Rote Gruetze - red fruit jelly

                Rote Gruetze - Red fruit jelly

This is a very popular dessert in Germany. I think it has something to do with also preserving the fruits in the Harvest months for at least a couple of days. Usually you are using red fruits for this. I like to get the sour cherries from the Glass but if you want to use fresh cherries, you will have to cook them a bit first to get them soft. Same with Rhubarb. If you want to use this fruit, you need to cook it in water for a some minutes. I like to use Strawberries, Raspberries and Blackberries in this. I tried Pomegranate but they are a bit to chewy for it due to the tiny pit. If you use the fruits like me, sour cherries from the Glass, then you don't need to cook them upfront. I also use the Cherry juice to make the Jelly. You can also just buy Cherry juice from the store. 

This is what you need:

- 2 lbs of fruits of your choice (Raspberries, Strawberries, Cherries, Blackberries,       Blueberries) 

- 1 l of fruit juice (1 Qart)

- 1/4 cup cornstarch

- Sugar as needed (cherry juice is usually sweet already)

This is how you do it:

In a big bowl put the cherries without the juice and the strawberries. In a pot, pour the 1 l fruit juice, sugar as needed and the cornstarch and let it get to a boil. Once its starten thickening, add the hot juice over the fruits. I usually let that cool down now a big before I add the Raspberries and Blackberries or Blueberries because they don't need a lot of heat and they will fall apart. So, once it's luke warm, I add those fruits. Stir good and let it cool down completely to let the cornstarch set.

You can enjoy that plain, with some vanilla ice cream or vanilla sauce. 

Guten Appetit