The Fresh Loaf

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Blushing Maiden and Other Desserts - No Breads

hanseata's picture
hanseata

Blushing Maiden and Other Desserts - No Breads

Errötende Jungfrau - Blushing Maiden

 

During these hot and humid days - very unusual for Maine - I didn't bake much, only the breads I sell to A&B Naturals, our local organic market. But, instead of talking about breads, I'd like to share some fruity, tangy summer desserts I made.

You'll find the recipes on my blog "Brot & Bread".

My family has two favorite summer desserts, both very light and refreshing.

One is the famous ROTE GRÜTZE, made of at least three different kinds of red berries, a summer treat so popular that it slowly made its way from Denmark and Northern Germany to the South, even welcomed by Bavarians (who notoriously despise everything even remotely "Prussian").

 

Popular German summer dessert Rote Grütze

 

The other goes by the poetical name of ERRÖTENDE JUNGFRAU (= blushing maiden), referring to the delicate pink hue of the dessert. It is made with buttermilk and lemon, and we enjoy it even when the temperature goes up to 90, and we don't feel like eating anything heavy.

Blushing Maiden is, like Rote Grütze, a traditional North German specialty, not only Pommern (Pomerania) (homeland of my mother and grandmother), but Ostpreussen (East Prussia) and Dithmarschen in Schleswig-Holstein claim it as their own.

Light, fruity and lemony, Errötende Jungfrau is the right dessert for hot summer days

 

BLUEBERRY HAND PIES , cute portion-sized pies from King Arthur Flour website, combine two major food groups: buttery pastry and fruit!

When I made them, our native wild Maine blueberries were not ripe yet, so I combined (less flavorful) frozen blueberries with rhubarb from the garden and fresh raspberries, a very fruity and tangy combination. They didn't earn their 5-star reviews for nothing - the were absolutely delicious!

Berry Hand Pies combine two major food groups: buttery pastry and tangy fruit

 

I had never visited the South of East Germany before, but in May we went on a trip to Saxony. Checking out the bakeries we found a wonderful Saxon specialty, EIERSCHECKE, a three-layered cake with sweet crust, quark filling and custard.

Of course I had to try it at home, using rhubarb in the filling, and cream cheese instead of quark. The result was everything I had hoped for! The tangy rhubarb made a pleasant contrast to the sweet custard, and the whole thing was so airy and fluffy that I'm sure it didn't have a single calorie!

 

Eierschecke - a traditional three-layered cake from Saxony and Thuringia.

 

More about these delicious summer desserts and the recipes you can find here.

Comments

Yerffej's picture
Yerffej

Karin,

Great looking desserts and ................I hate hot & humid, especially humid.

Jeff

hanseata's picture
hanseata

We have an AC in our bedroom, but the house felt like a sauna!

Karin

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

I have looked at the KA hand pies so many times and still haven't gotten around to making them..they are very highly rated and it's easy to see why up close your's are just perfectly delicious looking.  I brought a pie this week for a group of family and friends and opted for a big Slab Blueberry pie..it worked out great sliced up into squares.  It reminded me of the hand pies.  All your desserts are beautiful!  Isn't it funny how our tastes change with the season's even with desserts : )  I remember your lovely berry dessert, thanks for sharing all.

Sylvia

 

hanseata's picture
hanseata

to have an individual piece (more crust). I saw that big Slab Blueberry Pie recipe, and might give it a try, when out Maine blueberries are ripe.

You are right, several times I froze rhubarb or Italian plums for later use - and then realize that I stopped thinking of it when the season was over, so that they were still unused when the new crop came in.

Karin

evonlim's picture
evonlim

beautiful purple, red, and yellow desserts. thanks for sharing those classic German dessert. looks yummy.

evon

hanseata's picture
hanseata

Do try them, if you like tangy desserts more than just sweet ones, like me.

Karin

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

is not as good a  meal as it could have been!  It is great time of year to have such bounty to make these treats.  Yours look delicious as usual Karin. 

Happy baking

hanseata's picture
hanseata

Desserts are my favorite course of a meal!

Karin

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Dutch stock who oddly were German immigrants, always ate their desert as a first course - just to make sure they were not too full to eat at the end :-)  I eat my desert first and, if not full, have another one at the end!My Grandmother cut her desert in half and ate both halves as a first and last course.  She was tiny as a result - compared to me.

hanseata's picture
hanseata

and eat it afterwards, too. Very funny!

This baker is known for snacking on a piece of dark chocolate when dinner is imminent, but not served, yet...

Karin

gary.turner's picture
gary.turner

When John Adams's presidency ended, he returned to his farm in Braintree, MA. It was common for any public figure visiting Boston to make the short trip to Adams's farm to pay their respects and, of course, to stay for dinner. His biographers note that 19 or 20 people for dinner was the norm. His wife, Abigail, being a frugal New England farmer's wife began serving a sweet pudding first in order to satisfy the guests' hunger before serving the meats. Beeves and sheep were expensive; bread pudding was cheap.

cheers,

gary

hanseata's picture
hanseata

Now I can feel really frugal and good about myself, when I have my dessert first!

Thanks for sharing, Gary!

Karin

hansjoakim's picture
hansjoakim

Hi Karin,

All these look delicious and are wonderfully refreshing after a light summer dinner, I'm sure. Especially the Eierschecke got my attention, great bit of research!

hanseata's picture
hanseata

Isn't that an interesting story? I thought this was a great alternative to the usual fruit cakes or pies, though I like fruit in pastry in all variations, preferably a little bit tart.

Let me know what you think, if you try it out.

Karin

Skibum's picture
Skibum

Berry season is full on here now and i was wondering what to do with all the blueberries.  I will try your Errötende Jungfrau with blueberries.  The Rote Grutze also looks awesome and is next in line for my desert list.  I was going to do another batch of tiramisu today, but am feeling lazy and will try the blushing maiden.

Thanks for sharing Karin and happy baking!  Brian

hanseata's picture
hanseata

with either, Brian.

You are very welcome!

Karin

Skibum's picture
Skibum

. . . and you know sometimes the best part about making desserts is licking the bowl.  I really loved the subtle cherry flavour!  A couple of notes, I used whole 3.5% milk as I had no buttermilk, doubled the lemon juice for the sour and otherwise did everything a half recipe.  I am LOVING the results!!!!!

:-)

hanseata's picture
hanseata

And a little richer. Next time I will take half a recipe, too, since we are only two people. Though the dessert keeps very well in the refrigerator, even after four days, when I had the last bit, it tasted still fresh.

I'm very happy that you like one of my favorite desserts.

Karin

 

 

 

Skibum's picture
Skibum

I did a half batch of your recipe using about 40 grams each blue and raspberries and used blueberries for the rest of the fruit.  What a nice tasty light summer dessert!  Today I purchased cherries to try the traditional way and also fruit for the Rote Grutze which also looks amazing. Single ski bum's are somewhat challenged when it comes to dessert glassware, but I used what I had . . .

Happy baking folks!  This website is truly an amazing resource.  Thanks for sharing everyone!

Brian

hanseata's picture
hanseata

That looks even better than mine. And don't worry about traditional or not, there are several recipes for Errötende Jungfrau out there, and the one with cherries is my take on it.

I love all berries, and only regret that we can't get red currants or gooseberries here in Maine, it is prohibited to grow them as a precaution against some bug they might harbor that damages the white pines.

Let me know what you think about the Rote Grütze, too.

Happy baking,

Karin

 

Skibum's picture
Skibum

Rote Gruzte.  The Jello vanilla pudding powder calls for mixing with 2 cups of milk for 4 servings, which is a long way off 3 Tbs water.  How would you recommend I proceed here?

TIA, Brian

hanseata's picture
hanseata

Those instructions are, of course, for making a regular vanilla pudding. But for Rote Grütze you use the pudding power basically just like an already flavored thickener.

But thanks for pointing this out to me, I will add a note to the recipe.

Take care,

Karin

wally's picture
wally

Hey, I do believe there is a supplier of quark up your way - we used it to make some rye loaves in a class Jeffrey H. taught at King Arthur.

All the best, 

Larry

hanseata's picture
hanseata

Thanks, Larry,

I know there is a creamery in Vermont that makes quark, but I can't say I am too convinced of their product. It doesn't quite taste like German quark, and is outrageously expensive.

I just came up with a German/American dairy conversion "Cream or Sahne", for all baking and cooking purposes.

Karin

 

gary.turner's picture
gary.turner

When I was a mere lad (in 1952/3) living in Falkenstein, a suburb of Frankfurt am Main, my sisters and I had a nanny who was a refugee from Prussia; as she was quick to point out. She was just as quick to point out the shortcomings of all southern Germans. It appears the animus went both ways.

