A note from Donal
This fool came out of a soggy, brilliant day in Antrim that ended at Bushmills, the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. I watched Alastair and his son Chris — third- and fourth-generation coopers — build a barrel with nothing but wood, metal hoops, reeds and elbow grease, then shared a glass with master distiller Colm Egan to warm the cold out of my bones. Back in the kitchen, this was my way of carrying that warmth into a pudding: soft spiced apple, whiskey running through both the compote and the cream, and caramelised oats for crunch — all layered up, no baking, no fuss.
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