Some of you might remember the cranachan-inspired cupcakes I made for  I made for the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival. They called for recipes for whisky-based cupcake recipes for a baking competition, a challenge I could hardly resist! Anyway, I was very excited to hear that my entry had been chosen, together with four others, to be baked during the festival for a whisky-inspired (or should I say, whisky-fuelled?) bake-off, for the public to decide on a winning recipe. And can you believe it, the public voted for my cupcakes!

As I mentioned before, single malts are an amazing beverage in that their flavours and aromas really reflect their environment, from the smoky and peaty Islay whiskies to the much milder and almost sweet Speyside whiskies. Whereas I like to use the peaty Islays for meat dishes, the latter come into their own in sweets and desserts. The river Spey, which gives the area its name, flows through an area high up in the northeast of Scotland, about halfway between Inverness and Aberdeen. As the first prize for the competition is a stay in a local hotel I will make sure to report, as well as on distillery tour …

Cranachan is the Scottish equivalent to an Eton Mess: traditionally, it consists of layers of raspberries, whisky-soaked oatmeal and  crowdie, a Scottish soft cheese, similar perhaps to quark, fromage frais or cream cheese. Nowadays it is often made with whipped double cream, which I feel takes away a little of its edge: Scotland, for me, is rough and wind-swept, not sunny and warm, and it is, after all, the home of Calvinism, a form of Protestantism that turns anything nice or pleasant into a major sin. Whipped cream, my friends, will not do justice to this dish.

What makes Cranachan such a wonderful alternative to an Eton Mess, however, is the cheese. The slight tartness of quark or fromage frais works incredibly well with raspberries, while the lightly caramelised oats will add a subtle and earthy sweetness that makes cranachan the perfect summer dessert. And a quick one to prepare, too: in under 5 minutes you can whip up this glorious feast! Should you have a little more time, though, you can take this one step further, following my 10-minute version which includes flambéing the raspberries and folding a little whipped cream under the quark. Indulgent and thus as sinful as it gets, but looking at the two versions side-by-side, Calvin will never know the difference.

You can serve this at any time of the year – my 5-minute version will come in handy when you need to whip up a dessert in seconds, literally. To mark traditional Scottish holidays such as Burns Night on the 25th of January or Hogmanay, the Scottish New Year’s celebration, you might want to try out my 10-minute version, which requires a little more skill, or a fire extinguisher. Children, by the way, will love this dish, too – as long as you leave out the whisky. Just don’t forget which glasses are which …

5-minute Cranachan (makes 4)

• 50g or 1/2 cup large porridge oats
• 4 tbs caster sugar
• 500g quark or fromage frais (20%)
• 1-2 drams whisky
• 1 punnet fresh raspberries

Gently toast the oats in a dry frying pan; keep stirring them with a wooden spoon or similar. When they begin to release a lovely toasted aroma, sprinkle Sprinkle them with 2 tbs of the caster sugar. Stir for another minute or two, then remove from the hob and pour the oats onto a plate or similar, to cool down.Meanwhile, wash the raspberries and remove 1/3 of them to decorate the finished dessert. Mash up the remaining raspberries with a fork, adding 1 tbs sugar and half of the whisky.

Whip up the quark with another fork, adding the remaining sugar and whisky.

Starting with a spoonful of the quark mixture, sprinkle it with a few of the toasted oats and a layer of the mashed raspberries, over which you sprinkle a few of the remaining raspberries and more oats, followed by another layer of quark. Keep adding layers, finishing with the quark. Decorate with the remaining raspberries and the oats.

Voila – a stunning dessert in mere minutes!

10-minute Cranachan (makes 4)

• 1/2 cup large porridge oats, toasted and slightly caramelised, as above
• 1 tbs unsalted butter
• 3-4 tbs caster sugar
• 2 cups frozen raspberries, or a punnet of fresh ones, if you have them at hand!
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1-2 drams whisky
• 170ml double cream
• 500g quark or fromage frais (20%)

This version uses some whipped double cream in addition to the quark, making it a little richer; and because you flambée the fruit, you can use frozen raspberries, making it a more affordable year-round treat. 

Remove the raspberries from the freezer and let them defrost a little while you prepare your oats.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan, then add the sugar. Keep stirring while you bring the whole to boil.

Once the sugar is dissolved, add the lemon juice, followed by the raspberries. When they are hot, add the whisky and bring it all to boil. Now comes the firework bit as you light the whisky with a match – try not to singe your eyebrows or burn down the house in the process: ‘Burns Night’ is named after the poet Robert Burns, not after a dessert-induced accident!

Leave to cool, then start building up your layers, as before. Finish it off with the prettiest ones of your frozen raspberries, which you kept aside for the purpose.