After this unforeseen pandemic, people across the world realized how short life is and that we should celebrate every moment of it with no regrets and hatred. Having said that, this week it’s going to be a real celebration across the globe. Yesssss, It’s Valentine’s Day, coming up this week and the best way to start the first day of the week with your beloved souls.
I wanted you to plan ahead this weekend and wow your cherished ones with this sumptuous treat.
So here, I come up with a Cake, a Cheesecake, a No-Bake Cheesecake, an Eggless No-Bake Cheesecake and it’s Scottish Cranachan Cheesecake. It’s a fusion recipe, where the traditional Scottish dessert transforms into a Greek Cheesecake.
You can check my other cheesecake, No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake Mini Jars, it’s an enticing individual dessert apt for kitty parties, get together and picnics. Also, check my other delectable desserts here.
Click here to jump to recipe card!
Let me introduce you to Cranachan first.
Cranachan is a native of Scotland, its quintessential Scottish dessert. As it has all the essences of the land, say it Scottish Cheese (Crowdie), Scottish Whisky, Scottish Raspberries, Scottish Honey and Oats. Indisputably, it can be proclaimed as the “King of the Scottish desserts”.
It’s basically a trifle-ish arrangement. In Scotland, they celebrate the raspberry harvest festival, with this quick and easy dessert. Authentic Cranachan is incomplete without the luscious cheese/cream produced by the Scottish cows, combined with the sweet native raspberries which are further sweetened by local honey and with a slight dash of regional whisky and locally grown oats. I can sense a sigh of exasperation, cheer up!!!! I’m here to assure you all that you can relish this dessert without regret, in spite of the unavailability of Scottish products. I’ll guide you on how to replace it with your local ingredients along with a slight twist. Are you inquisitive to know about the twist…😉😉. I used coffee decoction to tweak the flavour which very well complements the berry and the cream cheese.
Now get into this week’s recipe, which will be a fancy wedding between Cranachan and Cheesecake. I have given enough introduction to Cranachan. Coming to cheesecakes, their taste and texture would be completely different and unique from a standard cake. Cheesecakes are basically a type of cake made with smooth and silky cream cheese filling layered on a crusty base, topped with fruit coulis or whipped cream or chocolate frosting or fresh berries. If you are trying it for the first time, prepare to be wowed, as you’ll fall in love with its taste. On the other hand, if you are already an ardent lover of cheesecakes, you’ll be awestruck with this simple no-bake cheesecake.
Having sufficient intro about both Cranachan and Cheesecake. Let me tell you, how I’m going to combine these together. Prepare oatmeal biscuits or cookies base in the place of graham crackers or any digestive biscuits which are regularly used for cheesecakes. For the filling, mix the cream cheese with honey, sugar, raspberries, oats, and with our twist ingredient coffee decoction. Gently fold this mixture into the whipped cream and spread it onto the oat cookies base. Set it overnight, voilà, your No-Bake Cranachan Cheesecake is ready to relish…. ❣❣❣.
I breakdown the process into 2 parts, (3rd is optional) namely
Base preparation– with biscuits and butter.
Filling preparation– with cream cheese, honey, sugar, raspberries, oats, and our twist ingredient coffee decoction and whipped double cream.
Garnishing & Coulis preparation (optional)– with mixed berries, crushed granola bars, and Raspberry coulis.
Let me quickly run through the ingredients and their substitutions wherever possible.
For Base-
a) Oatmeal biscuits– go with any store-bought cookies/biscuits made with oats. This adds an authentic Cranachan touch to the cake, as they are oats-based desserts.
Substitutes-choose any digestive biscuits, graham crackers, Oreo cookies of your choice as in any regular cheesecake base.
b) Butter-choose between salted or unsalted as per your liking. Each has its own flavour and taste. First, weigh the butter and then melt it in order to bind with biscuits.
Substitute-if you are a vegan, use dairy-free butter or any plant-based butter.
