Rote Grütze

traditional berry dessert from Germany!

Posted by judithchen

About

This dessert can be made quickly, and the fun part is there is no exact way to make it. Generally it can use as many types of berries as you like, but the main taste came from strawberry (so make sure you include them).

For the juice, there are also no rule of what juice to use. As I couldn´t find cranberry juice I used apple juice instead and it works well although the color and taste wouldn´t be as rich and vibrant.

This dessert is a typical North German delicacy. However Hamburg is where food with spices bloom, since Hamburg is a harbor city with an access to spices. Thus Hamburg citizens were the earliest to have an acccess to use spices in their local cuisine.

Enjoy!

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You Will Need (12 things)

  • 200 g Strawberries
  • 200 g Cherry
  • 200 g Raspberry
  • 200 g Currants
  • 600 ml Juice
  • 1 pod Vanilla Bean
  • Sugar
  • 1 small pack Vanilla Sugar
  • 1 stick Cinnamon
  • 5-7 pieces Cloves
  • Vanilla sauce
  • 1 tbsp Tapioca Starch optional

Steps (5 steps, 30 minutes)

  1. 1

    As I mentioned before, there is no exact rule on how to make it. You basically put 3/4 part juice to any 1 part of the mixed berries. So for this recipe with 800 gr total of berries you use 600 ml juice. Feel free to reduce the amount of juice if you prefer your rote grütze to have a thicker consistency, but you can always add a bit starch to do the job for you :)

  2. 2

    Clean and cut all berries into small pieces. Boil juice with cloves and cinnamon on medium heat. After it boils, mixed in half of the berries and wait until it boils again, cooking on low heat.

  3. 3

    Mixed in some of the vanilla sauce (at least 100 ml, to thicken), the rest of the berries and both sugar. You may adjust it to your taste. The key is to make it slightly sweeter than you want it to be, since it will be less sweet when its cold.

  4. 4

    If you think the mixture is too liquid, feel free to add 1 tbsp starch mixed with a bit juice or water. the consistency should be thick enough to cover the back of a wooden spoon.

  5. 5

    Make sure to taste before letting it cool down. Let sit until cool, remove from pot and keep in a container in the fridge. Serve cold, topped with vanilla sauce.