactly what I wanted.
Since then, we’ve had some – but not much because in general we aren’t big drinkers. At least, we’re not at the level of having Scotch on the rocks to unwind after a long day at the office (à la Mad Men). So we have this beautiful bottle and I wanted you use it. Mainly, I wanted to see if I could cook with it. I looked up some recipes, found some things, but everyone said don’t cook with single malt whisky because you’re just wasting it. Ugh, fine. 
Finally I stumbled onto a Scottish recipe called cranachan, which is a dessert that uses whisky but doesn’t cook it. Ideal, right? Even better, it’s so easy to make. It’s cream, oats, raspberries, whisky and just a few other ingredients. Blended all together the whisky flavor is smooth and harmonious alongside some honey and vanilla. It was so good that from now on the only way I want to have whisky is with whipped cream and sugar.
In the photos I assembled the cranachan in these cute glass espresso cups – but I also made some in regular disposable clear plastic cups. And if you did that, I think this dessert would be perfect for a barbecue. Simply assemble the cranachan ahead of time, pop them in the fridge, and then whip them out when it’s time have dessert. A sweet boozy treat for your guests, it’s simple and cooling for eating outside, and it looks cute and fun too.
This recipe is adapted from Harper’s Bazaar. The only adaptation is this: they said whip the cream until it comes to soft peaks and I didn’t do that. I totally intended to do that, but I walked away from the mixer for a minute and when I returned it was proper thick whipped cream. I didn’t have another pot of cream, so I went with it. And actually, I’m glad I did. Because after you beat the cream you’ll need to add liquid ingredients to it, which will soften the cream up a bit anyway. If the cream had been soft already, I think adding the liquid would have made everything too drippy. Making the cream thick also means that you can be a little less careful when folding in the other ingredients. All in all, I was pretty pleased that my inattention led to such great results.
Messy level: Pleasingly quick and mess free. Very few dishes are needed, nothing is sticky, and that’s just wonderful.
- 60g/3/4 cup of oatmeal
- 200g/about 1½ cups of raspberries, divided (can be more than this amount)
- 1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar
- ground black pepper, to taste
- 600ml/ 2½ cups of double cream
- 4 tablespoons of clear runny honey
- 3 tablespoons of malt whisky
- ½ vanilla pod
- Heat a medium sized skilled over medium heat. Toast the oats for about 5 minutes, or until they start to smell toasty and are a little bit brownish.
- Measure out 2 tablespoons of oats to use for garnish. Set all the oats to the side to cool while you prepare everything else.
- Put the raspberries, confectioner's sugar, and a little bit of pepper together in a small bowl. Using a fork, or a potato masher, mash up the fruit until you have a fairly smooth puree. Taste and add a little more sugar or pepper depending on your preferences. Once to your liking, set aside.
- Put the cream in a large bowl and using a mixer (or your arm!) mix over medium speed until the cream is thick, set, and looks like whipped cream.
- Cut open the vanilla pod. [Need help? See how to do it here} Using your knife scrape out the insides and dump them into the cream. Gently fold the vanilla into the cream.
- Add the honey and whisky and gently fold them into the cream.
- Add the oats to the cream and gently mix them throughout.
- Finally, add the reserved raspberry puree. Mix it into the cream so you can a gorgeous pink ripple. Don't mix it all the way otherwise the whole thing will be pink.
- Line the bottom of a clear cup or ramekin with the whole raspberries you set aside at the beginning. Top with your cream mixture. Alternate layers of cream and raspberries until you cup is full. Make sure the top layer has at least 1 or 2 raspberries.
- Using the 2 tablespoons of oats you set aside at the beginning, sprinkle the oats on top of your cranachan for garnish.
- Serve and be delighted.
