Since a couple of members of the group I work in were in town for the Liberty meeting, I invited them to dinner last night. For dessert, I decided to make Rote Grütze, which is pretty much the standard dessert in Berlin at this time of year. It’s popular throughout Northern Germany, and I’m told also in Scandinavia. I think it’s my new favourite dessert when raspberries are in season, it is easy to make, can be made a day in advance, and everyone liked it.
The standard recipe has redcurrants in it which I couldn’t find at Granville Island. So I used blueberries, which are local and plentiful at this time of year, hence the “blue-red” in the title. For posterity, here’s the version I ended up making.
One jar sour cherries in juice, approx 12 ounces (400g) cherries. Put half the cherries in a pot with the juice, add 200g blueberries, 200g raspberries and 3/4 c sugar (could have been 1/2 c). Bring to the boil, cook a couple of minutes and then mash. Take some of the liquid out in a cup, mix in 2 heaped dessertspoons of cornstarch in to a smooth mix, stir into the hot mixture. Stir until it boils again and thickens. Add the rest of the sour cherries, another 200g raspberries and 200g blueberries, heat just to boiling point, then take it off the stove. Cool. Serve with cream.