For the filling-
Cream Cheese-get full-fat cream cheese blocks as we are replacing the Crowdie cheese used in original Scottish Cranachan. Keep the blocks at room temperature to soften them before beating them.
Honey-this is one of the sweetening agents in the cake. Be mindful, while increasing it above the said quantity, as it may thin the cheesecake mixture. You’ll find a hard time in the texture while setting as a cheesecake.
Substitute-if you are on a vegan diet, replace it with agave syrup. Or simply you can increase the sugar quantity.
Raspberry jam- go with an easy choice of store-bought. Buy seedless jam, as not to ruin the smooth texture of the cake.
Substitute– simply ignore the addition of this jam, if you can’t fetch the seedless one. Alternatively, add more fresh raspberries or seedless mixed berries jam.
Crushed Raspberries-smash the fresh raspberries in a bowl to create a coarse texture. Do not completely crush as it may turn runny.
Oats-It is considered a sacrilege if you omit oats in Cranachan. This is one of the key ingredients in the Scottish dessert. You can choose either rolled, quick or instant oats, whichever is available to you. Toasting helps to impart a nutty flavor to the cake.
Caster sugar-this variety easily gets dissolved in the cake as they are finer in texture. To know more about it, check my Beetroot Chocolate cake, where I have given surplus info. If the raspberries are tart, then increase the quantity of sugar added to balance the flavour.
Substitute– pulse the granulated white sugar in a blender or food processor till you get finer crystals but not powdery consistency.
Double/heavy cream– Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream contains at least 36% or more milk fat which gives you stiff peaks. Keep the whipping bowl and strip beater in the freezer. Also, take the cream out of the refrigerator, just before you whip. Beat it for 5 minutes to get a stiff peak. Do not overbeat. To know more about the cream, check my 2 ingredients Coffee Icecream recipe.
Substitute-if heavy/double cream is not available, then go with Whipping cream or Light Whipping cream which contains 30- 35% milkfat and it gives only soft peaks.
Coffee decoction-use any instant coffee to prepare the decoction with water. Mix 1 tbsp coffee granules in 1 ½ tbsp water. It yields roughly 2-2 ½ tbsp decoction. Depending upon your palate’s choice, increase or decrease the quantity.
Substitute– you can skip adding coffee if it isn’t your arena.
For Garnish–
Raspberry coulis– prepare it with fresh berries, butter, lemon juice, and honey. I have shared the link for the blueberry coulis recipe, whose preparation remains the same as this coulis.
Substitute-either skip this or replace it with store-bought Raspberry jam if you do not want to go the extra mile preparing this coulis.
This Scottish dessert-based Cheesecake is a fusion recipe that will become a crowd puller and top party treat. It’s an ideal treat for any celebration which includes important occasions like anniversaries, get-togethers, new year’s eve, or Valentine’s day like this. Another advantage of this No-Bake Cheesecake is, it can be arranged as individual jar desserts. I have shown the making of the same. Mini jar cheesecakes are trending and apt for your kitty parties and small gatherings.
This fusion Cheesecake, blends tartness from raspberries, sweetness from honey and sugar, richness from heavy cream and cream cheese, crunchiness from toasted oats, with a slight dash of coffee. To summarize, it is an amalgamation of flavours and is splendid in nature.
Let’s get into the recipe.
For the oatmeal base-
Measure 300 gm Oatmeal biscuits/cookies and add it in a blender or food processor.
First, crush coarsely the biscuits in a blender or food processor.
Melt 100 gm butter and add it to the crushed biscuits.
Again run the blender for a while till it combines well with the biscuits.
Grease a 9” springform cake tin with butter and then line with parchment/wax paper with the bottom and edges of the tin covered.
Fill the tin with the crushed biscuit mixture, stuff it tightly with no gaps. Use the back of a spoon or cup to level the filling, evenly and smoothly.
Keep it in the refrigerator and let it rest for a minimum of 30 minutes – 1 hour.
