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Cranachan, Angus and Dundee

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With a name that you’d pay good money to hear Jonathan Ross pronounce, cranachan is 100 per cent Scottish. Oats, raspberries, double cream and
sweetened with honey or demerara sugar; cranachan can also be made ‘adult’ by judiciously adding a wee nip of single malt to the mix. At it’s most gregarious, it’s boozy, fruity, wholesome and a little decadent – like all good desserts should be. It does seem a shame that cranachan does not enjoy the lauded infamy of the haggis or the everyman’s working breakfast, the Lorne sausage : raspberries, oats and something to give the arteries a work out means that it is both delicious in the mouth, and deliciously balances something healthy (oats) with something a bit too close to the Scotsman’s heart (cream, sugar, and if it’s a special occasion – whisky). While there is some debate as to what constitutes an authentic cranachan, there is a standard method by which all are made. Toasting pinhead oatmeal – any oatmeal will do – in a dry pan, then sieving out the dust as to avoid it turning to porridge, fold the hot oats into some whipped cream (preferably double), and sweeten to taste. Either top with raspberries or throw them all in together – it’s just a matter of taste and aesthetics. And though a simple creation, cranachan needn’t be shackled to tradition, convention or to anything else, really. There’s nothing in the rule book that says some vanilla-infused mascarpone would finish it off a treat. Or that some plucky chef-to-be couldn’t crown it with some spun sugar and crushed hazelnuts. Goodness, that wouldn’t be very traditional. But it would look great and be damned tasty – and that’s all that matters.
Serve your cranachan in an attractive glass – Champagne flutes and Martini glasses work well – and keep telling yourself that the oats have a low GI index and forget about the cream. Cranachan is also known as
cream crowdie in some households, and if you’re making a boozy bath you could substitute whisky for Drambuie.

Brit Quote:
Nothing is pleasant that is not spiced with variety. - Sir Francis Bacon
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On this day:
Battle of Towton - 1461, Battle of Alresford - 1644, Albert Hall Opens - 1871, Captain Scott dies - 1912, First London Marathon - 1981
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