A Berry Pudding That Tastes Like Danish Summertime

In Denmark, rødgrød med fløde, a fruity, cream-topped pudding, is a traditional summer treat. But when the Danish designer Mette Hay was growing up in the town of Herning, 170 miles west of Copenhagen, she enjoyed the dessert year-round. It was such a staple, in fact, that she refers to her grandmother’s version — made by simmering red and black currants, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and rhubarb with a little sugar and vanilla — as “the taste of my childhood.” Her grandmother, she says, made everything from scratch, using berries she and Hay’s grandfather would pick from their garden. “And they always had enough to freeze portions to last them through the winter.”

These days, Hay, 45, and her husband, Rolf, 55, live in Copenhagen where, in 2002, they co-founded their namesake line of furniture and home goods, known for its Scandinavian minimalism paired with unexpected colors. The couple loves to entertain, often hosting dinner parties that bring together their friends, their two young children and their children’s friends. As Rolf prepares the main dishes — often oysters or anchovy toast to start, followed by salted fish with vegetables — Hay takes charge of the rødgrød med fløde. And while she doesn’t grow her own fruit, she always uses the freshest berries she can find at her corner grocery store and cream from a local farm. Since the dish is so simple, she says, top quality ingredients “make all the difference.” She brings out the dessert on its own before serving espressos because its “rather creamy, liquid consistency,” she says, is best enjoyed without a beverage.

Many Danes will feel nostalgic for rødgrød med fløde, says Hay, but “it’s an unusual choice for our generation — a bit of a grandma thing.” She balances that old-timey feel by presenting the pudding in more modern dishes, including those from her line’s new Barro tabletop collection, made from Portuguese red clay. The shallow earthenware bowls, she finds, hold just the right amount for a single serving. Unlike her grandmother, she tends to cook the sweet, slightly tart dish only during the summer. (While frozen berries can be delicious, she notes, “fresh ones make it taste like my grandmother’s.”) Still, she says, “I wish I made it more often. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like it.”