Make Fruit Soups
Nothing provides the tantalizing refreshment of chilled fruit soup on a hot summer's day, topped with delicate sheets of puff pastry or delectably-sweet pound cake croûtons. A delicious first course for your summer meal or a healthful dessert that will wow your guests, serving fruit soup will have them thinking you're secretly taking classes in gourmet food preparation.
Instructions
1. Prepare your fruit soup base. This is the pureed goodness that will create the underlying flavor and texture of your soup. Cantaloupe is a good choice but use your creativity and select flavorful fruits. Strawberry, watermelon, peaches and apricots all make a refreshing base.
2. Process your base fruit in a food processor or a blender until smooth. Since this is the biggest ingredient in your fruit soup, choose a large amount of one fruit, like cantaloupe or a combination of fruits, such as peaches, apricots and bananas.
3. Dice your feature fruits. Choose fruit flavors that compliment your soup base. Dice two or more fruits into small chunks, approximately ½-inch in diameter to provide taste and texture to your soup. Sprinkle lemon juice over freshly diced fruits to prevent discoloring. Use 1 teaspoon of lemon juice for every quart of diced fruit and stir to distribute evenly.
4. Combine colors as well as flavors. The basic rule here is to avoid blending greens and reds in the soup base, which results in a tasty but unattractive brownish soup. However, you may prepare a strawberry base and add diced green grapes without affecting the overall color.
5. Mix your diced feature fruits into the base, stir and allow to chill, covered, in the refrigerator for at least one hour but no more than four hours, before serving.
6. Garnish your fruit soup with delicate orbs of baked puff pastry or small cubes of lightly-browned pound cake. Add a sprig of fresh mint for a refreshing touch that your guests will love.
Tags: fruit soup, soup base, your fruit, your fruit soup, your soup, feature fruits