Serves 4
This richly flavored cold soup is a refreshing way to begin or end a meal on a hot summer day. It has the consistency of a pudding.
- 4 cups ripe raspberries
- 4 cups ripe red currants
- Handful of fresh flowers of high mallow or its varieties
- 4 cups cold water
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 11/2 cups sugar
- Whipped cream for garnish
- Whole fresh flowers for garnish
- In a large pot, combine the raspberries, currants, mallow flowers and water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer 5 minutes, or until the fruit is tender.
- Mash the berries and flowers and strain, reserving the juice. In a cup, dissolve the cornstarch in 1/2 cup cold water. Stir the sugar into the juice, bring the mixture to a boil and stir in the dissolved cornstarch.
- Simmer the soup over low heat, stirring constantly, until it is thickened. Pour it into individual custard cups and chill. Top each serving with whipped cream and a fresh mallow flower.
Jo Ann Gardner lives with her husband on a working farm on Cape Breton Island in northeastern Nova Scotia, where she grows heirloom flowers. She is the author of The Heirloom Garden (Pownal, Vermont: Storey Communications, 1992).
Click here for the original article, Beautiful Mallows.