For the cream cheese filling-
Meanwhile, we can prepare the filling by adding the softened cream cheese (keep it at room temperature for more than an hour) to a wide glass or steel bowl.
Beat the cream cheese, till it creams, it may take a couple of minutes.
Prepare a coffee decoction by mixing 1 tbsp instant coffee with 1 ½ tbsp water. It’ll yield roughly 2-2 ½ tbsp decoction. Crush fresh raspberries with a fork. Now add 7 tbsp honey, ½ cup crushed fresh Raspberries, 2 tbsp seedless raspberry jam, coffee decoction.
And beat it till everything combines. Then gradually add the caster sugar and beat it.
In a non-stick pan, toast the oats for a couple of mins or till you get a nutty aroma. Do not burn it, it’ll spoil the flavour of the cake.
Finally, add toasted oats to the beaten cream cheese mixture.
Fold in with a spatula till it gets mixed well. Keep it aside.
Take another wide bowl, add the chilled double/heavy cream.
And beat it with strip beater in med speed for 4- 5 minutes consistently. It’ll form stiff peaks in 5 mins.
Check the consistency by flipping the bowl upside down, the cream shouldn’t fall. Similarly, scoop the whipped cream with the beater attachment and flip, it’ll stay stiff without falling down. This is the indication for good stiff peaks.
Now gradually add the beaten cream cheese mixture and fold it gently with a spatula (check the mixing stroke pattern in the video).
Make sure that you do not mix vigorously as the air formed during whipping will be let out and it’ll flatten the whipped cream. Check the sweet and tart flavours in the mixture, if required adjust accordingly.
Now remove the cake tin from the refrigerator and fill the cream mixture in portions.
And flatten it with a spatula to fill the sides and bottom of the tin evenly.
Fill till ¾ th of the tin, smoothen the surface with a spatula and cover it with a foil (refer notes). Let it rest for min 6-8 hours or overnight for best results.
To prepare raspberry coulis, check the ingredients given above and follow the same procedure as blueberries coulis. I have shared the link of Blueberry No-Bake Cheesecake, where you can find the preparation of easy blueberry coulis. Prepare the Raspberry coulis and store it in the refrigerator.
For Mini Jar cheesecakes, fill the jar with the biscuit-butter mixture, press it tightly, and set it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
After the given time, fill ¾th of the jar with the beaten and folded cream cheese mixture. Flatten and smoothen it as you fill the mixture into the jar.
Refrigerate the jars for a minimum of 6 hours.
Garnishing can be done to your choice and the efforts you want to put. I’ll provide a few suggestions pick whichever fits your need.
- Simply, you can arrange some mixed berries on top (refer to notes).
- Or buy store-bought granola bars and crush them coarsely in the blender and sprinkle it generously on top.
- Alternatively, if you wish to add more tart and colour to the cake, prepare the Raspberry coulis a day prior and smear it once the cake is set.
After setting the cake and jar cake for the given time, take it out from the refrigerator.
Discard the foil from the tin and run a knife through the edges of the tin to loosen the cake carefully.
Release the springform lock.
And slowly remove the wax paper from the sides.
Now, do the garnishing according to your requirements. Here, I smeared half of the cake with Raspberry coulis.
And the other half sprinkled some crushed granola bars.
And the edges with mixed berries like raspberry, blackberry, and red currant to give a vibrant colour to the cake. Once the garnishing is done, slice the cakes gently and serve them.
To garnish the jar cakes, follow the same procedure as cheesecake and deck with toppings of your choice and serve it as individual desserts.
Eggless, No-Bake Scottish Cranachan Cheesecake is ready to relish. Tarty raspberries, sweety honey, creamy cheese, nutty oats, and a dash of sharp acidity from coffee lifts up your mood on this occasion and turn out to be a luscious, alluring treat for your loved ones.
