Michelle 7Cranachan for Burns Night
January 25th 2008 22:36
Burns Night is a somewhat big deal in certain parts of the US - well, mainly in North Carolina, I think, as that's where the "undiluted" Scots immigrants settled and stayed, as opposed to the ones who spread out all over the US, intermarrying and generally mixing and mingling and making the mutts that most of us are today. I'm about 1/4 Scottish on my mom's side, but I have been to a few Burns night dinners (in North Carolina, and one in California) and found them notable mostly because my ex and I were the youngest people in the room by 3 or 4 decades. Still, where else are you going to go to see people set fire to sheep's bladders? Wyoming, perhaps, they do all sorts of weird stuff with sheep there, or so I've heard.
Anyway, my favorite part of the whole dinner had to be the dessert, especially when we got to have cranachan instead of stale shortbread. (Is there such a thing as fresh shortbread? Well, yes, I have actually baked it myself, but there seems to be some sort of cachet to the "imported from Scotland" variety, and of course importing takes time.) I've never actually had it with raspberries before, but I can't imagine they wouldn't improve it immensely, and it was already pretty darn good when it was just sweetened, boozy whipped cream with crunchy toasted oats. Raspberries make just about everything better, even though it may be tough getting fresh ones in January.
I would not, however, recommend making it my dad's way - unsweetened, no raspberries, and using an Islay single malt instead of the Drambuie. Um...yuck. (He's Italian, and does make a darned good cannoli.)
Anyway, should you be inclined to celebrate the birthday of Robert Burns (you know, the "Auld Lang Syne" guy, although he also wrote lots of poems which are surprisingly smutty once you can figure out the dialect), you can skip the haggis but by all means try the:
Cranachan
1 c. coarse (steel-cut) oatmeal
16 oz. whipping cream
2 oz. drambuie
2 c. raspberries
4 tbsp. honey
Toast the oatmeal in a dry cast iron skillet over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Be sure to stir the oats about once a minute so they do not but. Remove the oats and let them cool completely.
Whip the cream until soft (not stiff) peaks form, then slowly add the Drambuie and honey until combined. Slowly add Drambuie (or vanilla) and sugar to cream until combined.Fold in the oats, reserving a tablespoon or two for garnish. Layer the cream and the berries (berries, then cream, then berries, then cream) in dessert dishes or parfait glasses, then chill for half an hour or so. Just before serving, sprinkle with the reserved oats and a few more berries.
Anyway, my favorite part of the whole dinner had to be the dessert, especially when we got to have cranachan instead of stale shortbread. (Is there such a thing as fresh shortbread? Well, yes, I have actually baked it myself, but there seems to be some sort of cachet to the "imported from Scotland" variety, and of course importing takes time.) I've never actually had it with raspberries before, but I can't imagine they wouldn't improve it immensely, and it was already pretty darn good when it was just sweetened, boozy whipped cream with crunchy toasted oats. Raspberries make just about everything better, even though it may be tough getting fresh ones in January.
Raspberries
Anyway, should you be inclined to celebrate the birthday of Robert Burns (you know, the "Auld Lang Syne" guy, although he also wrote lots of poems which are surprisingly smutty once you can figure out the dialect), you can skip the haggis but by all means try the:
Cranachan
1 c. coarse (steel-cut) oatmeal
16 oz. whipping cream
2 oz. drambuie
2 c. raspberries
4 tbsp. honey
Toast the oatmeal in a dry cast iron skillet over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Be sure to stir the oats about once a minute so they do not but. Remove the oats and let them cool completely.
Whip the cream until soft (not stiff) peaks form, then slowly add the Drambuie and honey until combined. Slowly add Drambuie (or vanilla) and sugar to cream until combined.Fold in the oats, reserving a tablespoon or two for garnish. Layer the cream and the berries (berries, then cream, then berries, then cream) in dessert dishes or parfait glasses, then chill for half an hour or so. Just before serving, sprinkle with the reserved oats and a few more berries.
Yummier than haggis
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