Sour Cherry Soup

Sour cherry soup, or meggyleves in Hungarian, is the chilled fruit soup that defines summer in Central European kitchens. It walks the line between starter and dessert, served ice-cold in shallow bowls before the main meal or instead of it. Two pounds of pitted sour cherries get cooked down with sugar and a cinnamon stick, blended smooth, then thinned with water and finished with dry red wine and a generous pour of cold heavy cream.

The wine and cream go in last and only after the soup is fully chilled. That sequencing matters. Heat would curdle the cream and dull the wine’s tannic brightness.

This is one of those dishes that confuses Americans the first time they taste it (cold sweet soup with cream and wine?) but converts them by the second bowl. The flavor is tart, creamy, faintly spiced, and absolutely refreshing.

Pro Tips

• Use real sour cherries (Morello, Montmorency, or canned tart cherries packed in water) not sweet Bing cherries. Sweet cherries make the soup cloying without the necessary acid.
• Slurry the flour in cold water before adding to prevent lumps. The flour thickens the soup just enough to feel like soup, not juice.
• Chill thoroughly before adding the wine and cream. At minimum 4 hours, ideally overnight.
• Use cold cream straight from the fridge. Room-temperature cream can streak and curdle when stirred into wine-acidified soup.

Variations

• Skip the wine for a kid-friendly version and add a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice instead for brightness.
• Add 2 tablespoons of brandy or kirsch cherry brandy along with the wine for more depth.
• Stir in a half teaspoon of ground cardamom or a vanilla bean for a more aromatic soup.