Holidays with Pendleton Midnight: Apple Cranachan Recipe and Whiskey Pomegranate Cocktails

Have you ever heard of a dessert called Cranachan?

It’s a traditional Scottish dessert with whipped cream, toasted oatmeal, whiskey, honey, and raspberries. Usually, these ingredients are individually in dishes when served so each guest can mix up their dessert dish (usually a clear dessert glass) to fit their own taste preferences. As each person layers the ingredients, it’s like your own personal trifle.

The use of oats in this dessert makes it hearty and I also like adding in some toasted pecan nuts for more texture. Some might consider also folding in some chocolate, and topping with a bit more honey.

This would be a great dessert to serve at the end of a holiday meal instead of a pie (or heh heh along with pie on the food buffet). I like how the layers and the build it yourself approach makes the dessert both casual but fancy because of the freshness of easy prep of the ingredients just before serving. You can toast the oats and nuts and cook the apples before hand – though doing them just before serving makes the house smell great! You can serve it in a glass, or just on a plate.

The reason this dish is so popular to Scotland is how it celebrates ingredients Scotland produces locally. Similar to how Oregon blackberries and Hood strawberries taste unique (and better!) than other available blackberries and strawberries IMHO, so does the traditional use of Scottish steel cut pinhead oats, whiskey, honey (they use a heather honey), the specific local cream from their Scottish cows, and very seasonal Scottish raspberries.

Since I don’t have access to all of those since I’m not in Scotland, the best I can do in my version of this apple cranachan recipe is to embrace the celebration of local by using what is seasonal and local here. Since apple and whiskey are also a great combination, I decided to give it this change for colder weather to apples picked from the orchards here in the area.

This is also perfect dessert for this colder weather now that it’s here,  as a bit of whiskey in your warm dessert and perhaps a shot of this light Pendleton Midnight whiskey along side it will definitely warm you up a little.

Pendleton Midnight is a 90 proof oak barrel aged Canadian whiskey distributed by local Hood River Distillers, Inc. Founded in 1934 and headquartered in Hood River, Ore., Hood River Distillers is the Northwest’s largest and oldest importer, producer, bottler, and marketer of distilled spirits that includes Pendleton as well as several other lines, including Clear Creek Distillery products which was recently added to the Hood River Distillers family in January 2015.

Hood River Distillers also opened a 1200 feet Tasting Room this past July in a historic 1910 National Bank building in downtown Hood River. There, for $5 tasting fee you can taste samples – they rotate sample tastes from a list of 15-20 products from Hood River Distillers and Clear Creek Distillery, including limited edition products!

Pendleton Whiskey is the #1 premium selling Canadian whiskey in Oregon and a top 10 premium Canadian Whiskey in the US. The Pendleton Midnight is a mixture of corn, rye, wheat, and barley, with glacier-fed spring water from Oregon’s Mt. Hood and a portion of the whiskey blend is aged over six years in American brandy barrels.

Although this is a 90 proof, the taste does not have a lot of alcoholic heat at all and is incredibly smooth. This is great for many of you who don’t think you like whiskey and are just getting started, since Pendleton Midnight is so light on the heat. Yet, it also offers great layers of flavors that include florals, toast, and grain along with some warming spices.

Because of it’s smoothness, I thought I would layer the flavors of Pendleton Midnight in this layered dessert. I used 1/3 cup of whiskey for soaking the oats, but depending on the strength of flavor of your Whiskey that you use, you might want to dial it back to 3-4 tablespoons. I personally liked how in my amounts, you can really taste the whiskey at first – I like my whiskey cake and rum cakes so that I can taste the alcohol and it’s not just in the name.

This recipe serves four.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of rolled oats
• Pendleton Midnight whiskey – 1/3 cup for soaking the oats, 1 tablespoon for cooking the apples
• 1/4 cup of pecans – I toasted them whole and then chopped them, but you can chop them first if you’d prefer
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 apples, cored and diced. You don’t need to peel them unless you want to.
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons of honey – my favorite is from Bee Local

Directions:

1. First, you will need to prepare the oats the night before. Set a pan on medium heat and add the 1/2 cup of oats to toast. Make sure you stir and keep your eye on these. Keep stirring until the oats have browned a bit and begin to smell fragrant, about 5 to 6 minutes.  In a small bowl, put only some of the oats (1/3 cup of the toasted oats in with 1/3 cup of the whiskey and cover, letting them soak overnight so all the whiskey is absorbed). Set the rest of the toasted oats aside – instead of soaking these, they will be kept dry and toasty to be used as another layer.
   
2. The nuts are optional, but I like the extra texture they provide. You want to toast the pecans – before you add the pecans, turn the heat down to medium. You may want to spray a little cooking oil or smidge of butter so the nuts don’t stick. Make sure you watch them carefully so they don’t burn, and continuously stir with a wooden spoon. You’ll know you’re done when they are aromatic. I may always toast slightly more nuts than I need because I have to sample the toasting to perfection and eat like a handful just doing that… Set the rest aside for another topping layer.
   
3. In your pan, heat the two tablespoons of butter over medium high heat until it melts. Add the cored and diced apples to the pan along with the 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of whiskey.  Stir and cook until the apples soften. The apples should be soft enough that they can easily be cut with a spoon, but not mush on the verge of applesauce. Set aside – if you are pre-making this, you will possibly want to warm the cooked apples a bit when serving, but you don’t want to serve them hot from the pan either! Or, serve the apples cold – they taste good either way.
   
4. For the cream, whisk the 1 1/4 cup of cream until it thickens, about 5 minutes in a stand mixer using medium speed – don’t go any higher speed. You should start to see trails from the whisk. Now add the 3 tablespoons of honey and whisk again for a few more minutes until peaks form. You should see the honey cream double in size into the whipped cream. Finally, fold in the 1/3 cup of whiskey soaked oats.
   
5. To serve, let guests put together their own layers of the oat whiskey cream, apples, toasted oat, and have the honey handed so they can add a little more honey to suit their taste. Or, make your own layers on clear glasses beforehand a couple hours before dinner and refrigerate and serve when you are ready for a controlled pretty presentation.
   
   Alternatively, layer your Apple Cranachan Recipe on a plate instead for a more rustic presentation and so you don’t have to worry about perfect placement with no smears in a glass.
   

Instead of cream, you could consider yogurt instead. And, you can ignore the nuts if you have a nut allergy – the traditional cranachan doesn’t have it anyway.

To wash this down and add a little bit more color with a whiskey pomegranate cocktail. This is a version of a julep.

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces of Pendleton Midnight whiskey
• 1 ounce of Pomegranate juice
• 1 ounce of simple syrup
• Sprig of mint

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients and shake well with ice
2. Pour and serve with a bit of mint leaf garnish

Alternatively, you could also choose to throw in a little spice emphasis with whiskey, pomegranate, and ginger beer or ginger soda (I like Dry Ginger soda) instead for a variation of a moscow mule.

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces of Pendleton Midnight whiskey
• 1 ounce of Pomegranate juice
• 3 ounces of ginger beer or soda
• 1 wedge of lime
• 1 mint leaf garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Add all the ingredients into a glass with ice
2. Serve with the slice of lime and if you’d like, a bit of mint leaf garnish

Have you ever heard or had Cranachan before?

Disclosure: I was provided a complimentary sample of Pendleton Midnight, but I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.