Chef Klaus
Apfelschorle
Cloudy apple juice, sharp mineral water, and no sugar bowl: the German Schorle that belongs in school bags, beer gardens, picnic baskets, and the table when supper is quick.
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Erdbeerbowle
Created by
The garden-party Bowle of early summer: strawberries first sugared until they give their own syrup, then chilled wine and Sekt added without bruising the fruit.
Beverages
German
Dinner Party
Outdoor Dining
Celebration
20 min
Active Time
0 min cook•1 hr 20 min total
Yield8 servings
Erdbeerbowle belongs to the first proper strawberries, the garden table, the birthday in June, the Sunday afternoon that runs long into evening. Bowle means a wine-and-fruit punch, and this one isn't a cocktail-bar trick. It's ripe berries, sugar, white wine, and Sekt, the German sparkling wine, served cold from a bowl with a ladle.
Every house has its argument. In the north they keep it leaner, dry wine, less sugar, sometimes a splash of mineral water if the day is hot. In the south and west you'll see a sweeter bowl, more fruit, sometimes a little orange liqueur or elderflower syrup from the spring larder. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. I keep the berries in charge.
The technique is simple and it decides the drink: sugar the strawberries first and let them stand until they give juice. The sugar pulls liquid from the fruit, so the wine takes strawberry flavour without you crushing the berries into pulp. Pour wine straight over dry cut fruit and you get floating fruit salad with weak wine underneath. Das braucht seine Zeit, but not much.
Use real ripe berries and real Sekt. Nicht aus dem Glas, and not from a bottle of red syrup. Chill everything before it meets the bowl, add the Sekt last, and stir once with a light hand. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Bowle became a fixture of German middle-class entertaining in the 19th century, when punch bowls and imported sparkling wines moved from courtly tables into garden parties and Vereinsabende, the club evenings of civic life. Erdbeerbowle follows the domestic strawberry season, strongest in June, and sits beside Maibowle with Waldmeister as one of the classic spring-to-summer wine bowls. The regional split is less a fixed border than a house rule: northern versions often stay drier and sharper, while southern and Rhineland bowls more readily add sweetness, liqueur, or elderflower.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
ripe strawberries
Quantity
750g
hulled and halved or quartered
sugar
Quantity
60g
plus more only if the berries are tart
unwaxed lemon
Quantity
1
2 strips zest and 1 tablespoon juice
dry German white wine
Quantity
750ml
well chilled
dry Sekt
Quantity
750ml
well chilled
elderflower syrup or orange liqueur (optional)
Quantity
50ml
fresh mint or lemon balm (optional)
Quantity
small handful
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| ripe strawberrieshulled and halved or quartered | 750g |
| sugarplus more only if the berries are tart | 60g |
| unwaxed lemon2 strips zest and 1 tablespoon juice | 1 |
| dry German white winewell chilled | 750ml |
| dry Sektwell chilled | 750ml |
| elderflower syrup or orange liqueur (optional) | 50ml |
| fresh mint or lemon balm (optional) | small handful |
Equipment Needed
- •2.5 to 3 litre glass or footed Bowle bowl
- •Ladle
- •Small sharp knife
- •Chilled serving glasses
Instructions
- 1
Chill the drink
Put the white wine, Sekt, and serving bowl in the refrigerator at least two hours ahead. A Bowle is built cold because ice melts into it and thins the wine; cold bottles do the work without watering down the fruit.
- 2
Cut the berries
Hull the strawberries and cut small ones in half, large ones in quarters, so every piece gives juice at the same rate. Leave soft berries for jam, not the bowl; tired fruit collapses before the wine goes in and makes the drink cloudy.
- 3
Macerate with sugar
Put the strawberries in the cold bowl with the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice, then turn them gently and leave them 45 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator. The sugar draws out the berry juice and makes a red syrup, so the wine picks up strawberry flavour without you crushing the fruit.
Taste one berry before you add more sugar. Good June strawberries need less than people think; the Bowle should drink like wine with fruit in it, not lemonade. - 4
Add the wine
Pour the chilled white wine over the sugared strawberries and stir once, slowly, to lift the syrup from the bottom. Give it 10 minutes if you have them, because the wine needs a short rest with the fruit before the bubbles arrive.
- 5
Finish with Sekt
Add the cold Sekt just before serving and fold it through with one light pass of the ladle. Sekt goes in last because stirring it hard knocks out the bubbles and leaves you with flat sweet wine. Add elderflower syrup or orange liqueur only after tasting, then serve with fruit in every glass.
Chef Tips
- •Make this only when strawberries smell like strawberries before you buy them. Out of season, the bowl is shut; use apples in Schorle, juice cut with sparkling water, or a winter punch instead.
- •Use a dry white wine with good acidity, Riesling Kabinett trocken, Silvaner, or a dry Müller-Thurgau. A heavy oaked wine bullies the berries and tastes wrong in a cold bowl.
- •Sekt means German sparkling wine. Use a dry one and keep it cold; sweet Sekt plus sugared berries turns sticky before the second glass.
- •If you add elderflower syrup, add less sugar at the start. The syrup is already sweet, and sugar has a job here: drawing juice from the berries, not covering the wine.
Advance Preparation
- •Chill the wine, Sekt, bowl, and glasses up to one day ahead.
- •The strawberries can be cut and sugared 1 hour ahead. Do not leave them all afternoon, because the fruit softens and loses its shape.
- •Add the Sekt only at the table or just before guests arrive; bubbles don't wait politely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 300g)
Calories
230 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
10 mg
Total Carbohydrates
24 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
19 g
Protein
1 g
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