Cream Crowdie

A traditional Scottish dessert made from toasted oats, cream, raspberries and whisky. Also known as Cranachan, this is a quick, tasty and boozy pudding which will take about 15 minutes to prepare.

Crowdie takes its name from the soft Scottish curd cheese, traditionally made by crofters and smallholders in the Scottish Highlands and originally used in this recipe. As it can be hard to come by these days, whipped cream is a good substitute. Part of my mother’s Scottish heritage, this comes from her recipe book.

Serves 4

50g oats, toasted

300ml double cream, whipped

4 tbsp clear honey

3 tbsp whisky (Scotch, if you have it)

350g raspberries

You will need four tall dessert glasses.

Put the oats in a shallow tin under a heated grill and lightly toast until golden brown, moving them around occasionally so they don't burn. You can also use a dry frying pan or skillet over a medium heat. Allow to cool.

Whip the cream until you have stiff peaks and then, using a spoon or spatula, stir in the honey, whisky and oats. Keep a few raspberries for the top, and layer the rest with the cream mixture in the tall glasses. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for about an hour.

Remove from the fridge about half an hour before serving to allow it to come to room temperature. Decorate with the reserved raspberries.

Molten chocolate lava cakes

Indulgent mini chocolate cakes with an oozing molten centre. Made in individual ramekins for the ultimate impressive dessert.

From my mother's recipe book ...

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

The first thing to do is prepare four individual ramekins. Grease each one with butter and lightly dust with flour. Place on a baking sheet.

You can make the mixture a few hours in advance and put the filled ramekins in the fridge until you want to cook them. This must be just before you want to eat them - if they sit for too long after baking, the liquid centre will cook through.

125g dark chocolate

125g unsalted butter

2 large eggs

3 egg yolks

3 tbsp caster sugar

50g plain flour, sieved

Break the chocolate into pieces and put into a small bowl with the butter. Place over a saucepan of boiling water and melt slowly. Make sure the bowl does not touch the water.

Break the eggs into a large bowl, add the yolks and caster sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Using a spatula or metal spoon, mix in the chocolate mixture and lastly fold in the sieved flour until everything is combined.

Pour into your ramekins and bake for 5-7 minutes. Take out of the oven and carefully use a knife to go around the edge of each ramekin to loosen the cakes. Then turn each one out onto individual serving plates and lightly dust with icing sugar.

Serve immediately with ice-cream, crème fraiche or double cream.

Lemon meringue pie

A zesty lemon pie covered in a marshmallow meringue. The fresh citrus flavour will leave you wanting more!

This is something my grandmother called Canadian Lemon pie - her recipe is essentially the mixture to go into your pastry case. You will need to blind bake the pastry case before adding the filling and topping it with the meringue. See notes below if you're unsure how to do this.

This is her list of ingredients for the whole pie filling. I have updated and separated it into those for lemon curd and meringue and increased the quantities to give a filling for a 23cm flan dish.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Zest and juice the lemons.

Lemon curd

250g caster sugar

300ml boiling water

3 egg yolks (beaten)

juice and zest of 3 lemons

3 tbsp cornflour

Put the sugar into a saucepan and gradually whisk in the boiling water over a low heat. When the sugar has dissolved, add the lemon juice, zest and egg yolks. Bring to a simmer whisking continuously. Remove from the heat. Mix the cornflour with a little water and add to the saucepan, whisking again to combine.

Do not be tempted to put it back on the heat - it should not be necessary.

Once it has thickened, allow to cool slightly before pouring into your pastry case.

Meringue

3 eggs whites

150g caster sugar

2 tsp cornflour

Put the egg whites into a large bowl and whisk until peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, beating until you have a stiff shiny mixture. Then sprinkle the cornflour into the mix and fold in. Spoon the meringue on top of your filled pie case, making sure you it goes to the edges of the pastry to completely seal the edges. Put in the oven for 15 minutes or until browned, but be careful that you don't give it too long or the meringue will crack.

Delicious on its own or served with double cream.

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How to blind bake a pastry case

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Roll out your pastry and fill your tart tin. Take a piece of baking paper, slightly larger than the tin, and put it into the tin on top of the pastry. Then fill with ceramic baking beans, dried pulses or rice to weigh the paper down. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes to allow the base to dry out. When it's done, remove any excess pastry from the edges using a sharp knife.