Once on a hot summer's day, I was searching the streets of Budapest, Hungry, for an apartment where a Christian contact was awaiting our arrival. We called the telephone number that we had been given, but no one answered. Our instructions, as young missionaries working in a Communist country behind the iron curtain, were to find a local cafe and wait one hour until we called again. (Sometimes if the secret police were near by, and a family was expecting us, the hosts would not answer the phone in order to warn us to stay away.) And so, my friend and I found a tiny, smoky cafe and entered to see if we could find something delicious to eat while we were waiting. We found a tiny, round table in the corner with a lovely woven traditional flowered table cloth, fresh carnations in a red clay vase and soft music wafting in the background. Seems we had found a jewel of a place.
Our waitress immediately knew we were Americans and talked to us in broken English. We asked her if they had a specialty. Her reply was, "Have you had our cold raspberry soup?"
I had never heard of any kind of berry soup, but we couldn't speak a word of Hungarian and as berries were in season, we took a chance.
Heaven couldn't have produced better fare for us that day! Light, sweet with a touch of sour, whip cream and berries--all cold and smooth.
Every Christmas when I have friends over for lunch, we always have cold raspberry soup as the starter--red for Christmas and special for a unique tradition--a favorite taste of our family and a celebration whenever we eat it. So here is my recipe:
Chilled Raspberry Soup
Ingredients
2 bags frozen raspberries or around 18-20 ounces. I thaw them the day before I make the soup in my fridge.
1-1/2 cups water
1/4 cup white zinfandel or sweeter wine (if desired--not necessary) Do not use a very sour cooking wine.
1 cup cranberry apple juice or cranberry -raspberry juice
1/2 -1 cup of sugar to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground cloves
1 -2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (8 ounce) container raspberry yogurt (I use Greek yoghurt)
whipped cream or sour cream--depending on preference
Directions
In a blender, puree raspberries, water and wine if desired. (Taste to see if it is the right consistency for you--some like it thick, some like it thinner--juice or water will thin it.) Transfer to a large saucepan; add the cran-raspberry juice, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. (I have had sweet raspberries and some that were sour. If they are sour, they will need a little bit more sugar. Be sure it blends in.)
Bring just to a boil over medium heat.
Remove from the heat; strain if you want it totally smooth, and allow to cool. (I grind my raspberries so much in the blender that you cannot notice the seeds, but sometimes cooks strain the seeds out to make it totally smooth.) Whisk in lemon juice and yogurt. Refrigerate long enough to cool. To serve, pour into small bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream.
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This is a simple treat to enjoy--we put a big dollop of whip cream on top of our soup--yuuummmmmm!! Enjoy.
The soup is best served cold so allow at least 2 hours in the fridge to cool off--or over night as it is so lovely when chilled. As to servings, that depends! Sometimes I serve it in little fruit cups, so it goes a long way. Just figure out about how many ounces everything adds up to and divide it by the size of bowl you want it to serve. (In other words, if you do one batch and it is 32 oz of raspberries, 3-4 cups liquid (another 32 ounces) then you have 10 6 ounce servings (which would be large) or more if you do smaller bowls.
Enjoy and use as a tradition--it is a surprise whenever I serve it to people who have never heard of it and it is delicious and nutritious!
(This recipe and more are in my Lifegiving Table Book--as well as other favorite recipes our kids love and traditions in the Home book, as well as other rhythms of life in Different--a great trilogy.)
