Athol Brose Ice Cream for Burns night?
At a St Andrews Day ball, Burns became the subject of discussion and I was engaged by (insert the collective noun for several lilting, swerving, be-kilted, swaying Scots men?) on many of the quirks and etiquette of the Burns Night Supper. Seeing a veterinarian address the Haggis on this particular evening had us all in tears of laughter. It was such aggressive and serious stuff until he pulled out his stethoscope.
Burns Night is the 25th January (a posthumous Robbie Birthday party for appreciators, mates and supporters thereof) (1759-1796). My advisors (all highly respectable and professionals, Drs, Proffs and the like) were seriously into their cups, we were about as near to the truth through wit and banter as could be achieved without a “Come out side and I fight the pair of us” punch up.
So what about Athol Brose? I bravely asked.
The vagaries are that the Duke of Athol captured his sworn enemy The Earl of Ross (who was allegedly keen of a tipple) with the lure of luxe local delicacies.
The D o A filled a WELL, (not a bucket, pail, or other vessel) to lure the E o R by filling it with his favorite goodies and the E o R thusly plastered, and an easy to nobble noble. Since this all took place in 1475 I feel a certain poetic licence is needed, (hopefully you will forgive the ‘double entendre’), but truly admire the zealous fortitude my elixir driven advisors.
Imagined dialogue, “I might be late home late tonight dear, I’m going to help fill a WELL with booze, oats and honey then we are going to capture The Earl of Ross”.
There is a simple cranachan recipe here.
I further imagine her retort “… and you can get yourself back here immediately Andrew Mc Something-or-other, you lying pervert” as she gave her version of Highland Rebellion and added a new twist on how to roll you R’s.
The ice cream a comparable yet softer reflection. The liqueur Athol Brose is the Scottish answer to Baily’s Irish cream.
Combined with whipped cream it makes a lush flavorsome mousse, serve with short bread biscuit and raspberries. Glayva and Drambuie the spicy whisky based liqueurs, are other sweet versions and turn up comparable trumps.
To make the Oat Milk
Add approximately 1 cup of Proper Whole Oats, rolled, pin head, steel-cut – not instant cereal!
2 cups of hand hot water and leave to steep in an hour.
Whizz the whole lot in a processor and then use a coffee filter, muslin, cheese cloth or disposable cloth. Leave the mulch to drip through and become concentrate for a while (I found a colander handy) and then squeeze to remove as much ‘milk’ / liquid as possible. *
To make the Athol Brose:
Combine equal measures of whisky, single cream and oat milk, with a decent wallop of Scottish heather honey. Traditionally shaken over ice or stirred, over ice, with a silver spoon in a large jug. Taste and adjust (hic) adding more whisky or heather honey (hic) to suit personal taste (hic).
The addition of cream varies and yogurt or creme fraiche becomes a more modern adaptation but this as a golden opportunity to make an ice cream?
The first batch was a little lack lustre, batch 2 included a 125g can of evaporated milk, and it absolutely shone!
As you will see I also included some toasted natural oats that were blitzed with a couple of short bread biscuits to add crunch and texture. Just before incorporating I sprinkled a little whisky over the sweet, gritty, crunchy bits and left to absorb very briefly before folding through the mix, whilst being processed in an ice cream machine, this could be easily achieved by forking through the setting ice cream once an hour to achieve a good result.
Serve with raspberries and good humour. x
* Honey and Oats combined make a fabulous face mask – why waste them?
ice cream magazine 
Beautiful!!
I hadn’t a lot of faith in ‘Eyore’s’ wits, but think there must have been collusion in a DOA downing him. It was definitely the Athol Brose ice cream. Too tempting to pass over!
Fabulous! I’ve never heard of Athol Brose and I’ve been all around Scotland! Must go back now.
Yummy! Thank you for liking my post!
I celebrated my birthday last night and read a bit of Rabbie Burns’ best lude poems to my friends. Wish I had been more on top of it, because I would have done this too.
Oh Happy birthday to you, love and kisses xxxxxxxx
Thank you, but really do wish I had known about the ice cream Next year!
Oooh we celebrated Burns Night and I wish I had made this, sounds delicious! Will be on the cards for next year 🙂
Yum I love ice cream with texture, now I want some….NOW!