Three Chimneys: Cranachan

Left it until quite late to decide what I was going to make this week. In the end, I went for one of the simplest things possible: cranachan. How simple? Toast some oatmeal and leave to cool. Take double cream. Add whisky and honey. Whisk until as firm as you want it. Fold in most of the oatmeal. Pile into glasses with raspberries. Sprinkle remaining oatmeal on top.
The one major ingredient purchase this required for me? Whisky. The local supermarket has a limited selection. I think I took quite a while to make my decision. Yes, it has the one that really should be used for this (and the other whisky-using recipes in the book) - Talisker. But it's expensive (well, relatively). Can I justify buying it? There's half bottles there of other whiskies that are probably just as good. Yes, but they're not Skye whiskies. And back and forth I went. Yes, I did buy the Talisker. How could I not?

Greek Honey & Lemon Cake

After last week's experiment with complete unfamiliarity, I wanted to retreat to safer ground this week. Browsing through one of my books, I came across a cake described as 'moist and tangy, a delicious afternoon snack'. Well, how can you resist an attempt at something like that? Although it does share one similarity with last week's - the use of beaten egg whites.
The first thing to try to trip me up was the listing of semolina in the ingredients. I'm thinking the dry semolina flour you can buy, and I'm going to substitute polenta. OK, not quite the same thing, but I figure close enough in texture, and might give it a nice colour. So I start getting all my ingredients prepared, and then I'm reading through the recipe more closely. The instructions for the semolina? Beat it in to the dry ingredients. Oops, so it's obviously not a dry ingredient then. OK, a quick trip round to the local shop is called for, and just hope they have a can of the stuff. They do, so that's alright.
The next stumbling point is that the recipe tells you to mix some of the wet ingredients together, but then fails to mention them again. What am I supposed to do with them? They obviously belong in the mix, but when and how? I figure I'll add them when the semolina goes in.
Anyway, in the end it seems to have turned out just fine. Maybe not quite honey and lemon-y enough, but there's certainly a distinct hint of both. A nice soft texture, actually almost like a cross between bread and cake. Definitely one to be made again.

Recipe:
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons honey
1 lemon, juice and finely grated zest
2/3 cup skim milk
1/4 cup semolina
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 400F/200C. Line an 8 inch square cake tin with non-stick baking parchment.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and nutmeg.
Place the butter and honey in a pan and heat gently until melted. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
When the butter and honey have melted, remove from the heat. Stir in the lemon zest ad juice, and the semolina. Add the milk.
Gradually beat the liquid into the flour mixture, until fully combined.
Fold the beaten egg whites into the mixture, until fully combined.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Sprinkle the top with the sesame seeds.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

Rock Buns/Honey Rhubarb Muffins

Well, last weeks lemon biscotti seemed to go down well. Duncan took them to work, not realising I had plans for some of them. Luckily, he managed to rescue the half dozen I wanted to take to my dad.
A double baking session this week. I picked up some rhubarb on Saturday, and found an interesting sounding recipe for honey rhubarb muffins in one of my cookbooks; A Cook's Tour of Scotland by Sue Lawrence. However, since they contain fresh fruit, they won't last more than a couple of days. So I needed to make something else that would last a bit longer.
Browsing through one of my other books (Low-Fat Baking by Linda Fraser), I found something which I thought might turn out either pretty good, or absolutely awful: rock buns. Not something I remember having made before, so I had to have a go.
Both recipes seem to have turned out not too badly for the first try. I'm a bit disappointed with the muffins; they taste great, but seem to have fallen a bit flat. I did notice that the baking temperature was a bit higher than I'd normally expect for a muffin. Might try changing it next time. With the rock buns, I used different fruit; the recipe called for prunes and mixed peel, but I used dried apricots and cherries instead. The amount of liquid called for in the recipe also seems to make too dry a dough; I think I'll add a bit more milk next time.

Recipe: Honey Rhubarb Muffins
200 grams flour, self-raising
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
50 grams hazelnuts -- chopped and toasted
50 grams sugar, light muscovado
4 tablespoons honey
100 millilitres sunflower oil
100 millilitres yoghurt, skim milk
100 grams rhubarb -- finely diced

Preheat the oven to 200C. Put 10 muffin cases in a muffin tin.
Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon together into a large bowl. Stir in the hazelnuts.
In a jug, whisk together the yogurt, oil, honey and sugar.
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet ingredients, and stir briefly. Add the rhubarb and stir until combined.
Divide between the muffin cases. Bake for around 20 minutes until risen and golden.
Best eaten warm.


Recipe: Rock Buns
2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 ounces dried cherries -- chopped
2 ounces dried apricots -- chopped
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup sunflower oil
5 tablespoons skim milk

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking sheet with non-stick baking parchment.
Sift together the flour and baking powder.
Stir in the fruit and lemon zest.
Mix together the milk and oil. Stir into the flour mixture to make a dough - it should just bind together.
Place spoonfuls of the mixture onto the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden.