Denmark · Sweet finish

Rødgrød med fløde

Red berry pudding with cream

Summer's red berries and rhubarb simmered, strained and set into a glossy, tart pudding, with whole berries folded through and cold cream poured over.

Rødgrød med fløde

Rødgrød med fløde is a red berry pudding, served with cream, that Danes have eaten in summer for well over two hundred years. Red currants, raspberries, strawberries and often rhubarb are simmered, strained and thickened into a soft, shining, jewel red pudding, then served cold with cream poured over and a little sugar on top. It tastes like a garden in July: tart, fragrant and not too sweet.

Its name is also the most famous pronunciation test in the Danish language, full of soft d sounds and round vowels that no foreign mouth seems built for, and Danes will cheerfully ask visitors to try it. You may make the pudding perfectly and still fail to say it, which is the traditional experience. Frozen berries work very well, so this can close a race dinner in any season.

The berry pudding

Ingredients

Method

  1. Trim the rhubarb and cut it into pieces about 1/2 inch (1 cm) long. Halve any large strawberries.
  2. Put the rhubarb, red currants, strawberries and half the raspberries in the saucepan with 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) of the water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then lower to a gentle simmer and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring now and then.
  3. Set the sieve over the large bowl and pour in the fruit. Press lightly with the back of the spoon to push through the juice and some pulp, leaving the seeds and stringy rhubarb behind. Pour the juice back into the rinsed saucepan and stir in the sugar.
  4. In the small bowl, whisk the starch with the remaining 1/4 cup (60 ml) cold water until smooth. Bring the juice just to a simmer, then take it off the heat, and pour in the slurry in a thin stream while whisking constantly. Return to low heat for 30 seconds, still whisking, just until it thickens. Do not let it boil hard with potato starch, which then thins again.
  5. Stir in the vanilla and the remaining raspberries. Taste and add a spoonful more sugar if it is very sharp. Pour into the serving bowl or dishes, sprinkle a little sugar over the top to stop a skin forming, cover and chill for at least 2 hours.

To serve

Ingredients

Method

  1. Spoon the pudding into bowls if it is in one dish. Pour cold cream over each portion, or whip the cream to soft peaks (it holds a soft, drooping point when the whisk is lifted) and spoon it on. Sprinkle with a little sugar.

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