Rote Grütze – Also Called Rødgrød – Is A Simple Dessert With Amazing Color And Taste!
For a typical German and Danish dessert, look no further than Rote Grütze. This classic red berry dessert – often spelled Rote Grutze in North America – is a little bit sweet, a little bit tart, and a whole lot of yum!
This recipe is very common in Germany and Denmark. Lisa lived in Demark for 3 years and was no stranger to Rødgrød med fløde!
In fact, the phrase rødgrød med fløde can be difficult to pronounce for non-native Danish speakers. So, fun fact, it was often used as a tongue twister that Lisa’s Danish friends wanted her to say!
Similar to a fruit pudding recipe, Rote Grütze can be enjoyed with a number of toppings like whipping cream or vanilla sauce!
Recipe Tips
Rote Grütze is traditionally made with berries like raspberries and red currants as well as cherries. However, these days it can be made with whatever fruit is in season at the time.
In fact, this dessert can be made with fresh or frozen fruit. You only might have to use a little bit more liquid when making it with fresh fruit compared to frozen fruit.
We’d recommend storing a bag of frozen mixed berries in your freezer so you can make this red berry dessert any time you feel like it.
It’s also a great way to use up fresh berries that have gotten a little bit mushy and you don’t want to eat on their own anymore.
To avoid a skin from forming on the dessert as it is cooling in the fridge, sprinkle some granulated sugar on top or cover the Rote Grütze with cling film. The cling film should actually touch the berries and not just cover the bowl.
How to Make Rote Grütze – Step by Step Instructions
To make this very red berry dessert, you can find the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
For those looking to follow along with visuals, you can check out the recipe process photos below.
This way, you can refer to how we made it if you have questions when you prepare it at home!
First, prepare the fruit. If you’re using fresh fruit, wash and dry it. Remove the pits, stems, etc. and cut them into smaller pieces where necessary (e.g. for strawberries).
If you are using frozen berries, take them out of the freezer. Depending on the fruit you are using you might have to also cut some of them into smaller pieces.
When making the recipe to take photos of it, we used a bag of frozen mix berries including raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries.
Add the fruit juice to a medium-sized pot. If you don’t have any red fruit juice, you can also just use water.
In that case, you might want to add some more sugar, vanilla extract, or even lemon juice later to give it some more flavor.
In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and 3-4 tablespoons of fruit juice from the pot.
Keep mixing until the cornstarch has dissolved.
Back to the pot with the fruit juice – add the sugar and vanilla extract and mix.
We usually don’t add too much sugar so the red berry dessert doesn’t taste overly sweet on its own. If you want it to taste sweeter, feel free to add more sugar!
Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove it from the heat.
Now pour in the dissolved cornstarch while whisking constantly to avoid lumps from forming.
Add the fresh or frozen berries to the pot. Stir gently to break as few berries as possible.
Return the pot to the hot burner and let the berries simmer on low heat for a few minutes. For frozen berries this will take slightly longer than for fresh berries since they have to thaw first.
When you are happy with the consistency of the berries (we don’t usually like them too mushy – but that’s a personal preference), remove the pot from the heat.
Don’t worry if it still appears liquidy, it will get a firmer consistency as it cools.
Pour or ladle the Rote Grütze into bowls. To avoid a skin from forming, you can sprinkle some granulated sugar on top or cover the berry dessert with cling film.
Place the bowls in the fridge to chill.
You can serve it with cold unwhipped cream, vanilla sauce, vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream.
Storage Tips
Store the dessert in the fridge to keep it firm until you’re ready to eat. Leftovers will easily last in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Just make sure to cover the bowls with a lid or cling film. After a couple of days, the dessert might change its texture due to the starch so we wouldn’t recommend keeping leftovers much longer than a few days.
Our tip: Don’t top the berries with cream or another topping until you’re ready to eat it.
FAQ
The most popular kinds of fruit are raspberries, red currants, blackberries, and cherries. Of course, other berries like strawberries or blueberries can also be added.
Both kinds of fruit work. However, you might have to add some more liquid when making it with fresh fruit compared to frozen fruit. This is because frozen fruit loses water as it thaws.
Rote Grütze can be served with a number of toppings or sauces like vanilla sauce, ice cream, cold unwhipped cream, or whipped cream.
Related Recipes
If you want more delicious desserts, check out these other recipes for sweet treats!
- Franzbrötchen – A sweet and pretty cinnamon bun from Northern Germany
- Kaiserschmarrn – A classic torn Austrian sweet pancake served with fruit
- Homemade Cinnamon Rolls – Another Scandinavian dessert that is all about the cinnamon and swirl
- German Apple Pancakes – Fluffy pancakes loaded with chunks of apples
Rote Grütze (Red Berry Dessert)
Ingredients
- 1 pound mixed berries, fresh or frozen (see notes)
- 2/3 cup red fruit juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons sugar, more to taste
- 3-4 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- If you’re using fresh fruit, wash the fruit and dry it. Remove the pits, stems, etc., and cut them into smaller pieces where necessary (e.g. when using strawberries). If you are using frozen berries, take them out of the freezer.
- Add the red fruit juice to a medium-sized pot.
- In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with 3-4 tablespoons of fruit juice from the pot. Mix until the cornstarch has dissolved.
- Add the sugar and vanilla extract to the fruit juice in the pot and mix. Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove it from the heat. Pour in the dissolved cornstarch while whisking constantly.
- Now add the fresh or frozen berries to the pot with the thickened fruit juice. Stir gently to break as few berries as possible. Return the pot to the hot burner and let the berries simmer on low heat for a few minutes. This will take slightly longer for frozen berries than for fresh berries.
- Once you are happy with the consistency of the berries, pour or ladle the Rote Grütze into bowls. Don’t worry if it still appears liquidy, it will get a firmer consistency as it cools. You can sprinkle some sugar on top of the berries or cover them with cling film (it should touch the top of the berries) to avoid skin from forming. Place the bowls in the fridge to chill.
- You can serve Rote Grütze with cold unwhipped cream, vanilla sauce, vanilla ice cream, or normal whipped cream.
Notes
- In the past, Rote Grütze was traditionally made with raspberries, red currants, and cherries. Nowadays any berries (and even seasonal fruit) are allowed. We usually make it from a bag of mixed frozen berries including raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries.
- When using fresh berries, you might need a little bit more liquid than when using frozen berries since frozen ones will lose quite a bit of liquid when thawing in the pot.
- If you don’t have fruit juice, you can also use water. This will have a little less flavor so you might want to add some more sugar, vanilla extract, or even a bit of lemon juice (if you like a sour taste).
- We would recommend starting with three tablespoons of cornstarch and adding the fourth (dissolved in a little bit of water) later if the consistency isn’t right yet.
Nutrition
This nutritional information has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator. It should only be seen as a rough calculation and not a replacement for professional dietary advice.
