There’s work on my desk. Lots of it. Therefore I won’t be able to comment on all your awesome blog entries and therefore my entries on this blog are going to be a little bit shorter than usual. And I’m skipping the German entries for a while. I hope you’ll bear with me. And forgive me? If I give you berries?

This blog entry is dedicated to someone who misses Rote Grütze terribly. And her request came the day before yesterday, when I had tons of cherries around and didn’t know what to do with them. We foodbloggers can read minds!

Rote Grütze (= red grits or groats), or Rode Grött, as my grandmother would say in our dialect, is a red berry compote which is a famous Northern German and Scandianvian dessert. (Norwegians call it rødgrøt, the Danish call it the same, but write it rødgrød and pronounce it totally different. About the Swedish people I don’t know.)

The main ingredients of Rote Grütze are red berries like red currants, raspberries, strawberries, sour or sweet cherries. In my opinion it doesn’t matter what kind of berry you use, but it has to be red.  Black currants and blackberries are okay, too. (Don’t ask me why.) And what about cranberries for a local touch?

You can also make Gelbe Grütze = yellow Grütze from yellow fruit and Grüne Grütze = green Grütze from green fruit.

There is an original version somewhere out there which is made from fruit and sago pearls (similar to tapioca pearls), but I have to admit that I grew up on a version made from  berries, sugar, and cornstarch. And it came from the store. And it was Danish. In this version only the ingredients come from the store (and the cherries from a friend, who is not Danish).

Rote Grütze (serves 4)

600 g (21.2 oz or 1 1/3 pound) mixed berries ( I used 1/3 red gooseberries, 1/3 red currants, 1/3 sweet cherries)
4 T sugar
3 1/2 T cornstarch
3 T cold water

Wash your berries, pit the cherries, de-stem red currants and gooseberries, half gooseberries and cherries. Place berries in a saucepan and stir in sugar. Bring to a boil and cook for five minutes until the currants start to break down. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water until dissolved. Pour into berry mixture and cook for 3 more minutes until thickened. Let cool completely and chill for approx 2 hours before serving.

Serving: Traditionally this is served with a thick vanilla sauce (pictured) or whipped cream, but I can see it on waffles, ice cream, brownies, as a pie filling, in yoghurt and of course all by itself. Enjoy the summer!

© seitanismymotor 2009