Cranchan

Family traditions are important to me, especially around the holidays. So we split ours a little around here. We have Scottish for part of my side of the family and Canadian for my husbands side.  I wanted to do something new this year so as I was looking up Scottish recipes one morning, I came across a recipe for cranchan.

It involved a lot of whisky which is a problem for me but the rest of the recipe seemed delicious. Honeyed whipped cream? Fresh raspberries? And my favorite grocery store even had them on sale. The oats too looked interesting. Most soaked them overnight in whisky but some toasted them or candied them. One delicious recipe added mascarpone which I decided to do myself since I love it. I even found a few others that omitted the whisky as well.

The pudding mix is completely optional here. I used some with whipped cream with the intent to stabilize it a few weeks ago and actually liked the texture it added. I usually use xanthan gum for that but the pudding was interesting. I had a bit leftover so I added it here and it was delicious.

12 oz. raspberries

1 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 c. oats

1 Tbsp sugar

1 oz. tablet

1 ( 8 oz) pkg mascarpone cheese

2 Tbsp powdered sugar

1 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

1/4 c. granulated sugar

2 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp white chocolate pudding mix (optional)

Stir together the raspberries and sugar and mash lightly to break them up a bit. Stir in the honey and set aside. Make sure and reserve 6 nice berries to top. 

In a non-stick skillet over medium high heat add the oats and cook, stirring often. Just as they are starting to toast add the sugar and keep stirring. At this point you cant really stop stirring or the sugar will burn. Once it has melted and coated to oats remove them from the pan to a cool plate or bowl and set them aside too. 

Beat the mascarpone with the powdered sugar. Remove to a separate bowl and  beat the heavy cream, sugar, honey and pudding mix. Beat until soft peaks form and then while beat add in 1/4 of the cheese. Add the remaining cheese in, a 1/4 at a time, until it is all mixed in. 

Chop the tablet and mix in with the cooled oat mixture.

Starting with the raspberry mixture, in four individual serving dishes, layer the raspberry, the oats, and then top with the cream mixture. Repeat layers until all the dishes are full.