Rote Grütze

Ingredients

Fruit

• 1 kgmixed red berries, redcurrants, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, blackcurrants
• fresh or frozen

Also

• 300 mlred fruit juice or water
• 100to 150 g sugar, to taste
• juice of half a lemon
• a strip of lemon peel
• 1small cinnamon stick, optional

Thickener

• 40 gpotato starch or cornflour, mixed with 80 ml cold water

Vanilla sauce

• 400 mlmilk
• 1vanilla pod
• 3egg yolks
• 50 gsugar
• 1 tspcornflour

To serve

• cold, with vanilla sauce, cream or milk

Directions

1. Bring the juice, sugar, lemon peel and cinnamon to a simmer. Now add the firmer fruit first, cherries and currants, and simmer for three or four minutes. Add the soft berries, raspberries and strawberries, for the last minute only.
2. Cook the fruit as briefly as possible, since the point is a pudding of recognisable berries rather than a jam. It should be pronouncedly tart with the sugar taking the edge off rather than dominating.
3. Adjust it now, since it is much harder to correct after thickening. Remember it tastes less sweet cold than it does warm. Mix the starch with cold water into a smooth slurry, and stir it again immediately before use. Never add dry starch to hot liquid, which forms lumps that will not disperse.
4. Return it to a gentle heat and stir until it thickens, which happens within a minute. Now the rule about potato starch specifically. Pour it into a bowl and lay cling film directly on the surface, or sprinkle a little sugar over. Either prevents a skin forming on the surface as it cools.
5. Chill it for at least four hours, and it is always served cold. Heat the milk with a split vanilla pod, whisk the yolks with sugar and cornflour, then temper the hot milk into them.
6. Return it to a low heat and stir constantly until it thickens enough to coat a spoon. Never let it boil, since the yolks will scramble and the sauce is ruined.
7. Serve the Rote Grütze cold in bowls with the vanilla sauce poured over, or with plain cream or cold milk. It keeps three days refrigerated and it is often made a day ahead.

Technique

• The name means groats, from when it was thickened with semolina.
• Potato starch must not boil, or it thins back out.
• Include genuinely tart fruit such as redcurrant or sour cherry.

Substitutions

• Cornflour in place of potato starch, which needs a brief boil.
• Frozen berries, which work very well.

Variations

• Thickened with semolina, in the older style.
• Grüne Grütze, made with gooseberries and rhubarb.
• Served with cold milk rather than vanilla sauce.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rote Grütze?

Rote Grütze is a dessert from Germany: red-berry compote pudding with vanilla sauce or cream.

How long does Rote Grütze take to make?

Rote Grütze takes 15 min of preparation and 20 min, plus chilling of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Rote Grütze?

Yes, within limits. Cornflour in place of potato starch, which needs a brief boil. Frozen berries, which work very well.

What is the most important thing to get right in Rote Grütze?

Cook the fruit as briefly as possible, since the point is a pudding of recognisable berries rather than a jam. It should be pronouncedly tart with the sugar taking the edge off rather than dominating.