Cranachan is a Scottish dessert of layered toasted oats, whipped cream, fresh raspberries and heather honey, with a splash of whisky folded through. It takes about fifteen minutes and nothing in it is cooked. That last part matters here - because nothing is cooked, the heather honey goes in raw and you taste every bit of it. The bold, aromatic character that gets lost in baking is right at the front of this dish. It is exactly what heather honey was made for.
Tips from Niamh: Heather honey is traditional in cranachan for a reason - it’s bold enough to stand up to the whisky and the cream, where a lighter honey would get lost. And because nothing here is cooked, you taste the honey at its full aromatic best - this is exactly the kind of dish heather honey is made for. Spoon it into the cream and fold it through so the bold aromatics carry right through the dish. Do toast the oats first; that nutty, crunchy bit against the soft cream is what makes it. Irish whiskey works just as well as Scotch.
Ingredients
- 75g jumbo/porridge oats
- 400ml double cream
- 3 tbsp Peninsula Heather Honey, plus extra to drizzle
- 3 tbsp whisky (Scotch or Irish)
- 300g fresh raspberries
- A little dark chocolate, to shave over (optional)
Method
- Toast the oats in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring, until golden and fragrant. Tip out and let them cool.
- Whip the cream to soft peaks, then gently fold in the heather honey and whisky.
- Lightly crush about a third of the raspberries with a fork, leaving the rest whole.
- Layer in glasses: a spoon of toasted oats, then cream, then raspberries. Repeat.
- Finish with raspberries and a scatter of oats, a generous drizzle of heather honey, and a little shaved dark chocolate if you like.
If you want to understand more about why heather honey behaves the way it does - the bold finish, the aromatic depth, why it should not be heated - that post covers it fully. And if cranachan has you thinking about other no-cook uses, the heather honey oatcakes are another good place to go.