Cranachan - or Kranakan Mess for Burns Night (without oatmeal)

Kranakan-Mess

Cranachan is a traditional Scottish dessert which uses toasted oatmeal.  The best Cranachan recipe I have found is Nigel Slater's.  For Burns Night at Fancy Pans, I have created a different dish using some of the traditional ingredients and a few different ones. It's Eton Mess meets Cranachan hence the title.

To serve this gorgeous dessert you will need some old-fashioned sundae dishes or large wine glasses and a decent malt whisky such as Glenmorange, Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, but definitely not a peaty/smokey one.

Before making the Kranakan Mess you will need to make the meringue:

Separate 3 eggs and whisk the whites until they are really stiff.  Add 3 oz caster sugar and whisk again.  Spread the meringue mix on a baking tray which you will have lined with greaseproof paper or baking parchment and bake in a moderate oven until firm and crispy.  
Alternatively, you could buy meringue nests and use those.

Next you will need:

6 ozs / 170g of raspberries 
3 tablespoons of malt whisky and another 2 tablespoons malt whisky
3 tablespoons of runny honey - preferably Scottish for authenticity
1 pint / 20 fl ozs / 600mls of double cream
3 or 4 digestive biscuits (instead of oatmeal)

Soak half the raspberries in 2 tablespoons of malt whisky - overnight if you can, or for as long as possible.

Take the soaked half of the raspberries and crush them until they are smooth.

Whip the cream until it's nice and thick and then stir in the runny honey and the 3 tablespoons of malt whisky and mix well. Add the crushed raspberries and stir them in gently.  Then add the whole raspberries keeping some back to decorate.

Break up the meringue into small pieces and add it to the mixture, stirring it in gently.

Put the mix into your sundae dishes or wine glasses.  It's your choice as to how big you would like your dessert to be, but this will make enough for at least 4, if not 6, people.

Crush the digestive biscuits and sprinkle on the top of each dessert and finish off with one or two fresh raspberries. 

Ooops, forgot the digestive biscuits

Let's hear from Robbie:

O, gin my love were yon red rose,
That grows upon the castle wa',
And I mysel a drap o' dew
Into her bonie breast to fa',
O, there, beyond expression blest,
I'd feast on beauty a' the night,
Seal'd on her silk-saft faulds to rest,
Till fley'd awa by Phoebus' light!

Robert Burns

 © Karen Ette 2013

Scotch Broth for Burns Night

Scotch-ish Broth

As Burns Night approaches, Fancy Pans are putting on some good Scottish fare and this is my take on a traditional dish of Scotch Broth, which I hope Robbie would have enjoyed.

This is a substantial soup which doesn’t need any bread to accompany it.  In fact, the best accompaniment is a tot of good single malt such as Glenmorange.

You will need:

A large pan – big enough to hold all the ingredients.

2lbs Lamb bones – or neck of lamb 4 pints of water

3 oz pearl barley (or 6 tablespoons) OR, risotto rice (or lentils if you really must)

Place the lamb bones into the saucepan, pour on the water and bring to the boil. If there’s a scum on the surface after it has been boiling for a few minutes, scoop it off and discard. Add the Pearl Barley (or the washed lentils, if you must) and leave to simmer for about an hour.  If you are going to use risotto rice, add this with the vegetables later.

You can do your vegetable prep now.

These ingredients need to be peeled (if they need peeling) and chopped into fairly small pieces:

2 sticks of celery – de-stringed

2 large carrots

2 small leeks (or one large one)

A small swede or half a large one

1 large onion (or two small ones)

Plus

2 rashers of bacon – can be smoked or un-smoked, the choice is yours - also chopped into small pieces.

A sprinkling of mixed herbs

Salt and white pepper to taste.

After the bones have been simmering for an hour, add all the other ingredients and cook for a further 20-30 minutes. If you are using risotto rice, add it with the vegetables.

When the vegetables are cooked, remove the bones and discard.  If you have used neck of lamb, you can strip off the meat, chop it finely and put it back into the broth.

Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if you need to.

And that’s all there is to it.