It is Mother’s Day here in the UK this Sunday, a day that brings a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye. I think of my Mum every day and on this special day miss her more than ever. I would always take her her favourite daffodils and we’d go out for lunch. While those days are gone now I am the recipient of my own Mothers Day gifts and treats and always a beautifully hand drawn card from my lovely Idgy.
While you can buy any sort of gifts from chocolates to flowers and all things in between sometimes it is nice to treat your Mum to a special tea time treat like this Scottish cranachan cheesecake, the perfect dessert for a special day.
I wrote this Cranachan Cheesecake recipe for my book Simply Scottish Cakes & Bakes and have to say it was one of my real favourites when I was making things again and again and testing all those recipes. I’ve produced it for supper parties, picnics and fancy teas, it is firmly built into my baking favourites and will stay there forever.
Cranachan is a traditional Scottish pudding made from oatmeal, raspberries, cream, crowdie cheese, honey and whisky. It is traditionally served all whipped up together as a gloriously sweet and decadent dessert. I decided to break it down a little and recreate it in cheesecake form using the oats within the biscuity base and the cream and cheese plus raspberries in the body with the more raspberries as a topping and the whisky and honey as a luxurious cream topping.
When you are writing a cookbook there is a LOT of trial and error involved. I have to say I didn’t mind in the least with this recipe as with ever tweak and alteration it just got better and better and my friends and family so enjoyed all the efforts.
Have a lovely time this weekend and enjoy every minute of being with your Mum.
Karon x
You can find my Cranachan Cheesecake recipe and loads of other Scottish treats in my book Simply Scottish Cakes & Bakes, available on Amazon both as a hardback and as a kindle e-Book here;
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- Base
- 200g/6oz shortbread biscuits
- 50g/2oz medium oatmeal
- 50g/2 oz melted unsalted butter
- Cheesecake filling
- 300g/10oz cream cheese
- 150g/5 oz crowdie cheese (if you can't get this just use a total of 450g/15 oz cream cheese instead)
- 125ml/4 fl oz sour cream
- 5 eggs
- 200g/6oz caster sugar
- 30 raspberries
- Topping
- 200g/6 oz raspberries
- 75g/2½ oz caster sugar
- 1 tbsp water
- To serve
- whipping cream
- 2 tbsp runny honey
- 1 tbsp Scotch whisky
- Preheat oven to 170c/325f/Gas 3
- Use a springform cake tin and line with paper and lightly grease.
- Whizz the base ingredients together in food processor till it comes together in a sandy lump.
- Press into prepared cake tin making sure you get it right into the edges and up the sides as well.
- Set aside in the fridge to firm up.
- Beat together the cream cheese and crowdie (ir using) along with the sugar.
- Add the eggs one at a time and continue beating as you add the sour cream.
- Pour the mixture into the chilled base and push in the raspberries all over the filling.
- Place the cake tin into a baking tin and pour in boiling water up to half way up the sides of the cake tin you are using. This is a Bain Marie and means that the cake will cook more gently with it's bath of water around it.
- Bake for 1 hour or until the top is golden but the cake still has a wee bit of a wobble about it.
- Switch off the oven and open the door and just let the cake sit there and very gently cool down for an hour.
- Keep it in its tin and set aside in the fridge overnight.
- Remove from fridge at least an hour before serving and carefully remove from the baking tin.
- Make the topping by heating the raspberries and sugar until the sugar dissolves completely. Cool and then spoon this over the cheesecake.
- Serve with the whipped cream mixed with runny honey and whisky.
What a gorgeous cheesecake – it is just the sort I would love to eat – sadly I don’t make cheesecakes much but will bookmark it and perhaps make it on St Andrews Day if I have some energy.
Hi Johanna
Glad you like the recipe, it is one of my favourites. Hope you get around to making it sometime.
K x