Cold Peach Soup

By corlear

Soupe aux Pêches
This is really a fantasy adapted from an old French recipe. You may also serve it as a dessert poured directly over slices of pound cake and decorated with whipped cream. As a soup, it wi1l surprise and delight your guests if they like the unusual.

Ingredients

• 11/2 cups water
• 4 cloves
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 stick cinnamon, broken into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch, diluted with
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 11/2 cups dry white wine
• 31/2 pounds ripe peaches (about 12 peaches)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Preparation

Step 1

Place the water, cloves, sugar, and cinnamon in a small kettle and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes and add the cornstarch diluted in water, stirring with a wire whisk to blend the starch with the syrup. Bring the syrup to a boil again and set aside. Let cool.

When cold, add the wine to the syrup and refrigerate.

Clean the peaches (remove the skin with a knife or dip the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds before peeling by hand). You may also make the soup without peeling the peaches. Split them lengthwise and remove the pits. Slice 2 cups of the nicest peaches (these will be served as a garnish in the soup) and set aside.

Place the remaining peaches in the blender, puree them, and add to the syrup with the reserved slices. Refrigerate overnight or for a few hours before serving. Whip the cream and set aside.

At serving time, fill individual bowls, sprinkle the blueberries on the soup, and top with a generous tablespoon of whipped cream.