Cold Berry Soup Recipe - Suzie the Foodie

For weeks now I have been waking up trying to come up with a recipe for Cold Berry Soup. You see, in the last issue of Victoria Magazine they had a section dedicated to cold soups for the summer. I saw the Old-Fashion Strawberry Soup recipe and thought, no, that is not right. That is a smoothie, not a soup.

I was comparing it to the berry soup I had on our cruise five years ago. I had won a contest and we did a Caribbean cruise on a very elegant ship and the food was out of this world. One night I ordered the berry soup and to my joy, it was the most delicious and refreshing dish I had ever had in my life. But it was not like Victoria’s soup, unfortunately. It was not thick and it certainly did not have balsamic vinegar in it. So I started to obsess and think and remember…what did it taste like exactly?

I did not get it down perfectly but this Cold Berry Soup is still pretty darn fantastic. It is a lot lighter than the one I had on the cruise ship and as a result I had to add a lot of the strawberry syrup to boost the flavour which gave it a crazy pink colour! So lovely though. Food can bring such joy.

THE STRAWBERRY SYRUP

I started with fresh local strawberries. I washed and hulled 2 cups of strawberries. I added 1/2 cup of water and a 1/2 cup of sugar. In a small bowl I mixed 1 tsp of cornstarch with about 2 tsp of water. I brought everything to a boil, added the cornstarch mixture, turned down the heat and let it simmer/thicken for five minutes. During this time I mashed the berries a little. Then I cooled the mixture down and then strained it, pushing the remaining juice out of the berries with a ladle. I chilled the syrup completely in the fridge.

THE FRUIT

I got about a cup of clean and hulled strawberries and blueberries and sliced them in half and sprinkled sugar on top to help the sugar draw the liquid out of the berries and soften them up while the syrup was chilling.

THE “SOUP”

You can change the ratio of dairy to syrup to suit your needs. This ratio is sweet and colourful and makes enough for one serving:

1/4 cup of strawberry syrup

2 tbsp of light cream

1/2 cup of skim milk

Combine soup components together and then ladle on top of the macerated berries and enjoy!

I am sure that on the ship they used heavy cream and less syrup but I am trying to be healthier since I would like to have this recipe every day of the summer!

When I sat in the elegant dining room wearing my evening gown indulging in this soup, I felt transported to prettier times when dinner was a beautiful and thoughtful ritual. And food was precious, treats were rare.

And as I ate my version of this soup, I was transported back to my happier days, if only for a little while.

Comments

Tracy says
July 9, 2009 at 1:19 pm
It looks so pretty! 🙂
Tess says
July 9, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Mmmm, this looks delish. I just bought some strawberries but have no other berries at the moment. Will have to try it some other time.
Suzy says
July 9, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Fruit soup is standard Finnish fare. I’ll look for some recipes.
April Horsman says
July 10, 2009 at 12:32 am
Oh my soul that sounds amazing!
Thanks for that! I’m from NS too but found you on http://www.foodgawker.com 🙂
April
This Guy says
July 10, 2009 at 3:36 am
Mmmmmmm beautiful and I bet tasty!! 🙂 I am going to try this one forsure! and the berry Paninis look amazing! 🙂
Thanks for the tip with the lamp! It needs a GOOD cleansing forsure! lol
comfycook says
July 10, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Your photographs are stunning and your recipes are delightful.
I love all those berries.

Comments

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