Healthier Cranachan for Burn's Night

It’s Burn’s Day today – a big day in Scotland. It commemorates Rabbie Burns, ‘Scotland’s Poet’. Many people will be having a Burn’s Supper tonight – plenty of haggis, neeps and tatties on the menu.

I thought I would indulge in a Scottish dessert for the occasion. Cranachan is mixture of whipped cream, toasted oats, honey, whisky and raspberries.

But being January, I wanted to make it a healthier version of this famous celtic sweet. It wasn’t too difficult to ‘healthify’, I turned to my old favourite 0% fat-free Greek yoghurt. I used this instead of the cream. The oats and raspberries are fine and the only sweetness comes from honey. I should have used heather honey, which is traditional but I had some runny honey in the cupboard that I substituted it for. 

Lastly, the whiskey. I am not a whiskey fan, but keep a wee bottle on hand for occasions such as Cranachan making. I only used a teaspoonful in my recipe, but you could add as much or as little as you prefer. It’s really the only sinful part of this dessert.

Yield: 4 smaller portions, or two large

Ingredients:

350 grams 0% fat-free Greek yoghurt

85 grams porridge oats

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon whiskey

150 grams fresh raspberries

Method:

For a few hours, strain the Greek yoghurt, by placing it in a sieve lined with two sheets of kitchen paper, over a bowl. Keep it in the fridge whilst you do this. Toast the oats in a frying pan. Keep stirring and when they smell nutty remove from the heat. Let them cool.

Get rid of the excess liquid in the bowl, and put the thick strained yoghurt in the bowl. Mix through the honey and whiskey.

In a separate bowl, mash the raspberries with a fork, keeping some aside for garnish.

Add the cooled oats and mushed raspberries to the yoghurt and gently stir through so it looks rippled.

Place into chilled glasses and garnish with the remaining rasps. And there you have

a very simple and healthier Cranachan. Serve this straight away to prevent the toasted oats turning soggy and enjoy with some shortbread on the side, which is traditional. 

Happy Burns Night everyone!