Blueberry Soup with Mascarpone and Tarragon

[ts]
This is quite the departure for us, seeing as we
a) don't really make/eat desserts, and
b) remain unconvinced (especially JS) about the genre of "dessert soup."

We never really got into those Chinese "desserts" that come in soup format. Thinking about it, I'm not really into "Chinese desserts", in general.

[js]
It took me quite a long time to just even warm up to the idea of Chinese dessert soups. Or one dessert soup in particular, the red bean soup which I usually have with evaporated milk. (I ask for milk, which renders me very strange to the servers). I don't usually have the other kinds of Chinese dessert soups.

[ts]
However, the recipe sounded pretty easy, so we thought, "Why not?"


This Blueberry Soup is a recipe from the restaurant where I used to work. It was developed by pastry chef Dawne Gourley.

Actually, more accurately, it's from the cookbook: Simply Bishop'sby John Bishop (owner of Bishop's and "local celebrity") and Dennis Green (the executive chef during my stint). We never had this soup on the menu when I was there.

(Oh, I realize now that this soup was the reason we bought tarragon in the first place.)

It's one of those treasured dump-into-a-pot dishes. In the pot goes blueberries, lemon zest and juice, sugar, white wine, water, tarragon and thyme. All it needs is about 5-10 minutes worth of cooking, just until the blueberries soften.



When the mixture has cooled a little, everything gets blended with mascarpone.


Then it needs to chill.


This was quite nice. I liked the body the mascarpone lent to the soup. Personally, though, I would up the tarragon flavor... probably doubling the amount of tarragon. And I'll also lessen the sugar just a tad.

I am still not wholly convinced about a dessert "soup"; I couldn't drink a whole serving of it. Perhaps I would adapt this to make a drink instead. =)


Chilled Blueberry Soup with Tarragon and Mascarpone
from Simply Bishop's
Makes 4 servings

2 cups fresh blueberries
2 lemons, zest and juice
1/2 cup white sugar or honey
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup water
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 cup mascarpone cheese
plain yogurt for garnish

Place blueberries, lemon zest and juice, sugar (or honey), white wine, water, tarragon and thyme into a soup pot. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat; simmer, uncovered, until fruit is soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from the stove and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Transfer to a blender or food processor and add mascarpone cheese. Purée until smooth. Refrigerate until completely chilled.

To serve, ladle soup into slightly chilled bowls and garnish with a swirl of yogurt in the centre.

[ts]
When I was typing, I made a typo and wrote "To serve, ladle soup into slightly chipped bowls." Bwahahaha. I found that highly amusing.


We're submitting this to Sugar High Fridays, created by Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess.

This BERRIES edition is hosted by Susan of Food Blogga.

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