For most part, the category of soup is almost exclusively savory dishes. Fruit soups however, although they may be served at the beginning of a meal, are essentially sweet dishes. They may be thin and delicate or thickened and substantial.
Fruit soups actually have quite a long history, particularly in Scandinavian and Eastern European cuisines. Many of these traditional recipes are made with seasonal berries and stone fruits like cherries and apricots but any kind of dried fruit will work just as well.
While fruit soups can be served at room temperature, cold is especially nice when serving it as dessert. You can choose to make the soup with any one fruit or a combination of fruits. Of course, there are certain fruits that lend themselves naturally to soup. In addition to the fruits, they are often enriched with other ingredients such as yogurt, sour cream, milk or cream.
In 1959, the Campbell’s Soup Company produced fruit soups that were eaten hot or cold. The flavors included …. orange w/ apricots & white grapes, prune w/ oranges & apricots and black cherry w/ burgundy. Interesting! Who knew?!
Servings |
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- 2 cups dried fruit an example would be: 1/2 cup dried apples, 1/2 cup prunes, 1/2 cup apricots & 1/4 cup craisins
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 6 cups boiling hot water
- 3 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp potato starch
- 1/2 cup cold water
Ingredients
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- Rinse & drain dried fruit then transfer it to a large soup pot along with the cinnamon stick.
- Cover fruit with 6 cups boiling water. Cover with the lid & allow pot to sit off the heat for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, add 2-3 Tbsp honey or to taste, & place the pot back on the stove. Bring it to a boil then reduce heat & simmer on low for 5-7 minutes.
- Combine 2 Tbsp of potato starch with 1/2 cup cold water & slowly pour it into the soup pot while continuously stirring soup.
- Bring the pot back to a boil & immediately remove it from the heat. Serve warm or cold.
- Other dried fruit choices could be: mango * pineapple * cherries * pears * peaches * figs
- Star anise spice
Thanks this was a lovely read. I’ve been making this soup from memory for years and yours is the closest to what I make. So grateful for the background of the soup. My mom is German and some of my friends and family are Scandinavian. I’m the only one in my current circle that knows about this soup and I always serve it with rice pudding on new years eve.