Blackcurrant Cranachan

We had so many blackcurrants in the garden this year - many have been shared with the birds due to a lack of netting - but we’ve also managed to squirrel away quite a lot (several kilos) for ourselves. I’ve frozen most for some summer puddings I’m making for an event but I also treated us to this delicious twist on cranachan.

Cranachan, if you don’t know, is a yummy Scottish dessert made with raspberries, cream, whiskey and toasted oats - a sort of oaty Eton Mess. It works well with blackcurrants as the other flavours are mild and milky, a good contrast to the sharp currants.

You can absolutely make this with frozen blackcurrants, so don’t feel like you need to make it on the day you pick the currants. I think it is best made and served immediately - but you can toast the oats, make compote and even whip cream in advance, so all you need to do before serving is layer it up. It’s also fab with raspberries. With raspberries you don’t need to make a compote, just crush the berries with a fork before folding through the cream.

Serves 4

300g blackcurrants
75g sugar (or a little more or less depending on how sweet or sharp you like your currants)
120g porridge oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
400ml double cream
1 tablespoon of whiskey
2 tablespoons honey, plus a drizzle to garnish
Edible flowers to garnish - I’ve used cornflower petals and sweet geranium flowers (optional)

To make the compote put the blackcurrants and sugar in a small saucepan with a splash of water. Place over a medium low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Turn the heat up sligtly and bring to a simmer for two minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool.

Heat a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the porridge oats and the brown sugar and cook for a couple of minutes until toasty and caramelised. Keep stirring the oats to prevent any one part burning. Decant to a tray or plate to cool down 

Whip the cream quite stiffly, you don’t want it to start going grainy but it needs to be stiffer than soft peaks as when you add the whiskey and blackcurrant it will loosen. Add the honey, whiskey and about 1/3 of the blackcurrant compote to the cream and gently fold it through.

In small glasses layer up the dessert. Add some of the toasted sugary oats, followed by the blackcurrant cream, a bit of blackcurrant compote and then more oats and more cream and compote and repeat to the top of the glass. The last layer should be cream, top with a little compote, a drizzle of honey and a few flakes of the toasted oats. Garnish with edible flowers. You will probably have some blackcurrant compote left. Eat it with yoghurt or on porridge!

You can store this in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving but I think it is best eaten immediately while the cream is soft and the oats are crunchy!