Cranachan is a traditional Scottish dessert of oats, fruit and cream, and is the inspiration for this twist on a classic pavlova. Perfect for the festive season, it’s packed with berries and decorated with rosemary-sprigs to represent Christmas trees.

Ingredients
For the meringue
6 large egg whites
350g/12oz caster sugar
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp cornflour
For the filling
knob of butter
25g/1oz light muscovado sugar
75g/2½oz porridge or old-fashioned oats
600ml/20fl oz double cream
2 tbsp whisky
200g/7oz blueberries
450g/1lb raspberries
50g/1¾oz pomegranates seeds
To decorate
rosemary sprigs
icing sugar, for dusting

Method
To make the meringue, preheat the oven to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3. Line a large baking tray with baking paper and draw a 30cm/12in circle in the middle of the paper. Draw a 15cm/6in circle in the centre of the larger circle to make a ring. This is the template for your wreath.

Put the egg whites in a clean mixing bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until light. Gradually add the sugar a little at a time, whisking on maximum speed, until it’s all incorporated and the whites are stiff and glossy.

Mix the vinegar and cornflour in a cup until smooth, then stir into the egg whites.

Spoon the meringue onto the ring drawn on the baking paper. Using a large spoon, make a shallow trench in the meringue all the way around the ring, for the cream and fruit to sit in.

Transfer to the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 1. Bake for 1 hour–1 hour 15 minutes, or until the outside is hard but still white. Turn the oven off and leave the pavlova inside with the door ajar for at least an hour or overnight to cool and dry.

To make the filling, melt the butter in a small frying pan. Add the sugar and oats and fry over a medium heat until the oats are lightly golden-brown and the sugar has melted and coated the oats. Leave to cool.

Whip the cream until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed. Stir in the whisky, two-thirds of the oats and half the raspberries.

Spoon the cream into the trench in the meringue. Arrange the remaining raspberries, blueberries and pomegranate seeds on top.

To decorate, add a few rosemary sprigs to look like small Christmas trees, sprinkle with the remaining oats and dust with icing sugar.