Blueberry & strawberry compote

What the heck is a compote anyway?? We've all seen it on menus and thought "Oh, it comes with a compote. What is that? Is it like compost? I don't think I want to eat compost" and then ordered the eggs, right?

Wikipedia says "Compote is a dessert...made of whole or pieces of fruit in sugar syrup. Whole fruits are immersed in water and with sugar and spices added to the dish, over gentle heat." The Kitchen Witch says its an awesome topper to pancakes, french toast and crepes!

Trying to decide on a dinner that everyone in the house will like and won't take much time or require a store run, is sometimes difficult. Pancakes are something that I know everyone, even the preschooler, will love. But what do you do about the syrup when you're a no high fructose corn syrup type of household?

Sure, there's pure maple syrup, but man, that stuff is expensive! And frankly, the stuff that my local grocery stocks isn't that great, either. Its way too sweet and doesn't have much maple flavor. That's when I remembered that I had berries galore in the fridge. Thank you BOGO sales! A blueberry and strawberry fruit compote with pancakes, just what the Witch ordered!

This pancake topper is super simple to make - I'm not just saying that, it really is! It cooks in the same amount of time that my sausage and pancakes cooked in, which is fantastic. And since I'm standing at the stove already, really there's no additional effort put forth other than dumping some ingredients into a pan & stirring every now & then! Pure Kitchen Witchcraft :-)

Blueberry and Strawberry fruit compote
serves 3-4
1 pint blueberries
1/2 lb strawberries
1/4 c sugar
1 t lemon juice
zest from lemon (optional)
1/4 c water

Dump everything into a heavy bottomed pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium high and boil for 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes and scraping down the sides of the pan.

Compote is done when bubbles get large (this means the sugars are concentrating) and the syrup is nice & thick. It will thicken additionally as it cools.

Serve over pancakes, French toast or anything that needs a yummy berry touch. Cheesecake would be incredible!


As you can see she liked the compote, too

Nutrition Facts
3 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 162.3
Total Fat 0.3 g
Saturated Fat 0.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 8.8 mg
Potassium 245.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 40.9 g
Dietary Fiber 5.4 g
Sugars 30.5 g
Protein 1.4 g