Scots Cream Crowdie (Cranachan)
Simple, quick and delicious. From Scotland this original Cream Crowdie recipe (often called ‘Cranachan’ or ‘Gruth is Uachdar’) is everything you could hope for in a seasonal dessert; it is easy to make and you will not be able to resist coming back for more. Made in the Summer and Autumn, the fruit can be either seasonal fresh raspberries or blackberries, both are good. It is served at Summer weddings in Scotland; and as the dessert of the bride and groom, it is thought to bring good luck to the newly weds (along with wearing a Luckenbooth and white heather).
Crowdie Cheese is made in Scotland, (called ‘Gruth’ in Scots Gaelic) it is a soft cheese with a mild, sour taste. It is commonly sold in a log shape, rather than in a round truckle. Brands of Crowdie Cheese include Crannog, Gruth Dhu and Hramsa, (there are several places to order this cheese online to be delivered). The sour note of the Crowdie Cheese balances wonderfully well with the sweetness of the honey and cream in this traditional recipe, giving the dessert a much deeper and more satisfying note (and a more authentic flavour) than the modern Cranachan and Crowdie Cream recipes that do not add the Cheese. The oldest type of this dessert, going back to a Scotland of the seventeenth century and earlier, are more austere, with just crowdie cheese, cream and oatmeal.
Scots Cream Crowdie (Cranachan) Recipe
Recipe Ingredients:
- 600ml double cream
- 100g Crowdie Cheese (softened)
- 250g Fresh Scottish Raspberries (or fresh Blackberries)
- 50g Oatmeal
- 70g demerara (brown) sugar
- 1 tbsp whisky (a good single malt)
- 2 tbsp honey (heather honey if possible)
Recipe Method:
Start by toasting the oatmeal in a heavy bottomed saucepan or frying pan on a medium heat. Shake the oatmeal over the heat until crisp. Take off the heat and sprinkle over the sugar. Leave to rest and cool and the sugar to caramelise over the oatmeal.
In a small bowl beat the Crowdie Cheese into a soft cream, add the cool oatmeal and sugar and beat in.
In a mixing bowl beat the cream to a thick froth, stir in the Whisky, Fruit (keep a few nice raspberries or blackberries in reserve for decoration) and toasted, sugar coated Oatmeal and Crowdie Cheese. Once fully mixed serve at once in small bowls with some of the whole fruit you reserved and a drizzling of honey over the top.
