Homemade cherry compote is quick and easy to make. This cherry dessert sauce is called "Kirschgrütze" or "Heiße Kirschen" in Germany. It is a staple condiment to dumplings, waffles, pancakes, and Kaiserschmarrn. Make this sauce in less than 10 minutes using canned or frozen cherries.
In Germany, I used canned cherries. They are always on hand. I also use canned morello cherries to make my cherry streusel cake recipe for my family all year round. It is so quick and simple I can make this cherry sauce with my eyes closed.
Sour Cherry Compote in Germany
Cherry compote in Germany is called "Kirschgrütze". "Kirschen" is the German word for "cherries". It is so common here, that you can find it ready-made in any supermarket. Grütze is a term in German to describe a dish, with a thick pulpy texture. A related dessert to this is "Rote Grütze" which is a thickened red berry sauce.
When the sauce is served warm it is referred to as "Heiße Kirschen" (Hot cherries).
What cherries to use for compote?
In Germany, the most common type to use is Sauerkirschen (sour cherries). Abroad, you can generally find jars of sour cherries in Polish or Russian shops. They are tarter than black or sweet cherries so are often used for baking and preserving.
In the US and UK, you can get Morello cherries in jars. But you probably can get away with using frozen sour cherries or even black cherries and water or juice. Aldi USA, Walmart USA and Trader Joe's have jars of them.
In the UK you can find Morello and sour cherries in Aldi and Lidl during Alpen Week. Asda has frozen Morello Cherries. You can also use the frozen black cherries as a substitute- like the canned black cherries in light syrup.
I also found some options on Amazon (affiliate links):
Sour Cherries
Buy Now → 
Buy Now → (affiliate link)
Substitutes for Sour cherries
You can substitute sour cherries for sweet or black cherries. They taste is a little sweeter, so you might want to use less sugar but the texture will be the same. They are easier to find than sour cherries, and any larger supermarket should have a bag of frozen cherries available.
Recipe Ingredients
for exact quantities please jump to the printable recipe card.
- pitted sour cherries (fresh, canned, or frozen - see above for ).
- sugar
- vanilla extract (affiliate link)
- water or juice from the jar
- corn starch/cornflour - to
How to make Cherry Compote
- Prepare: Drain the jar of cherries and catch the juice.
- Fill up the juice with water so you have 2 cups/ 500ml of liquid. If you use frozen cherries use water instead. Remove 6 tablespoons of liquid and mix them with the cornstarch, sugar, and vanilla extract (affiliate link) to a thick paste.
- Thickening the Cherry Juice: Place the remaining juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Once the liquid is boiling, remove the pot from the heat and stir in your cornstarch paste. Stir continuously with a whisk. Place back onto the heat and boil for another 1-2 minutes. You will see that the liquid will become paste-like.
- Assembling the Sauce: Now add in the cherries, warm through and the sauce is ready to serve immediately.
Recipe Variations
You can adapt this recipe with any flavor you like. Here are some suggestions.
- add a dash of cinnamon or ginger.
- citrus peel gives the compote an interesting flavor. Try the peels of lemon, orange, or lime.
- give your compote an alcoholic note by adding in some kirschwasser, brandy, amaretto (affiliate link) or even bourbon.
- add a teaspoon of almond extract (affiliate link) to give rich marzipan-like note.
Cherry Compote without sugar
- try replacing the sugar with honey.
- you can also make the cherry compote without any added sugar. However, you need to be aware that it will not last as long.
What goes with cherry compote
You can serve this compote warm or chilled, as a stand-alone dessert and a tart cherry dessert sauce. My children prefer it warm but it is up to preference.
- it is a popular cherry topping for cheesecake
- served with pfannkuchen, Milchreis (rice pudding), ice cream, waffles or Kaiserscharrn (Austrian Torn Pancakes)
- You can use it to fill our sweet dumplings.
- Simply serve it with yogurt -that is how we use up leftover cherry compote.
- Have it as a dessert with vanilla sauce. A a simple yet popular German cherry dessert.
Storage Instructions
The compote should keep 2-3 days in the fridge. It may even last longer, depending on how much sugar you use.
More Dessert Sauce Recipes
Recipe
Easy Sour Cherry Compote from canned or frozen fruit
Ingredients
- 500 g cherries use fresh pitted cherries, canned cherries or frozen cherries (defrosted).
- 500 ml water if you are using canned cherries you can use the juice from the glass.
- 3 tablespoon cornstarch / cornflour use less if you like it to be more liquidy - use more if you like your compote to be firmer.
- 4 tablespoon sugar you can use make according to your preference.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean (affiliate link)
Instructions
- Drain the jar of cherries and catch the juice.500 g cherries
- Fill up the juice with water so you have 2 cups/ 500ml of liquid. If you use frozen cherries use water instead. Remove 6 tablespoons of liquid and mix them with the cornstarch, sugar, and vanilla extract (affiliate link) (affiliate link) to a thick paste.3 tablespoon cornstarch / cornflour, 4 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (affiliate link), 500 ml water
- Now heat up the cherries at a medium heat to boil. Stir in the cornstarch / cornflour paste and boil for 2 minutes. The cherry sauce should start to thicken.
- Place the remaining juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Once the liquid is boiling, remove the pot from the heat and stir in your cornstarch paste. Stir continuously with a whisk. Place back onto the heat and boil for another 1-2 minutes. You will see that the liquid will become paste-like.
- Now add in the cherries, warm through and the sauce is ready to serve immediately.
Carlo says
Is there an easy way to can these, if I make a large batch? Or would the texture suffer from water bathing?
Marita Sinden says
Hi Carlo, thanks for your comment. I cannot see a problem with making a large bath of these. Depends on how big a batch you are thinking of?
Fanica says
Growing up as a little girl in Switzerland there were many cherry trees. We would have milk rice with cherry compote for dinner. I am looking forward to trying your recipe soon. Thank you for sharing. 😊
Rosalind says
Hello Marita,
I'd love to try your recipe.
Where should the sugar be incorporated in the recipe?
I will be using fresh cherries
Marita says
You cook it with the cherries thanks for pointing it out and I have updated the recipe.
Jacky Flay says
I have not tried this one yet as I am having problems getting hold of
canned cherries. Lidl UK used to have some in jars but they stopped doing them. Any ideas as to where else I could buy them from?
By the way, I do love your recipes.
Marita says
Hey Jacky,
thanks for your comment. When I was living in the UK I normally found them in Polish shops. You can also get them frozen cherries at Asda or Tesco which should work well.
Malou says
Makes a great pie.😊👍 Thanks for sharing.
Marita says
Thanks Malou x