Red Berry Compote (Rote Gruetze). This light, fruity dessert is a German summertime staple – a mixed berry compote with custard. The fruity mix is ideal as a topping for granola or stirred through ice cream. Rote Grütze is a typical speciality in northern Germany.

It is a very popular refreshing German dessert called "Rote Grütze" with a delicious vanilla sauce. Cold Berry Compote is a beloved German dessert, especially enjoyed in summer. Its consistency is like a soft pudding and we like to pour some vanilla sauce (custard) on. You can cook Red Berry Compote (Rote Gruetze) using 6 ingredients and 4 steps. Here is how you achieve it.

Ingredients of Red Berry Compote (Rote Gruetze)

1. Prepare of mixed berries: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, sour cherries.
2. You need of cherry or black currant juice.
3. You need of vanilla pod (or few drops vanilla extract).
4. It’s of starch.
5. It’s of cassis liquor, optional.
6. It’s of sugar to taste.

Rote Gruetze is a typical, fruit dessert from northern Germany, Denmark, and other Scandinavian The original recipe for Rote Gruetze calls for red currants (Johannisbeeren) and raspberries, but This recipe calls for cornstarch (or potato starch) to thicken which results in a smoother compote. You can make Rote Grütze with any red berries you happen to have – raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, currents. I often use a bag of frozen berries from Trader Joe's. My favorite is the very cherry blend but the simple berry mix works great too.

Red Berry Compote (Rote Gruetze) step by step

1. Wasch and clean fruits and drain on a kitchen towel. Remove cherry pits, cut big strawberries into half or quaters. Remove stem of the currants. Cut the vanilla bean into half and grate out the pulp..
2. Let the vanilla pulp and bean together with the juice come to a boil. Dissolve starch in 3-4 tbsp water and add to the boiling juice. Let cook for 2-3 minutes until it thickens..
3. Add the prepared fruits (and liquor if you like) to the hot juice mix and let them heat up but make sure not to overcook them. So I recommend to remove the fruits from the stove once they are all covered by the hot juice. Don't cook it for more than 1-2 minutes. Add sugar to taste (I used only 2 tbsp this time since the fruits were already super sweet)..
4. Store in a container, let come to room temperature and then store it in the refrigerator (should be good for a week atl least)..

You can eat this berry compote over ice cream, pudding, pound cake, or just topped with some whipped cream. A classic German dessert item using a variety of red berries. Serve with vanilla ice cream, vanilla pudding, rice pudding, whipped cream, etc. This is a German recipe that I learnt when I lived there and it is a useful way of serving up a fruit dessert if you have a glut of red berry fruits. The fruit is simmered in wine but for children you can use apple juice or another fruit juice, or even water if there is nothing else.