My mother-in-law was born in Hungary in a little town outside of Budapest called Sopron (shO-prone). A long journey of a story has taken my husband, children, and me there to visit the family.
We always have cherry soup when we visit. Cherries are my favorite fruit so I eat this a lot! A base of sour cherries (a Hungarian specialty) and sour cream, I have had it barely sweet and very sweet, cold and warm, spiced and not, as a side or main dish or dessert!
Because I am me, I had to tweak tonight's dinner. I started with
1 lb frozen sour cherries from a farm in Savoy and
6 c water.
I fiddled by adding:
1/4 c sugar
a splash of lemon juice
a healthy pinch of salt
1/4 c Black Berry & Currant Shrub (by us)
If you want spices, add them at this step: cinnamon, spicebush, elderberry, star anise, cloves, allspice, sassafrass, rose petals, chamomile, a handful of elderflowers....
I cooked the cherries for 10 minutes over medium heat.
PEROGIES
In a separate bowl, I mixed
2 tbsp flour and
1 c sour cream until smooth.
I also have thickened this soup with a tablespoon of corn starch or potato starch with 1/4c of cherry juice OR beating an egg and tempering it.
Once the cherry liquid is cooked, I tempered the sour cream mixture by adding a tablespoon of the hot cherry liquid and mixing well. When the sour cream mixture was warm, I added it to the rest of liquid.
I simmered for 5 min or so to cook the flour and thicken the soup (but do not boil).
You can serve the soup right away, or chill it.
Our latest favorite has been warm cherry soup with sweet cheese perogies. I added the perogies and cooked them until they floated where it says, "PEROGIES" above.
And dinner is served in 20 minutes!
And I am going to try this version next: