Transform berries into a delicious Cabernet Berry Compote with just a few ingredients. It's perfect on crusty bread, over ice cream, or all by itself.
This recipe is sponsored by ALDI. All opinions are my own.
This Cabernet Berry Compote is a PERFECT spring dessert that uses fresh mixed berries when they are at their peak of sweetness. Because it's versatile in how you use it, it could be served at a shower, brunch or holiday breakfast.
This was inspired by my Roasted Balsamic Strawberry Steak Salad on this site, where I discovered how to roast strawberries. In addition, I love delicious spreads on toast as evidenced by my Ginger Butternut Squash Bread and Mango Cheddar Pork Crostini.
Ingredients
Making Cabernet Berry Compote could not be an easier recipe. It uses only a handful of ingredients.
- Fresh strawberries
- Fresh blackberries
- Cabernet Sauvignon - I recommend a juicy Cabernet like ALDI Bear Bros. California Cabernet Sauvignon
- Sugar
- French baguette
- Mascarpone cheese
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Wash and pat dry all berries. Slice the tops off the strawberries, then slice in half. Slice any large blackberries in half. Place them in a 1-2 quart baking dish.
Sprinkle the sliced berries with 1 tablespoon of sugar, toss, then let sit for 5 minutes to let them get juicy.
Pour in ⅓ cup Cabernet and stir to combine.
Roast (bake) berry mixture for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. Serve warm, room temperature, or cold. It's good any way!
Hint: If you like your fruit broken down and mushier, roast for an additional 10 minutes.
Substitutions
This recipe can be made year round using frozen berries and suit different dietary needs like gluten free, dairy free and vegan.
- Fresh Berries - you can absolutely use 3 cups frozen, mixed berries in place of fresh berries.
- Mascarpone cheese - you can skip this altogether to keep it dairy free and vegan but you can also use a vegan cream cheese spread in its place. If you can't find mascarpone cheese, you can substitute in cream cheese.
- Bread - use gluten free toast or crackers or serve it over ice cream instead. ALDI has an excellent selection of gluten free options.
- Wine - If you don't want to use wine or just don't have it, no problem! Let the berries sit in the sugar for an extra 5 minutes (10 minutes total) then add 2 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar instead of wine.
Variations
Here are a few ideas for variations to this Cabernet Berry Compote.
- Wine variations - any berry forward red wine will work great in this recipe. Pinot noir, merlot, and super Tuscans are also good ideas in my opinion. I would avoid wines with dust tasting notes or are very dry. I did try making this with a Rose wine and sadly, it was not as pleasant to me as I wanted it to be.
- Berry variations - you can use any combination of berries you would like: all strawberries, all blackberries, add raspberries, add blueberries...whatever combo you like. In total you want to end up with 3 cups of sliced, fresh or frozen fruit.
- Kid friendly - with the small amount of alcohol included and the cooking time, this can be a kid friendly recipe. However, if you do not want to serve anything alcohol related to your kiddos, follow the directions above for the wine substitution.
Equipment
You can use a lot of different types of baking dishes to make this Cabernet Berry Compote recipe. An 8x8 square pan will work fine, but my favorite dishes are casserole dishes, like this Le Creuset oval baker. They just look a little prettier and can be used to serve the compote in.
Another favorite piece of equipment when measuring liquids is this set of silicone measuring cups. I use these all the time and I've had them for years.
Storage
Allow berry compote to cool, then pour into an airtight container. Refrigerate for 4-5 days.
I bought a set of these deli style containers and they are perfect for storing this berry compote. They do not leak, making it super easy to take on the go.
I do not recommend freezing.
Top tip
This Cabernet Berry Compote can be made ahead and served warm, room temp or cold at your event. This is a big help when putting on a party of meal that you'd actually like to enjoy.
PrintRecipe
Cabernet Berry Compote
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 people 1x
Description
Transform berries into a delicious Cabernet Berry Compote with just a few ingredients. It's perfect on crusty bread, over ice cream, or all by itself.
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Fresh strawberries, (sliced)
- 6 ounces Fresh blackberries, (large berries sliced in half)
- 1 tbsp Simply Nature Organic Cane Sugar ((or granulated sugar))
- ½ cup Cabernet Sauvingon ((like Bear Bros. from ALDI)*)
- 1 tub Mascarpone cheese
- 1 French Baguette
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees °F.
- In a 1-2 quart baking dish, add all the berries. Sprinkle with sugar and toss to coat. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- Add cabernet to berries and toss to combine.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Berries will be soft but not mushy.
- Meanwhile, slice baguette into slices about ½” thick. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then arrange bread slices on top.
- When the berries are done roasting, remove from the oven and put the baking sheet with the bread in the oven. Bake bread for 5 minutes, just until the tops are toasted.
- Serve berry compote with bread slices and mascarpone. Assemble by spreading mascarpone on toast and topping with compote.
Notes
- 3 cups of frozen, mixed berries can be used in place of fresh berries.
- In place of wine, use 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. In addition, let the berries sit in just the sugar for 5 extra minutes in step 2 (10 minutes total) before adding the wine.
- Mascarpone can be substituted for cream cheese or eliminated to be a vegan option.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Appetizer, Brunch, Dessert
- Cuisine: American, Breakfast
