Rødgrød med Fløde (Danish Red Berry Pudding with Cream)

Method

1. 1
   • frozen mixed berries 500 g
   • strawberry 250 g
   • water 3 dl
   • white sugar 120 g
   • lemon juice 1 tbsp

   Cook down the berries — Set aside 4 tbsp of the water and 1 tbsp of the sugar. Put the frozen berries, strawberries, the rest of the water, the remaining sugar and the lemon juice in a saucepan and bring slowly to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until the berries have collapsed and the liquid is deep red and syrupy.

   ⏱10 min
2. 2

   Sieve out seeds and skins — Press the fruit through a coarse sieve into a clean pan, pushing hard with a ladle and scraping the underside so you keep all the pulp and leave only seeds and skins behind. You should have roughly a litre of glossy purée.

3. 3
   • water 3 dl
   • cornstarch 3 tbsp

   Thicken with cornstarch — Whisk the cornstarch into the reserved 4 tbsp of cold water until there are no lumps. Bring the purée back to a bare simmer, pour in the slurry in a thin stream while whisking hard, and cook for 1 minute only — it should thicken to a glossy sauce that just coats the back of a spoon.

4. 4
   • vanilla extract 1 tsp

   Stir in the vanilla — Take the pan off the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Do not keep cooking it — boiled starch thins out again and the pudding will never set properly.

5. 5
   • white sugar 120 g

   Sugar the tops and chill — Pour into four bowls and sprinkle the reserved 1 tbsp sugar evenly over the surfaces — it dissolves as it cools and stops a rubbery skin forming. Chill for at least 3 hours, until cold and just set.

   ⏱3 hr
6. 6
   • white sugar 120 g
   • heavy cream 2 dl

   Pour cream at the table — Serve straight from the fridge and pour a good slug of ice-cold cream over each bowl at the table, so it sits in white swirls on the red rather than being stirred in.