Before I was born, my mother undertook post-graduate studies at an international study center. Since cooking was her passion, she collected recipes from her fellow classmates reflecting a wide array of cultures. One of her favorites was a Danish berry dessert called rødgrød med fløde, mainly because she loved pronouncing it! (a Danish person once told me that the language is like speaking German under water 
Despite her liking to talk about it, I only saw her make it once. Later in life, though, a friend shared her Danish grandmother’s recipe for rødgrød, which she simply called Danish Dessert. It is an incredibly light and delightful dessert.
Here is my version, which uses wineberries that I wild harvested in the mountains this weekend. Hungry Wolf recently posted a more traditional rødgrød recipe using raspberries and currents, and arrowroot instead of cornstarch.
- 4 cups of berries
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch (I used organic non-GMO)
- ¼ cup sugar (I used organic fair-trade evaporated cane juice) – adjust to suit your sweetness preference
- ¼ cup whipped cream or yogurt for garnish
Rinse 4 cups of berries and place them in a heavy-bottomed saucepan with ½ cup of water.
Cook over low heat until the berries are thoroughly mushy, stirring from time to time. This can take a while.
Strain the berries through a fine sieve, squishing them with the back of a spoon to squeeze out the juice. You should have about 2 cups of juice.
Pour the juice back into the saucepan, reserving about ½ cup of juice.
Whisk in the cornstarch until thoroughly mixed. Add the cornstarch mixture and sugar to the juice in the saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture starts to bubble. Cook for another minute or two.
Pour into a large bowl, or four individual serving bowls.
Let cool for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with a light coating of sugar. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
Serve with a dollop of whipped cream or yogurt (I made fresh whipped fløde with a dash of vanilla). Bon appetite!
I found an instant German version of rødgrød (Rote Glütze) at The Silo in Connecticut, which I have yet to try (I need to have someone translate the directions for me!).
It looks really delicious. I love those pictures. They are so fresh and beautiful. Thanks for sharing
Thanks
This is a great time of the year to make berry desserts. They are awesome right off the vine, but in the stores and farmers market they are at their peak too — so you can’t go wrong!
this sounds so good I am going to try it this weekend.
Thanks for sharing.
I’d love to hear how it comes out! Enjoy!
Beautiful. Love it! What a great backstory, too. Thanks for your comment on the Persian iced tea. I hope you enjoyed it if you made it. Have a great weekend!
Thank you
I did try the tea – what an exquisite blend of flavors. The rose water really adds a nice touch!
Love raspberries in the summertime! You did a great job of explaining this and showing us the photos.
Thank you! The hardest part is not eating all the raspberries before you have a chance to make them into a dessert
Thank you, I will try this recipe though
there are only frozen Raspberries available here.
The translation for Ruf Rote Grütze glatt
is as follows:
Stir one package in 300ml (10 fl ounces) into boiling water (keep steering until it is well mixed.
Let is get cold.
Eat cold with Vanilla sauce or Whipped cream.
(Can also be eaten hot)
Bon Appetite
First of all, thank you so much for the translation, Angie! I will make it tonight.
And I am glad that you like the Rødgrød Med Fløde recipe. I think it will work just fine with frozen raspberries. Enjoy!
My mother-in-law who was born in Germany, use to make Rote Grutze
with sago. I have had some trouble obtaining it but was successful last week-end. I noticed another packet of Rote Grutze with an added tag of glatt. After reading your recipe for Danish berry dessert, I now have an idea what it is. I have an english tanslation on my packet and it calls for:
500 ml water
75 gm of sugar.
A small amount of water is mixed with one packet of pudding & sugar, the remaining water is boiled and mixture added , wter brought back to the boil whilst stirring. Allow to cool in dishes and chill until set.
The Rote Grutze with sago is made exactly the same way.
Enjoy
Thank you very much for your comment, Phyll. The translation is very helpful! I have yet to make the rote glutze, so your directions will come in handy when I do!
First of all, nice that you don’t translate the name into English. But…. as a dane with this dish as my favorit summer dessert I have to correct you. Rødgrød med fløde is NOT made with raspberry alone. The dish rødgrød is meant to be made of all of the different red berries. As my grandmother always said It’s a way to use all of those berries you can’t use for anything that has to look nice and a good way to use a lot of berries before they go bad. It’s manly made from black and red currents and a little strawberries and raspberry because strawberries and raspberry is almost out of season when this dish is usually made in the late summer. One more thing I have to correct is that the dish is served with cream, like milk on cereal NOT wiped cream. A twist to the dish is to put almonds in it. It something my mother in law has thought me. It gives it at nice crunch and the nutty flavor is really good with the sweet berries. If you like I can send you some different and very old recipes for this dish.
Hi Karina, thank you very much for your feedback. And, yes, I know that traditionally it is made with any number of berries, but I was looking for a way to use my wild raspberries. And thank you for the correction of the type of cream. I would love to see your old recipes! I have one that my friend’s Danish grandmother gave her, but I can’t find it!