Finally, after taking all sorts of measures to protect strawberries against critters, there are enough strawberries from the garden to make Rote Grütze, the German red berry dessert that was my favorite as a child. The recipe can be found in my cookbook Spoonfuls of Germany.

Rote Grütze can be served with vanilla sauce, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, liquid heavy cream, or plain milk. My favorite has always been vanilla sauce made from scratch – lots of it, therefore I often double the amounts.