Put Evans Cherries to Yummy Use: Try Hungarian Sour Cherry Soup

Monique B.

Hungarian sour cherry soup!

Faced several years ago with more than a 100 lb harvest myself, my kitchen became an Evans cherry test kitchen. After many recipes and experiments, making a sour cherry sauce to go with pork is easy and delicious, but it is the soup that has now become a staple around my table.

It is a bit of an effort to pit and can the cherries, but once done your appetizer/dessert is ready in less than a minute. I use a standard 1:4 syrup to can the cherries and sometimes I use our fabulous Alberta honey.

There are several recipes for this Hungarian specialty, but I use this one most often because I can make it year-round. Maybe it is my Slavic heritage, but one bowl just tastes like more to me.

Hungarian Sour Cherry Soup

For two 1lb cans of sour cherries use:

• 1 cup sour cream (lite works fine)
• ¼ cup sugar (or to taste)
• ¼ cup port/sherry/liqueur
• Drain the syrup from the cherries into a bowl. Whisk the remaining ingredients into the syrup. Then stir the cherries back into the mixture. Chill thoroughly. Chilling the bowls is nice too, especially on a hot summer day.

To serve as an authentic Hungarian appetizer, I would sweeten it less. But served as a dessert, it goes nicely with tea and cookies. Thanks for the cherries, Dr. Evans!

Monique B. is an EHS member and local gardener who responded to our call for stories and recipes. Thanks, Monique.

 

(Originally published in Gardener's Gate, November/December 2009.)