Portal:Scotland/Selected article/Week 42, 2013

Cranachan (Scottish Gaelic: Crannachan ) is a traditional Scottish dessert. In modern times it is usually made from a mixture of whipped cream, whisky, honey (preferably heather honey), and fresh raspberries, with toasted oatmeal soaked overnight in a little whisky. Atholl brose is a drink using similar ingredients but does not contain raspberries. Earlier recipes used crowdie cheese rather than (or as well as) cream, and were sometimes called cream-crowdie. Other earlier recipes are more austere, omitting the whisky and treating the fruit as an optional extra.

A traditional way to serve cranachan is to bring dishes of each ingredient to the table, so that each person can assemble their dessert to taste. Tall dessert glasses are also of typical presentation. It was originally a summer dish and often consumed around harvest time, but is now more likely to be served all year round and on special occasions. A variant dish was ale-crowdie, consisting of ale, treacle and whisky with the oatmeal - served at a wedding with a ring in the mixture: whoever got the ring would be the next to marry.