I have a friend who works a lot in Hungary. And of course, she is posting beautiful pictures from Budapest and about what she eats there. One day she posted a picture of this red, delicious looking soup. I asked her what is it? She told me that it was a cold soup made from sour cherries. Not a dessert but appetizer. Interesting…! It would be perfect for lunch when it is hot like now!

So, curious person that I am, I started to do some research. There are not many recipes translated into German or English so I kinda had to learn little Hungarian too. Not so difficult since Finnish is related to Hungarian. Yeah right!!! T.G for Google translate! This is a combination of several recipes, that I found. Hope you like it, because I am in love with it! The added bonus right now,is that the cherries in our yard are ripe. So I didn’t need to go far to get the ingredients.

This is what you will need:

• 700 g sour cherries
• 5 dl sour cream
• 150 g sugar
• 1,5l water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3-4  whole cloves
• 1 tsp salt
• corn or potato starch to thicken the soup

METHOD

1. Remove the pits from the cherries (you can leave them too if they do not bother you)
2. In a large saucepan, bring the 1,5l of water, sugar, cloves, vanilla and cinnamon stick to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add the cherries and a pinch of salt and simmer for another 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the cinnamon stick.
4. To eliminate the corn/potato starch slurry while you stir it into the soup, start by stirring the corn/potato starch into the 2 tablespoons of water, then stir corn/potato starch into 5 dl sour cream. Whisk a little of the simmering soup into the sour cream and then quickly whisk the slurry into the simmering cherries. Simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes to thicken the soup a little.
5. Remove the soup from heat and set aside to cool down a bit. Then place the soup into the refrigerator to chill thoroughly.
6.  Ladle into individual bowls and serve.

NOTE: If you like, just before serving to add 2dl dry sherry into the soup. This gives even more taste and depth to it.

VARIATIONS: Stir in 0,5l of chilled red wine (preferably Hungarian), rosé wine or dry sherry with the cream. Or to add even more flavor, save the cherry pits. Wrap them in a towel and pound with a hammer to crack them. Tie them up in a piece of cheesecloth and simmer along with the cherries. Remove along with the cinnamon stick.