She spoke very good English and insisted on using it rather than German in order to improve. I recall she would continuously repeat her mantra, "this, that, these, those, and the others", which at first was "zis, zat, zese, zose, and ze ozers". The zees eventually went away.

She also loved American fashions, especially blue jeans rolled up to Capri length. If you've seen '50s teen movies like "Rock Around the Clock", you know the style. That's what she was wearing the day she walked my sister and I to the school bus stop, when a dog strolled by, paused and heisted his leg against her calf. Obviously a southern German hund.

cheers from the South,

gary

hanseata's picture
hanseata

Yes, those prejudices run deep! And after the opening of the Wall a new animosity sprang up, between "Ossis" (East Germans) and "Wessis" (West Germans).

The West Germans found the Ossis lazy and always waiting for a governmental hand-out. The East Germans saw the Wessis as arrogant know-it-alls. Fortunately, after 24 years, this Wall-in-the-heads was not noticeable anymore, when we traveled to Saxony and Thuringia.

Cheers,

Karin

 

Skibum's picture
Skibum

. . . is this EVER GOOD!!!

I finally figured it out, added a little lemon juice, a little more water and ended up pouring the remaining vanilla powder into the simmering berries.  Pretty simple really and fabulous over French Vanilla ice cream drizzled with a little Creme de Cassis..

I ended up using more or less 125 grams of strawberries, pitted cherries, blackberries and sadly no blueberries and only about 45 grams of raspberries -- all I had left.

I also discovered that 1/2 oz of Creme de Cassis and 11/2 oz vodka makes a dynamite fruity martini!

These are two wonderful recipes Karin and again, many thanks for sharing!

Regards, Brian

hanseata's picture
hanseata

Good thinking, Brian. I'm all for it!

Your Rote Grütze looks great, and I am very happy that it turned out so nice. The choice of fruit can vary, depending on what's available, in Germany they usually have red or black currants, but those are not grown or sold in Maine (sigh!).

Guten Appetit,

Karin

Skibum's picture
Skibum

This is really becoming one of my favorite summer desserts!  I did another 'half' batch yesterday using 125 g pitted cherries, 35 g raspberries and 40 g blueberries. Very nice indeed!

Regards, Brian

hanseata's picture
hanseata

my grandmother was still alive - she would be so happy that the dessert she used to make for us is so popular!

Regards, Karin

Skibum's picture
Skibum

. . . gifted us this wonderful recipe and my grandmother gifted us Pulla and both are some of the best things to ever come out of my kitchen!

Regards, Brian

hanseata's picture
hanseata

What is that? Recipe?

Take care,

Karin

Skibum's picture
Skibum

I posted a recipe in this thread a month or so ago.  Pulla is very tasty anytime with fresh coffee:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/33932/pulla-ems-team

I also did batch two of rote grutze using more or less 100 grams each of pitted cherries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.  Due to the sweetness of the berries I cut the sugar to 1 Tbls.  Since you shared these recipes I have had both rote grutze and errotende jungfrau in my fridge.  I enjoy fresh berries almost every morning with my homemade granola and fruit yogurt.  Berry season is full on here and I am most enjoying berry desserts for lunch AND dinner!

Rote Grutze, take 2 over French Vanilla ice cream and drizzled with a little Creme de Cassis, fabulous!

hanseata's picture
hanseata

We like it with vanilla ice cream, too. It's often served with a thick vanilla sauce, but I never cared for that.

Pulla sounds good, I like cardamom, thanks for the link, I didn't see that post before.

Karin

 

Skibum's picture
Skibum

. . . MUCH I like this recipe.  I have just done another with blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries and after licking the spatula, can't wait to try it on ice cream for dessert!  Sadly the cherries are finished for the season . . .

Great recipe!!!  Regards, Brian

PS I found some interesting recipes for the Italian Panna Cotta, which is similar to your 'Blushing Maiden' and thought I would share the link:

http://italianfoodforever.ziplist.com/recipes/search?filters%5Bhas_photo%5D=1&query=panna+cotta&sort=most_relevant

 

hanseata's picture
hanseata

I'll check it out. I just made a test recipe for "Cook's Illustrated", a strawberry mousse, which was absolutely amazing. I'm not allowed to share it, but when they publish it, I will.

I'm very happy that my little North German dessert is such a hit with you!

Karin