July 26, 2010 - 4:50pm
German Red Berry Dessert - Rote Gruetze
In this hot summer I find myself less eager to crank up the heat in our oven - thereby turning our kitchen into a sauna - my mind is more on something cool, tangy and refreshing. North German and Danish traditional cuisine has a treat just for this season: Rote Gruetze or Roede Groede (it's Danish name). Literally translated the name means "red gruel". That may not sound very enticing, but it's an old fashioned dish with an old fashioned name and soooo good!!!
My recipe is a modern version, using vanilla pudding powder instead of starch or tapioca, it's fast and easy to prepare. Enjoy it with cream, vanilla sauce or, even better, vanilla ice cream.
http://hanseata.blogspot.com/2010/07/rote-gruetze-red-berry-dessert_26.html
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Comments
chilled fruit soups are a summer treat, too. I ran into them in Michigan's Upper Peninsula while in college, in an area with a lot of people whose families had come from Finland.
Paul
Hanseata, this looks delicious and I'm surprised at how simple it is. I might make a tart out of this and take it to a diner party later this week.
Other than blueberry's what did you use for fruit?
Eric
The dessert on that photo had only two kinds, fresh and frozen blueberries (I wanted to use some leftovers in the freezer) and fresh raspberries. But you can really take any combination, a bag of mixed frozen berries will do, as long as there's one tart kind (like raspberries) in there.
Here in Maine I'm very rarely able to buy currants (they are not allowed to be cultivated) or fresh sour cherries in the supermarket - those two are staples in German and Danish Rote Gruetze - , but raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and sweet cherries in any combination are all very tasty.
If you have access to gooseberries, white currants and loganberries you can even make a Green Berry variation (no gooseberries in Maine, either, sadly).
Guten Appetit!
Karin
I'm thinking along Eric's lines - what a fabulous tart that would make. But I can also see it with ice cream or a little whipped cream!
Thanks for sharing the recipe and pic.
Larry
I'm sure it would make a great tarte, too.
Karin
I was inspired when I saw your 'updated' recipe for Rødgrøt. It brought me back to my childhood days when my grandmother used to make it... however she did have currants growing but they were eventually removed due to the ban on growing them in Maine. Without currants I figured no Rødgrøt... I never thought of using blueberries. My raspberry patch proved very productive this year... I had enough to make 2 pies, 2 batches of jam, and 6 quarts to freeze for later. I checked out my berry patch this morning and had enough left to pick about a quart, and I had about a half cup of blueberries from my picking the other day. All I had to do was pick up a package of vanilla pudding. I served it with a little vanilla ice cream and it was very good... nice and fresh tasting. Thank you for writing about it.
I'm glad I could help you revisit your childhood days. My grandmother from Stettin (now Poland) and my mother used to make it, we had it every summer, and my aunt told me to use vanilla pudding instead of starch or tapioca.
Karin