To celebrate Burns night these deliciously boozy Cranachan Cupcakes are a perfect treat.
Cranachan is a traditional Scottish dessert consisting of fresh raspberries, Scottish oats, Scottish whisky and cream. This cupcake version has all of it (mostly!)
Burns Night is celebrated on the 25th of January to commemorate Scottish poet Robert Burns. Along with whisky, food is also a big part of the celebrations, and I thought I'd add to the recipes with these Cranachan Cupcakes.
You can also use my Millionaire's Shortbread Cupcakes Recipe as another ode to Scotland, if booze is not your thing and you prefer Scottish shortbread and lots of caramel.
Now there's a whole crazy story associated with these.
I actually ended up starting a fire in Caking It HQ! But don't worry, no one was hurt, just my battered ego and a ruined sheet pan.
I was attempting to toast oats under the grill and - I kid you not - walked away for less than a minute and turned back to see flames coming out the oven.
I managed to put it out, but needless to say I would strongly recommend you toast your oats in a small saucepan on the stove over a medium-low heat!
Anyway, that's enough excitement for one week.
Let's get Caking It!
Recipe
180C (170C fan)
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Prep: 15 mins
Bake: 20 mins
Assemble: 10 mins
Ingredients
Sponge
150g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
4 medium eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
150g gluten free self-raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
100g fresh raspberries
1 tbsp Scottish Whisky
50g gluten free Scottish (or regular) oats
Frosting
150g unsalted butter
350g icing sugar
2 tbsp Scottish Whisky
To finish
Scottish oats, toasted
Raspberries
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Method: Sponge
Don't forget to wait until all the ingredients are room temperature before starting.
Preheat oven to 180C. Fill a 12-hole muffin tin with cases.
In a small saucepan add your oats and, on medium-low, lightly toast them until you can smell an oat-y aroma and they turn slightly golden. Place them to cool on the side.
With a fork, cream the butter until pale, then add the sugar and cream together until fully incorporated.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing with an electric whisk between each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, bicarb, and xanthan gum with a fork, and then add this to the mixture, mixing until fully incorporated.
Chop the raspberries into quarters then add these to the mixture, and gently fold them in with the Whisky.
Spoon a little of the oats on the bottom of each muffin case, then place 1 tablespoon of mix on top.
Now sprinkle a little more oats into the cases, then a final tablespoon on top.
Finish with a final sprinkle of the toasted oats on top of the batter.
Let the mixture sit in the cases for 20 minutes before placing in an oven for 20 minutes. A skewer or toothpick inserted into the cupcakes should come out clean.
Method: Buttercream
This is a boozy and sweet addition to these delicious cupcakes.
While the sponges are cooling, move onto the whisky buttercream. Cream the butter until pale, and gradually add in the icing sugar until it is all incorporated. You can do this either with a standing mixer, an electric hand whisk, or a fork. At this point the mixture should be a little stiff.
Add the whisky to the butter and sugar half a tablespoon at a time and mix with a fork until you have a luscious consistency.
Assembly
Pipe on the whisky buttercream and finish with some toasted Sottish Oats and a decorative raspberry or two.
