Cranachan Cupcakes

/ April 10, 2015

Today it’s been officially one year since my first post – 365 days of checking for comments, deciding on 176 recipes and working hard to create pictures that do justice to the dish … a steep learning curve is all I can say! It’s been a wonderful year, especially thanks to all of you who inspire me with their fantastic ideas, impressive photographs and – most importantly! – your lovely comments. Thank you very much, everybody! Obviously I am not going to let this opportunity pass without a bang, which is why I will be gatecrashing Angie’s Fiesta Friday party – so much easier than organising your own … I’ve been a right party poop in recent weeks, popping over too late or only for a few minutes, hardly saying hello. Sometimes life gets in the way of things, and life certainly did!detail Cranachan Cupcakes - Ginger&Bread So to make up for this, I present you with these deliciously boozy Cranachan-style cupcakes which I made for the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival. They called for whisky-based cupcake recipes for a competition and this is what I came up with. Cranachan, by the way, is the Scottish version of an Eton Mess: traditionally, it consists of layers of raspberries, whisky-soaked oatmeal and whipped cream. If that doesn’t sound delicious, what does? These cupcakes are, really, my homage to Glenfarclas Single Malt: a beautiful Speyside whisky with hints of sherry and peat. No, they didn’t pay me for this post! Glenfarclas is a small independent, family-run distillery, of which there are still a few left in Scotland. If you haven’t tried a Single Malt before, you have been missing out big time! This one’s smoother and sweeter than most. It works beautifully with both the tartness of the raspberries and the earthiness of the toasted oats. Traditionally, cranachan is made with crowdie, a soft cheese, instead of whipped cream, which gives the dish a lovely tanginess. Using a soft cheese frosting might sound like taking it a bit far, but trust me – these cupcakes can handle it!2 Cranachan Cupcakes - Ginger&Bread

Cranachan Cupcakes (makes 12)

For the cupcakes:

  • 50g large porridge oats
  • 1 dram whisky – Glenfarclas 12 Years works an absolute treat!
  • 70g soft unsalted butter
  • 200 plain flour
  • 180g sugar
  • 1 generous tbsp baking powder
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 egg
  • 210ml milk
  • 50g frozen raspberries

For the cheese frosting:

  • 120g soft unsalted butter
  • 340g icing sugar, sifted
  • 200g cream cheese
  • 1 tbs dried raspberries
  • 1 tbs toasted oats, left over from the cakes

Gently toast the oats in a dry frying pan; keep stirring them with a wooden spoon or similar. They will begin to release a lovely toasted aroma and turn a beautiful golden colour. Remove from the hob and pour the oats into a bowl or similar to cool down.toasting oats - Ginger&Bread Place 3 tablespoons of the oats into a small lidded bowl and add the whisky and the raspberries. Leave to soak, shaking them a few times to make sure the whisky is evenly distributed. Preheat the oven to 170C and line the muffin tray with 12 cases. Ideally using an electric mixer, blend the butter, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and egg until you have a smooth batter. Add half the milk at first, pouring in the rest once your lumps of butter have disappeared. Finally add 2-3 tablespoons of the toasted oats, leaving just a spoonful or so to decorate the finished cupcakes.filling muffin tray - Ginger&Bread Fill the cases with the batter, ensuring they are no more than 2/3 full to avoid unsightly overspill. Bake for 25 minutes or until they are golden brown and bounce back when you touch them. Leave to cool on a rack. Using a small knife or an apple corer, make a hole in the middle of each of the cupcakes but avoid puncturing the bottom! Fill with the raspberries and whisky-soaked oats before replacing the cut-out piece. You might have to trim them a bit to make it fit – the lid is only needed to prevent your frosting to get mixed up with your filling.filling cupcakes - Ginger&Bread To prepare the frosting, use an electric mixer to mix the butter and sugar. Add the cream cheese and keep mixing, first at medium speed, then, when it is beginning to come together, with speed to create a light and fluffy frosting. Decorate the cupcakes with the frosting, finishing it off by sprinkling them with the dried raspberries and oats.1 Cranachan Cupcakes - Ginger&Bread If you fancy a bite, do head over to Angie’s and join the party – it’d be great to see you there! This week she is being supported by Julianna @Foodie On Board and Hilda @Along The Grapevine, who are all very much looking forward to meeting new guests. And bearing in mind my New Blog Year’s resolution of being more sociable, I’ll make sure to pop round to say hello to you, too!  😉 Fiesta Friday Badge Button I was featured

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53 thoughts on “Cranachan Cupcakes”

  1. First of all, congratulations on your first anniversary. I’m glad you decided to celebrate it in style with us at Fiesta Friday. I have never used single malt in baking before, but this recipe looks truly fascinating – I might just give it a go. I doubt I will find any Glenfarclas but I presume any single malt will do. By the way, we just decided to visit Scotland and my family there this summer. Maybe visiting some of those distilleries would be a good project for the trip. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  4. Enhorabuena…Congratulations on your 1st blogging birthday! So glad I’ve been here for some of the year and looking forward to the next year (and more). I’m not a huge whisky drinker, but when I do, I enjoy single malt so I’m looking forward to making these 🙂

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  7. Wow, now this is a very stylish recipe to celebrate your first anniversary and FF with! Mmm, dried strawberries and whiskey are an unusual combination, but very tasty sounding indeed!! So perfect for this weeks Ff! 😀

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  8. Happy first year’s blogging anniversary, and some great looking cupcakes to celebrate. I haven’t made cranachan in a while, but I can imagine the flavors being great in here. By the way, if you like malt whisky, have you come across the Scotch Malt Whisky Society? They have all single cask, some great drams (though it can be hard going back to ‘normal’ malts after!)

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  9. Congratulations on your Anniversary! I’m surprised we never crossed paths before but I’m glad that we have. Love this recipe (the frosting especially!) and looking forward to your future posts!

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  18. Happy Blogiversary! You have achieved so much in one year! Love the sound of those cakes. I am addicted to anything raspberry at the moment so they are calling me! 😀

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    • Thank you so much – it’s been such a great pleasure meeting you as your beautiful pictures always cheer me up! That dragon in the museum – ingenious!
      As for the raspberries, they’ll have to wait until I get over the rhubarb 😉

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  20. I find it so funny that you’ve just shared a dessert recipe on Fiesta Friday that includes whiskey, as I nearly did as well. I’ve never cooked/baked with whiskey before until this week, when I made a whiskey-infused chocolate-pecan tart (http://wp.me/p5ymLQ-6p). I had a post already set out in my mind as the one to share with Angie and the others, otherwise there would have been two whiskey-related desserts at the party. By the way, they look delicious!

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  24. OK better late than never…. Yeah, it seems we did share the same blogiversary to a T!! What a way to celebrate too, wow, whiskey infused? Now we’re talking 🙂 Cheers!

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  25. Congratulations Ginger on your first anniversary. Cooking/baking is always a lot of fun and I have enjoyed reading and eventually making some of your recipes, especially the dumplings! Never turn down a cupcake, especially with liquor in it 🙂

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  26. Wow, you had me at Cranachan, then mentioned “boozy” and it only got worse from there…I am addicted to these and I haven’t even tried one! Congrats on your year! I would have guessed you’d been doing this forever! 🙂

    You’re a true inspiration!

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  28. Happy blogoversary, dear blogofriend! Keep going and post more lovely and interesting recipes! These boozy cupcakes is a perfect choice for party! 🙂 Never made such, but I do love that oats and raspberries soaked in whiskey.. 😀

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  29. Pingback: Cranachan – A Scottish Mess | Ginger&Bread

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