Scottish Dessert Cranachan

Now I must admit, this dessert doesn't thrill me, tempt or tease. My anticipation, to taste all the flavours & textures, is more than a little hesitant. Not sure if its because of the fresh cream, the whiskey or the honey ..  or all but i'm just not captivated. However, interested or not I am a guest to a friends 'Burns Evening' , I am taking along a Scottish Dessert ..  so as this one, at a quick glance,  looked  very easy to cook with minimum efforts & ingredients it seemed the perfect dessert!
*Update - this dessert was totally gorgeous*

__ Cranachan __

Ingredients
Double Cream, 4 tblspn Whiskey, 3 tblspn Honey, Oatmeal, Raspberries.

Shortbread: 6oz Plain flour, 2oz Caster Sugar & 4oz Butter. (one of the recipes included rice flour but I haven't any so its the basic plain shortbread recipe I've used :)

Method

• Wash the raspberries in a colander. Drain & leave to dry. Pour a layer of medium oatmeal onto a baking tray, spread evenly then pop under a hot grill & watch until golden brown or into a low oven & leave for about 15 mins.

• Whip the double cream to almost fully whipped add very slowly the tablespoons of honey, one drizzle at a time. This is to ensure the equal fusion of the flavours. Once all honey is added continue to drizzle in the whiskey in the same slow process. 

• Then in a serving dish layer half of the raspberries onto the bottom of the dish.
• Add the remaining raspberries, except for 5,  gently to the flavoured whipped cream.
• Spoon the mixture over the raspberries, leaving the edge of the serving dish free.
• Add toasted oatmeal to the edges of the serving dish then sprinkle onto the flavoured cream & raspberries.
• Place the remaining 5 raspberries into the centre of the dessert.
• It is now Cranachan!!  

• Served  with some delicious homemade Scottish shortbread.

Shortbread ingredients

• Once cooked, the shortbread should be firm to the touch without being golden brown.  My first batch was a little more golden so will be converted into an everyday biscuit.
• Remove from oven, sprinkle with granulated sugar.

• As I made two batches of shortbread. One to serve with the Cranachan, one ended up being coated in chocolate for during the week to enjoy with our coffee. Mainly because the colour was more golden than I wanted. I had two recipes: one said heat oven to 180oC !!! Please don't it comes out too golden too quickly. I used 130oC & it cooked the shortbread perfectly.

Chocolate coated shortbread

• Mmmmmmm melted delicious milk chocolate . 

Update & Conclusion: Everyone loved the desert & the shortbread  was used as a spoon for  the Cranachan. The shortbread was white, crumbly & a very buttery rich taste. Used as a spoon it helped to bring together all of complimentary flavours of the whiskey, raspberries, oats & honey. The varying textures were lovely too. I was really surprised to enjoy the dessert as much as I did.

As for the chocolate coated batch, we will  enjoy it  daily,  eaten with our afternoon or evening coffee :)

Hope you enjoy the flavours as much as we did.