Don’t be put off by the Pepto-Bismol color! This is a yummy cold soup made with fresh sour cherries, now in season in Michigan (America’s sour cherry capital!)
We’ve had a cherry tree in our yard for at least 20 years, but we rarely get to enjoy the fruit. In the past, many of the cherries were infested with fruit fly larvae, which looked like tiny white worms. I discovered this when, after I pitted a large quantity of cherries in preparation for making a pie, I noticed the bowl of fruit moving on its own. YUCK! I had to throw away the whole bowlful.
In subsequent years I would inspect every cherry carefully as I pitted it and had to throw away half or more because of the worms.
Last year, because of a late frost, our tree produced not a single cherry.
This year, for whatever reason, the fruit flies had pity on us. A few cherries were infested, but many fewer than in the past. I was able to pick more than three quarts of cherries. I gave one to a friend in exchange for a bunch of rhubarb from his garden, I froze one, and I used the rest to make this super soup.
You can use plain Greek yogurt instead of the sour cream. When I made it a few weeks ago, all I had was vanilla Greek yogurt, so I used that and reduced the amount of sugar a little bit.
Ingredients:
6 cups water
1 lb. fresh sour cherries, pitted (about 3 cups)
¾ cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbs. flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tsp. confectioners’ sugar
Directions:
In a large saucepan, cook cherries with water and sugar until cherries are soft, about 10 minutes. In a medium bowl, mix sour cream with flour, salt and confectioners’ sugar until smooth.
Add about a half-cup of the hot cherry liquid to the sour cream mixture and whisk until smooth. Slowly add the sour cream mixture to the saucepan with the cherries, and stir or whisk until the liquid is smooth. Simmer for 5 minutes but don’t boil.
Cool to room temperature. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the soup so that a skin doesn’t form and refrigerate at least one hour.
Serve cold as a first course or as a dessert. You may want to add a dollop of sour cream or whipped cream.
Serves 6
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Bobbie–looks yunmy. Any substition suggestions for paleo and lactose free diet, specifically the flour and sour cream and to decrease sugar? Coconut milk and sweet cherries? Is flour a thickener??
You can experiment! The flour is a thickener; you could use cornstarch instead. In place of the sour cream you could use Tofutti “Better Than Sour Cream” or plain soy yogurt. Or you could make it without the real or fake sour cream or yogurt and use almond or coconut milk but you might need a little more thickener. It might be good without the real or fake dairy altogether — just water, sweetener and something to thicken it a bit. Good luck!