German Mascarpone Dessert with Grapes

If you’re looking for an awesome dessert that is easy to make, this German Mascarpone Dessert is it. You have a creamy, rich base and then make layers of the cream, grapes, and crumbled cookies. The grapes balance out the sweetness of the cream, and you get an amazing dessert combination that is as good as it is unique.

This is a well-known German dessert, at least in my circles. Like everyone makes this and with good reason. It is easy to make, comes together quick, and best of all, it tastes good. The recipe was first published by Thermomix. If you’ve never heard of Thermomix, basically, as Food and Wine puts it, it is “the world’s most powerful blender that also cooks and stirs.”

I don’t have a Thermomix as those things cost a LOT! But you can make a lot of their recipes using other gadgets. In this case, a normal electric hand mixer does the job awesome-ly!

For this mascarpone dessert recipe, I adjusted the amounts a bit in order to even out the numbers (if you’ve ever tried converting from grams into US cups or ounces you know what I mean. lol). I also reduced the sugar, because who needs extra sugar these days, right? Here is the original recipe in German if you’re interested: Trauben-Cookie-Creme-Dessert.

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Ingredients

Mascarpone – the Italian mascarpone cheese.

Quark – Quark is a smooth, cream-cheese like spread that was invented by the Germans. Here is a great page from Wisconsin Cheese with information on it as well well as a search function for companies that sell it in the US.

Whipping Cream – normal heavy whipping cream.

Grapes – the original recipe has green grapes, but any kind will work.

Chocolate chip cookies – these should be crispy cookies (as opposed to chewy) because they need to be crumbled in this recipe. Here are some from Trader Joe’s (available on Amazon) if you have a hard time finding crunchy cookies at the store.

Vanilla Sugar – this is a very popular sugar in Germany. If you don’t have any, just used powdered sugar and add some vanilla extract to your whipped cream.

Mascarpone Dessert Recipe

Start off by washing your grapes. Let them dry off, or dry with a towel. Remove from stems.

Using a zip lock bag, crush the chocolate chip cookies (I love using these Grip Stick bag sealers on a normal plastic bag as zip lock bags are not as widespread here in Germany and they are expensive!). Set both aside.

In a medium sized bowl, combine mascarpone cheese, quark and sugar. Beat with an electric hand mixer until the sugar is well-incorporated (about 3-5 minutes). Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream and vanilla sugar until done. See my post on making whipped cream for all the detailed information on this process.

Once the whipped cream is done, transfer the mascarpone and quark mixture into the whipped cream (or the whipped cream into the other mixture, whichever bowl is bigger:)) Beat for another minute until everything is well combined. The cream will be thick and very smooth.

Layer, the grapes, cream, and cookie crumbs into a dessert glass (my glasses are something like these). Keep layering until the glasses are full.

Mascarpone Dessert for a Crowd

Alternatively, you can serve everything in one big bowl. Keep the cream in the bowl and when ready to serve, layer all the grapes on the top of the cream mixture and cover with the cookie crumbs. Have dessert bowls and a big serving spoon ready on the side for serving.

This is a perfect way to make a big batch of this dessert and feed a crowd. You can also set the cream, grapes, and cookies separately and let everyone serve themselves and take as much or little of each item as they want.

Can I prepare this mascarpone dessert ahead of time?

Yes, you can prepare the dessert 1 day ahead of serving. Prepare the cream, crush the cookies, wash the grapes and store the cream and the grapes separately and covered in the fridge. The cookie crumbs can be stored covered on the counter. Combine the grapes and cookie crumbs with the cream before serving.

When preparing the dessert glasses, put these together a few hours ahead, cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

How to store this mascarpone dessert?

Store any leftovers of dessert covered in the fridge. The dessert will keep for 2-3 days (if you make the cream ahead of time, don’t keep it longer than 2 days). Note that the cream might have liquid separating after it stands. You can stir it together again before serving.

Additional Creamy and Tasty Desserts

• AWESOME GERMAN QUARK DESSERT WITH STRAWBERRIES
• GREEK YOGURT COCONUT CHIA DESSERT

Lastly, if you make this German Mascarpone Dessert with Grapes, make sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating here! I’d love to hear back from you and will do my best to answer and respond to every comment. And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram if you make this recipe. I’d love to see the photos of the recipes you have made!