A side trip to Scotland!

I had every intention of continuing with my Sicilian culinary experiences and discoveries, but I sat down to watch the Great British Bake Off. My intention was to catch their 2025 New Years bake off, as those usually wrap in a single episode.

Ever hear of Hogmanay? Well, neither had I. It’s the Scottish equivalent of our New Years Eve/New Years Day goings on, with festivities steeped in Scottish tradition.

One of the challenges was to make Cranachan. Cranachan is a traditional layered Scottish dessert/treat – layers of toasted oats, whipped cream, and raspberries, and sometimes including honey and whiskey in the whipped cream. One of the bakers made it by stacking Pavlovas, each Pavlova capturing all of the traditional flavors. Unfortunately, his Pavlova layers collapsed, probably because a traditional Pavlova has a crisp shell and a soft interior, and is actually meant to be a single layer.

I like Pavlova, and felt there had to be some way to adapt his effort so that collapse was not an issue. The Chopping Block, as is so often the case, to the rescue.

In The Chopping Block’s Boot Camp 2, one of the items we prepared on pastry day was Hazelnut Dacquoise. Dacquoise is essentially a meringue with nut flour, baked not as thick as a Pavlova, and usually layered with a mousse or whipped cream between the baked layers. Being thinner, and with the nut flour in it, dacquoise is sturdier than Pavlova, so I figured it was worth a shot to see if I could make Cranachan with meringue layers.

BINGO!!!

Let’s get busy and make this thing!

I started by toasting some rolled oats in a skillet over medium heat, just until they were starting to darken and were very fragrant. About 1-1/2 cups. Put some whole pieces aside to garnish, and pulse the rest in a food processor until you have a toasted oat flour. It won’t be as fine as your all-purpose flour, but the slightly larger pieces enhance the aesthetic.

Now you’re ready to make the dacquoise.

The linked recipe will make 4 six-inch disks of dacquoise, and you’ll want to make those first, waiting until they are cooled to start with the rest of the ingredients.

For the raspberry jam, you can thin some store-bought by heating it slightly. If you go the store-bought route, seedless looks better, if you can find it. If you want to make your own, I used 2 six-ounce packages of raspberries, removing 12 whole raspberries for finishing. Put the rest in a medium sauce pan with 1/4 cup water and about 1/2 cup sugar. Heat it over medium low heat until it starts to bubble, then crush the berries. Once the berries are thoroughly crushed, you can strain them to get the seeds out if you want – it’s up to you. If you strain, return the liquid to the pan and put it back on the heat. Add about 1/2 teaspoon agar agar, if you have it, or you can add an equal amount of cornstarch or arrowroot (these you’ll want to put into about a teaspoon of water to create a slurry, just so you don’t have lumps). Once it all starts to thicken, remove it from the heat.

For the whipped cream, I chilled the bowl of my mixer with some ice water. It helps. To the mixing bowl I added 2 cups of whipping cream, straight from the fridge (cold is your friendly assistant), and about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Powdered sugar has cornstarch (or sometimes tapioca flour) in it to prevent clumping, and it also helps to stabilize whipped cream. For extra stabilization, a heaping tablespoon of mascarpone is a great help. If you want the punch of honey and whiskey, add them to taste. Whip it until a spreading consistency.

Place the bottom disks on plates (and use a plate size that lets the disks sit flat, otherwise they might crack as you assemble). Spread a layer of whipped cream on the disk – about 1/2″ thick. Then place the second disk on top of that.

Spread more whipped cream on the top, again about 1/2″ thick.

Spread or drizzle raspberry jam over the top layer of whipped cream, add some whole raspberries for looks, and then sprinkle the whole rolled oats to finish.

There you have it. I hope you’ll make it and enjoy it. It sounds like a lot, but each step goes quite fast. For my money, the finished look is worth it.

Slàinte mhath (good health)!!!