Danish Rodgrod with Peak-Harvest Raspberries, Red Currants and Chilled Cream

Combine the red currants, strawberries and half the raspberries in a saucepan with the water, sugar, lemon zest and the split vanilla bean.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh raspberries
• 12 ounces fresh red currants, stemmed
• 8 ounces fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus more to taste
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1 (2-inch) strip lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream or whole milk, for serving
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Combine the red currants, strawberries and half the raspberries in a saucepan with the water, sugar, lemon zest and the split vanilla bean.
2. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until the fruit has collapsed and released its juice.
3. Press the mixture through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan, pushing hard on the solids to extract everything, then discard the seeds and skins. You should have about 4 cups of intensely colored juice.
4. Return the juice to a simmer and taste, adding a little more sugar if your berries were sharp.
5. Whisk the cornstarch into the cold water until completely smooth, then pour it into the simmering juice in a thin stream while whisking constantly.
6. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes only, just until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not boil it hard or the starch will thin out again.
7. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and fold in the remaining whole raspberries so they stay intact.
8. Pour into serving bowls, dust the surface lightly with sugar to prevent a skin from forming, and chill for at least 3 hours. Serve cold with cream poured over the top, never stirred in.
9. Rodgrod med flode, meaning red porridge with cream, is so deeply Danish that its tongue-twisting name is used as a half-joking test of whether someone can genuinely speak the language. It belongs to a family of Northern European thickened fruit puddings that stretch a short berry season into something that can be eaten with a spoon, and every Danish family seems to insist on a slightly different ratio of currants to raspberries. The sugar dusted over the surface is a practical inheritance from the days before plastic wrap, and it still does its job. Serve it the way Danes do, with cold cream poured in a pool rather than mixed through, so each spoonful crosses from tart to rich in a single bite.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 340 kcal
• Protein: 3g
• Fat: 16g
• Carbohydrates: 48g
• Fiber: 7g
• Sugar: 36g
• Sodium: 20mg