Snowballs at Night Soup

From Alison True

In honor of our recent inch of snow — and our looming ice storm — here’s Alison’s take on a traditional Scandinavian  blueberry soup with bourbon whipped cream, a recipe she borrowed from Tre Kronor owner Patti Rasmussen and prepared for our January 16 “Neighbors to the North” soup night. At its most basic the soup is simply cooked blueberries with water and a bit of OJ to give it a tang. The other ingredients add nuance and depth and should be added in whatever quantities you like. Says Alison, “I make the soup rather tart and the cream quite sweet, so sweetness and fat are discretionary.”

Ingredients
2 pounds frozen blueberries
OJ to taste
water
juice of one lemon
juice of one lime
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
honey
cinnamon

1 pint heavy cream
2-4 Tablespoons sugar
bourbon

Preparation
Place frozen berries in a saucepan and just cover with some combo of OJ and water. (More OJ = more intense).

Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook it for at least 30 minutes, adding water as needed. Longer adds flavor, but don’t let it cook down to mush. While berries are still solid the matrix should be thin.

Use an immersion blender (watch out for splashes!) to puree most of the berries. Traditional recipes leave about half solid, but I like a smoother consistency. Cook down or add water to achieve desired consistency.

Somewhere along the way add the juice of a lemon (and a lime if you’ve got one), 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and honey (or sugar) and cinnamon to taste.

To make whipped cream:  Beat a pint of heavy cream in a metal bowl (chilled if possible) with hand mixer or immersion blender. Toward finish add 2-4 T of sugar (then separate out some quantity for the kids) and a shot or two of bourbon. Whip till dipped spoon leaves very stiff peaks. Store in fridge.

Serve soup warm or cold. Spoon cream snowballs with a melon baller or small ice cream scoop.