I’m certain that your cherished ones will be awestruck with the outcome and I can sense the love in the air. Get Valentinised.. 😍😍😍
Recipe card
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 minute
Cuisine: International
Category: Desserts
Serves: 10
Author: Manimala
Ingredients:
For Base-
Oatmeal biscuits – 300 gm
Butter – 100 gm
For Filling-
Cream cheese – 400 gm
Honey – 7tbsp
Raspberry jam (seedless) – 2 tbsp
Crushed Fresh Raspberries – ½ cup (heaped) or 100 gm
Coffee decoction – 2 ½ tbsp (mix 1 tbsp instant coffee in 1 ½ tbsp water)
Caster sugar – 100 gm
Oats – 100 gm
Double/heavy cream – 600 ml
For Garnish-
Granola bars (store-bought) – as reqd
Mixed berries – as reqd
For Raspberry Coulis-
Fresh raspberries – 2 cups (250 gm)
Butter – ½ tbsp
Lemon juice – ½ tsp
Honey – 3 tbsp
Instructions:
For the oatmeal base-
- Measure 300 gm biscuits/cookies and 100 gm butter.
- First, crush coarsely the biscuits in a blender or food processor.
- Melt the butter and add it to the crushed biscuits. Again run the blender for a while till it combines well with the biscuits.
- Grease a 9” springform cake tin with butter and then line with parchment/wax paper with the bottom and edges of the tin covered.
- Fill the tin with the crushed biscuit mixture, stuff it tightly with no gaps. Use the back of a spoon or cup to level the filling, evenly and smoothly.
- Keep it in the refrigerator and let it rest for a minimum of 30 minutes – 1 hour.
For the cream cheese filling-
- Meanwhile, we can prepare the filling by adding the softened cream cheese (keep it at room temperature for more than an hour) to a wide glass or steel bowl.
- Beat the cream cheese, till it creams, it may take a couple of minutes.
- Prepare a coffee decoction by mixing 1 tbsp instant coffee with 1 ½ tbsp water. It’ll yield roughly 2-2 ½ tbsp decoction. Crush fresh raspberries with a fork.
- Now add 7 tbsp honey, ½ cup crushed fresh Raspberries, 2 tbsp seedless raspberry jam, coffee decoction, and beat it till everything combines.
- Then gradually add the caster sugar and beat it.
- In a non-stick pan, toast the oats for a couple of mins or till you get a nutty aroma. Do not burn it, it’ll spoil the flavour of the cake.
- Finally, add toasted oats to the beaten cream cheese mixture. Fold in with a spatula till it gets mixed well. Keep it aside.
- Take another wide bowl, add the chilled double/heavy cream, and beat it with strip beater in med speed for 4- 5 minutes consistently. It’ll form stiff peaks in 5 mins. Check the consistency by flipping the bowl upside down, the cream shouldn’t fall. Similarly, scoop the whipped cream with the beater attachment and flip, it’ll stay stiff without falling down. This is the indication for good stiff peaks.
- Now gradually add the beaten cream cheese mixture and fold it gently with a spatula (check the mixing stroke pattern in the video).
- Make sure that you do not mix vigorously as the air formed during whipping will be let out and it’ll flatten the whipped cream.
- Check the sweet and tart flavours in the mixture, if required adjust accordingly.
- Now remove the cake tin from the refrigerator and fill the cream mixture in portions and flatten it with a spatula to fill the sides and bottom of the tin evenly.
- Fill till ¾ th of the tin, smoothen the surface with a spatula and cover it with a foil (refer notes). Let it rest for min 6-8 hours or overnight for best results.
- To prepare raspberry coulis, check the ingredients given above and follow the same procedure as blueberries coulis. I have shared the link of Blueberry No-Bake Cheesecake, where you can find the preparation of easy blueberry coulis. Prepare the Raspberry coulis and store it in the refrigerator.
- For Mini Jar cheesecakes, fill the jar with the biscuit-butter mixture, press it tightly, and set it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- After the given time, fill ¾th of the jar with the beaten and folded cream cheese mixture. Flatten and smoothen it as you fill the mixture into the jar.
- Refrigerate the jars for a minimum of 6 hours.
- Garnishing can be done to your choice and the efforts you want to put. I’ll provide a few suggestions pick whichever fits your need- a) Simply, you can arrange some mixed berries on top (refer to notes). b) Or buy store-bought granola bars and crush them coarsely in the blender and sprinkle it generously on top. c) Alternatively, if you wish to add more tart and colour to the cake, prepare the Raspberry coulis a day prior and smear it once the cake is set.
- After setting the cake and jar cake for the given time, take it out from the refrigerator.
- Discard the foil from the tin and run a knife through the edges of the tin to loosen the cake carefully. Release the springform lock and slowly remove the wax paper from the sides.
- Now, do the garnishing according to your requirements. Here, I smeared half of the cake with Raspberry coulis, and the other half sprinkled some crushed granola bars, and the edges with mixed berries like raspberry, blackberry, and red currant to give a vibrant colour to the cake.
- To arrange the jar cakes, follow the same procedure as cheesecake for filling the base and cream cheese filling and garnish with toppings of your choice and serve it as individual desserts.
- Once the garnishing is done, slice the cakes gently and serve them.
- Eggless, No-Bake Scottish Cranachan Cheesecake is ready to relish. Tarty raspberries, sweety honey, creamy cheese, nutty oats, and a dash of sharp acidity from coffee lifts up your mood on this occasion and turn out to be a luscious, alluring treat for your loved ones. I’m certain that your cherished ones will be awestruck with the outcome and I can sense the love in the air. Get Valentinised.. 😍😍😍
Notes:
- Oatmeal biscuits/cookies are appropriate for this cake as it’s a Scottish fusion Cranachan cake, where Oats are an indispensable ingredient in it.
- Still, you can choose any digestive biscuits, graham crackers, Oreo cookies of your choice as in any other regular cheesecake base.
- Here, I used both fresh Raspberries and Raspberry jam. But both have contrasting flavours, jam is sweeter while fresh raspberries are tart. You decide the ingredient and substitute accordingly.
- Substitute for Raspberry jam-simply ignore the addition of this jam, if you can’t fetch the seedless one. Alternatively, add seedless mixed berries jam or more fresh raspberries.
- If you are adding more fresh raspberries, keep in mind, they are sour. Taste the cake mixture, if it’s sharp in flavour, increase sugar to balance.
- I added this coffee twist as it complements well with the tart flavour of Raspberry. Prepare the decoction and add it gradually and stop where you feel like. I leave it to your palate’s requirements.
- Cream cheese should be kept at room temperature. This enables easy beating and creaming of cheese.
- Toasting the oats ensure a nutty aroma to it. Also, when mixed in the cream mixture, it doesn’t turn soggy immediately. Toasting helps to retain its texture even after mixing in the cream cheese mixture.
- Take the Whipping cream out just before you start your whipping, keeping it at room temperature for a longer time will not give the desired peak while whipping.
- Also, if you don’t get peaks, you tend to over whip which will lead to curdling of the cream.
- The more the cream is chilled, the better the peaks.
- The important step to get perfect stiff peaks is to chill your mixing bowl and beaters well before use. It will assure a faster and more desirable end product. Keep the mixing bowl, beater in the freezer for a minimum of 10 minutes.
- I closed the tin with aluminum foil while resting. This helps quicker setting and does not absorb any undesired smell from the foods stored in the refrigerator.
- Raspberry coulis is a simple preparation. If you wish to go the extra mile of preparing it, check my blueberry coulis recipe. Follow the same process but with the ingredients mentioned above for Raspberry coulis.
- But keep in mind if you are storing the cake in a refrigerator or room temperature, remove the berries, as the moisture content will rot the berries or turn them moldy. Or garnish the cake slices with berries only while serving. This will extend the life of the cake few more days.
- If you keep the cake at room temperature for a longer duration, it’ll soften the cake, and cutting the slices will become a bit messy. Always cut the cake slices immediately after taking them from the refrigerator.
- It has a shelf life of a week if kept away from moisture and berries.
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