Wee Scottish Diaries by Cate

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Cranachan Cake

Cate Triendl

Cranachan is a traditional Scottish dessert and one of my absolute favourite puds.

It’s a match made in heaven, combining sweet Scottish raspberries, toasted oats, honey, a bit of cream and of course whisky!

I was looking for something different when planning this year’s Christmas pud. So I decided to give this classic dessert a wee twist and came up with a cake version.

All the classic flavours you’d expect run through this cranachan cake. Hard to resist a second slice.

… and best enjoyed with a wee dram.

Happy Baking!

Ingredients

For the cake

75g porridge oats

225g butter, softened

150g light brown sugar

150g clear honey

3 eggs

225g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

salt

For the syrup

50g sugar

50ml water

50g honey

50ml whisky

For the filling

200ml single cream

200g skyr

50g sugar

2 tbsp whisky

3 leaves gelatine

For the frosting

100g full-fat cream cheese

100g skyr

75g icing sugar, sieved

2 tbsp whisky

raspberries and toasted oats for decoration

Method

Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan) and grease 2 x 18cm round cake tins.

  2. In a bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

  3. Add in the eggs, honey, flour, baking powder, oats and salt. Mix until fully combined.

  4. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared tins.

  5. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

  6. Allow to cool fully

Syrup

  1. In a small pan, combine water, honey, sugar and whisky and bring to a boil.

  2. Simmer for a couple of minutes until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from the heat.

Filling

  1. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes.

  2. Remove from the water and squeeze out any access water.

  3. In a small pan, place the soaked leaves with the single cream and sugar and melt slowly over a very low heat. Don’t let it boil!

  4. Gradually add the skyr and whisky and mix until combined.

  5. Chill the mixture in the fridge until it starts to set. This will take approximately an hour.

Frosting

  1. In a bowl, combine the cream cheese and icing sugar and whisk until smooth and airy.

  2. Fold in the skyr and whisky.

To assemble

  1. Place one cake on a cake stand or serving plate.

  2. Spread the filling on top.

  3. Top with the second cake.

  4. Dollop the frosting on top.

  5. Use a palette knife to spread it down and round the edges to get a smooth finish.

  6. Finish the cake with some toasted oats and raspberries.