February 6, 2013
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Mixed Berry Compote
So when I went to meet my newest baby cousin, my sister told me I should bring an Angel's Food Cake. I never particularly liked Angel's Food Cake. My family normally eats it plain, but on TV you usually see it eaten with something. I wasn't really up for making the cake myself, and I thought just showing up with a store-bought Angel's Food Cake in a plastic container wasn't particularly classy. So I decided to make a compote.
- 2 pkg (12 oz) raspberries
- 1 pkg (6 oz) blueberries
- 1 pkg (6 oz) blackberries
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- sugar to taste (~ 1/2 c)(This amount of berries makes over 3 cups of compote. We found that you only need ~1 cup of compote to satisfy most people eating a medium sized Angel's Food Cake.)
Rinse the berries and mix them together. Put about 2/3 of your berries into a medium saucepan. Turn the heat on low to medium. Add lemon juice and ~1/4 c sugar. (The berries will release liquid, so you don't need to add water.) Mix occasionally until berries soften (2-5 minutes). Taste to test sweetness level, add more sugar if needed.
When I did this, the raspberries basically melted while the blueberries were still firm. I actually literally crushed most of the blueberries with a wooden spoon against the side of the pan because I wanted it more sauce-y.
Add the rest of your berries and mix 1-2 minutes (just to slightly warm/soften). Remove from heat and spoon/pour into glass jar/container. Serve warm or chilled.
Apparently you can keep this in your fridge for up to 2 weeks, but it is NOT like jam/jelly (ie. you cannot keep it for very long). You can also freeze it, but with this amount of berries I pretty much finished it in a few days. Try white bread + compote. Yum. =9
My compote turned out pretty liquid. I read that you can add a cornstarch+water slurry to thicken it? But I didn't really think it was worth the effort. The liquid part is a similar consistency to like, raspberry sauce that restaurants use decoratively in desserts? In fact, I kept craving chocolate cake whenever I was eating my bread+compote...
I'm going to have to get that flourless chocolate cake recipe from May...
