Scottish Cranachan Skin Cream

Burn's Night is an annual Scottish tradition held in celebration of poet Robert Burns. It usually falls on the 25th January, which is the poets birthday. We wanted to not only celebrate Burn's Night but also our Scottish heritage too with a themed recipe!

It is tradition that Burn's Night is observed with an evening of food and dancing. The final course in a Burn's Night Supper is often a delicious dessert called Cranachan which starts with a base of porridge oats with cream and Scottish raspberries. This is the inspiration behind our Scottish Cranachan Skin Cream. The recipe uses Oat Oil, Red Raspberry Seed Oil and Thistle Oil (known in other countries as Safflower Oil). These potent oils made a rich cream with a silky smooth texture that feels extremely nourishing - definitely not to be eaten as a dessert.

*This is NOT a recipe for a medical cream for use on burns to the skin.

Recipe:

Equipment needed:

2 x Stainless steel jugs/ beakers or heat safe glassware
Saucepan
Stick Blender (high sheer)
2 x 100ml containers (or smaller ones if you wish to make more pots)

Stage 1: (above 75°C)

17% Oat Oil

3% Thistle Oil

5% Vegetal

Stage 2: (above 75°C)

63% Boiling Spring Water

4% Glycerin

Stage 3: (below 40°C)

4% Vitamin B3

2% Red Raspberry Seed Oil

1% Preservative 12

1% Essential oils of your choice

200g Total

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Red Raspberry Seed Oil with 0.5% Vitamin E

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We always show a formulation in percentages. Every ingredient is weighed and at the end of the 100% formulation, you get 100g of product. That way, it is simple to scale it up and make larger amounts.

The stick blender method you use to make this cream is really hard to do with a small 100g batch though, so we recommend that you double up the figures here to end up with 2 x 100g pots of cream (so, instead of 17g of Oat Oil, you would use 34g and so on).

Method:

Heat Stage 1 (fat stage) in a stainless steel jug/beaker or heat safe glassware on a double boiler until the temperature is above 75°C.
Add the Stage 2 (water stage) ingredients to the other stainless steel jug/beaker or heat safe glassware. The water can come straight from the kettle.
Pour Stage 1 into Stage 2 and stir these together with a silicone spatula or metal spoon.
Then, use a stick blender (high shear) to emulsify the two stages. This will happen in about 30 seconds, so keep checking. Keep the stick blender at the bottom of the container and ensure the temperature stays above 75°C. When you lift the stick blender out of the mixture, the mix running off the blender head should look like a thin cream. If it looks granular or like it is separating, it needs more high shear blending for another 30 seconds.
When it has emulsified, take it out of the double boiler and use a silicone spatula to stir it whilst it is cooling down. You can use a cold water bath to speed up the cooling if you want to. Do not continue to use the stick blender as this will destroy the liquid crystal structure that the emulsification has formed.
When it is under 40°C, add the Stage 3 (heat sensitive) ingredients. Combine thoroughly, jar and label.

Uses:

We’ve all had a hard time this last year and used more alcohol hand gel than we ever knew existed! This is a great cream to repair that skin damage. If you have dry or flaky skin anywhere on your body, get this Scottish Cream on. Use hand cream as often as you like throughout the day.

The emulsifier has created a liquid crystal structure which means that your skin will stay hydrated and conditioned for many, many hours after just one use!

Customise this recipe:

As soon as we create a new formulation, there are always tweaks and changes that we think of to make another cream. Here’s a couple of ideas you could try.

For the Water part of the cream - well, of course, we used bottled Highland Spring Water! You could use any bottle Spring Water but how about using Rose Water or Orange Blossom Water instead. Or maybe a mix of both? Keep the overall volume of water used the same as the recipe.

The Glycerin is a great humectant which draws moisture towards it to help keep your skin moisturised. You could change this to one of the Glycerol Extracts if you wanted to. If your skin is badly damaged, Comfrey Glycerol Extract would be even more beneficial. Use the same amount as in the recipe.

If you want to really push the boat out, add Oat CO2 Extract in Stage 3. Because this is an extra ingredient rather than an alternative, you need to change the recipe a little and make a new batch. Using it at 2% would mean adding 4g in Stage 3 and to keep the ratios even, that means reducing the water content by 4g as well.

What essential oil would you choose? In theory, to keep with the Scottish theme, it should have been Scottish Highland Pine, but if you read the details of this on the website, you will see a safety warning about it. Our tester used a blend of Lavender, Rose Geranium and Rosewood essential oils for a gently sweet, floral fragrance that also helps to balance the skin but you can add whatever essential oils you like! Choose an essential oil blend that you like and be sure to check the details of each oil on the website for safety.

We hope you have a wonderful time making and enjoying using this Scottish Cream and as we say in Scotland, “Haste Ye Back”!