Are Fresh or Frozen Berries Best for Compote?

I’ve made so many cakes with berries and berry compote. It’s one of my favorite cake fillings! And I’ve made the compote in several different ways. If you’ve baked a cake with a berry compote, you may often wonder, are fresh or frozen berries best for compote? This post will cover which one is best and the tricks for using each method!

Summer is the best time to incorporate berries into your baking because they are at their peak season. You could buy the sweetest blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries right now!

The latest cake I’ve made where I use berries is my Berry Good Hazelnut Ricotta Cake. I know it’s not the most common cake flavor, but it’s actually so good! I’ll list a few more cake recipe ideas using berries and berry compote in this post as we talk about whether fresh or frozen berries are best for compote. Alright, let’s get started!

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Best Tips & Tricks for Making Berry Compote

Thankfully, berry compote is pretty simple to make and only requires a few ingredients. My recipe includes whatever type of berry you want to use, granulated sugar, lemon juice, water, and corn starch. And all you do is combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan! Just make sure to check my full recipes when making because there are some differentiating details depending on what cake you’re making.

I recommend sifting your corn starch before adding it to your saucepan to give you the best results. After adding all the ingredients to the saucepan, heat all of the ingredients to a boil and let it boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The berries should burst and the liquid will thicken. (The trick for knowing when it’s done is if it will coat your spoon well.) And the last step is to strain your seeds.

One of the many reasons I love berry compote for a cake filling is because it can be made in advance. It’s actually better if you do make it ahead of time! You can make it and then store it in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of weeks. When you’re ready to use it in your cake, you just pull it out of the fridge and it’s ready to go!

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Are Fresh or Frozen Berries Best for Compote?

To be honest, fresh or frozen berries both work great for berry compote. The trick is knowing how to balance the rest of the ingredients depending on which one you use. For example, in my Berry Good Hazelnut Ricotta Cake, I recommend halving the amount of water you use for the compote if you are using frozen berries. But in my Old Fashioned Blueberry Delight Cake, you don’t necessarily need to do that. So just pay attention to the full recipes when baking your cakes!

I’ve tested out different methods and believe me, the recipes I list on my website are what have brought me the most pleasing results! So, don’t stress about needing to use fresh or frozen berries. Just do what works best for you. But I also encourage you to not miss out on the sweetness of the fresh berries when they are in their peak season!

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I hope you got some of your questions answered when wondering about fresh or frozen berries for your compote. Come follow me on Instagram @cakebycourtney for more tips and tricks on all things cake! And here are a few more cake recipes that use berry compote that I promised you: