German Red Berry Pudding | Rote Grütze
This German red berry pudding is one of those desserts that never disappoint.
This vibrant, fruity dessert is a beloved classic in Germany. It is perfect for those hot summer days when you crave something refreshing with the perfect combination of sweet and tart and bursting with flavor.
When I was growing up mostly in Northern Germany, we enjoyed “Rote Grütze” often during the summer. My grandparents had a huge garden with lots of berry bushes and fruit trees. What better way to use them all up than in this popular German dessert?
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
This red berry dessert checks all the boxes:
- easy to make
- healthy
- pretty
- versatile
- delicious
The ingredients
You don’t need much to make this recipe:
- Fresh berries: Depending on where you live and availability, you can include red currants, black currants, white currants, strawberries, sweet or sour cherries, morello cherries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries
- Cherry Juice: I love using tart cherry juice
- Sugar: I find that adding a little bit of cane sugar is just perfect but how much sugar you use in the end is a matter of personal preference
- Vanilla Extract: A little bit of this spice makes the berries shine, especially if you use homemade vanilla extract
- Corn starch: This thickener helps stiffen the pudding
Useful tools and equipment
Luckily, you don’t need any fancy equipment to make this rote Grütze recipe:
- Small saucepan: You’ll need to heat up the cherry juice
- Measuring cup: This is both for measuring the juice and mixing the slurry
- Wire whisk: One of my favorite kitchen tools
- Large bowl: I always love using a glass bowl but any bowl will work
- Cherry pitter: This nifty tool comes in handy if you’re using fresh cherries
Substitutions and variations
I always love recipes that are flexible and this red berry compote is no exception:
- Fruit: Any variety of berries or fruits will work in this red berry pudding. Fresh fruit is best but frozen fruit works, too. You can even experiment with dehydrated fruit.
- Sugar: Even though I haven’t tried it, I can imagine that you can also use honey or agave syrup instead of sugar.
- Lemon juice: Feel free to add some fresh lemon juice to brighten up the taste.
- Cherry juice: You can use tart cherry juice or sweet cherry juice. Alternatively, you can use any red fruit juice such as cranberry juice, hibiscus tea, or even red wine if you’re making it for adults.
- Vanilla: You can also add the mark of a fresh vanilla bean, omit the vanilla altogether, and/or add a cinnamon stick to the juice.
- Corn starch: Feel free to substitute with potato starch or, as some of my German friends do, use vanilla pudding powder (we are all partial to Dr. Oetker’s). Or you conveniently get a package of rote Grütze premix.
How to serve
Here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy this red berry pudding:
- On its own, served in pretty parfait glasses
- With a good drizzle of warm vanilla sauce or vanilla custard
- With some vanilla ice cream
- With some whipped cream
- You could even serve this on top of a German vanilla cake
Make ahead of time?
Yes, you can definitely make this ahead of time. If you want to store it, I recommend keeping it in an airtight container. You can easily keep it for a couple of days in the refrigerator, if not even up to one week.
Due to its high moisture content, you can even freeze it. It will last be good for months in the freezer.
Other German desserts you might like
Classic German Strawberry Cake
How to make this dish
It couldn’t be easier than this:
- Clean, measure and add your berries to a medium-large bowl.
- Measure the cherry juice and transfer it to a small sauce pan, retaining about 4 tablespoons in your measuring cup.
- Over medium heat bring the juice to a boil.
- In the meantime, combine cornstarch with the remaining juice. Mix it well.
- Once the juice has come to a boil, remove the sauce pan from the heat. With a wire whisk stir in the cornstarch mixture.
- Return the pot to the stove. While constantly stirring, bring the juice back to a boil and cook for a few minutes.
- Pour the thickened juice over your berry mixture and stir to combine. Let the rote Gruetze sit at room temperature until cooled down.
Let me know if you have any questions or comments!
German Red Berry Pudding | Rote Grütze
Ingredients
- 1 pound mixed fresh berries
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 TBSP cornstarch
- 1 cup red fruit juice
- ¼ cup sugar
Instructions
- Clean, measure, and add the mixed fruit to a medium bowl.
- Measure the fruit juice and add it to a small sauce pan. Retain about 4 TBSP of this fruit juice.
- Over medium heat bring the juice, sugar, and vanilla extract to a boil.
- In the meantime, add the cornstarch to the remaining juice and mix well.
- Remove the boiling juice from the heat and whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return the pot to the stove. While constantly stirring, bring the juice back to a boil for a few minutes until thickened.
- Immediately pour the juice over the berries and mix to combine. Let cool at room temperature.
Notes
- you can use a mix of red currants, black currants, white currants, strawberries, sweet or sour cherries, morello cherries, raspberries, blackberries and/or blueberries
- serve on its own, with whipped cream, vanilla sauce, or with vanilla ice cream