It’s that time of year again – and no, we’re not talking about the third week of January when you give up on your new year’s resolutions. We’re talking, of course, about Burns Night.

The annual celebration of the life and poetry of Robert Burns, Burns Night typically revolves around a supper made up of an array of traditional Scottish foods, including the all-important haggis.

However, if you’re not a fan of haggis – and don’t fancy spending hours in the kitchen cooking – then you can still embrace the spirit of Burns Night by turning to another traditional Scottish dish: cranachan.

While cranachan is a dessert typically made during the summer months, this recipe from Paul Wedgwood, chef patron at Wedgwood The Restaurant, Edinburgh, puts a winter twist on the popular dish by swapping raspberries for blackberries topped with whisky honey. 

Ingredients (serves six)

For the bramble cream

• 300ml double cream
• 200g white chocolate
• 100g blackberries (frozen are fine!)

For the oat crumble

• 60g butter
• 53g demerara sugar
• 40g plain flour
• 40g oats
• 2g bicarbonate of soda
• 2g salt

For the anglaise

• 250ml milk
• 250ml double cream
• 150g egg yolk
• 250g sugar
• 1 vanilla pod or tsp of essence

For the whisky honey

• 100g honey
• 50ml whisky

Method

For the bramble cream: Pour the cream into a pan and bring to a boil. Place the chocolate into a bowl and pour over the heated cream. Whisk until combined and then leave to cool in the fridge for a minimum of two hours (ideally overnight). Remove and whip the mixture to soft peaks before adding the blackberries and whipping to firm peaks. Set aside.

For the oat crumble: Cream together the butter and sugar with the rest of the oat crumble dry ingredients and mix well. Roll the mixture out like a sheet of biscuit to about 1cm thick. Bake at 180 degrees Celcius, checking after 15 minutes. Take it out when it is a nice golden brown, allow it to cool and then break it into a crumble. Set aside.

For the anglaise: Bring the milk and cream to the boil and whisk the egg and sugar together. Take the milk and cream mixture off the heat and carefully whisk into the egg and sugar mix before adding the vanilla. Whisk the mixture slowly on a gentle heat until it thickly coats the back of a spoon and then leave to cool. Set aside. 

For the whisky honey: Add the honey to a small pan and bring to the boil for one minute, then deglaze with the whisky. Blend into the anglaise when cool (but set a bit of the syrup aside to drizzle over the finished dessert). Churn the anglaise in an ice cream machine.

To serve: Pipe or spoon the bramble cream into glasses or bowls, sprinkle the oat crumble mix over and drizzle with whisky honey. Serve with whisky honey ice cream and garnish with brambles and mint leaves.

Images: Getty