All posts by Susie Stuklis

What’s Cooking? … Kirsch Suppe

There is something quite decadent about cherries.   In Australia, leading up to Christmas, cherries are in season.  They look wonderful on the table.  So festive.  As lovely as cherries are to eat when fresh, I really think they come into their own when they are cooked.

As a child, my mother would often make kirsch Suppe (cherry soup) or compote.  It’s delicious served cold on a hot day as a dessert, breakfast or a refreshing afternoon snack.  The cherries can be pitted or un-pitted, depending on time.

Rather than reaching for a commercial snack or complicated dessert, try some cherry soup or compote.

And don’t be put off by it being called a “soup”.  A soup is just food in a liquid, only in this case I think it sounds better in German “Kirsch Suppe”.

ThIs is how I do it.

Kirsch Suppe

Ingredients
8 cups of washed and stemmed cherries
1/2 a cup of sugar (more or less to taste)
water to come about 3/4 of the way up on the cherries
Method
After the cherries have been washed and stemmed.  If you have the time and equipment you can stone them too.  Set into a medium saucepan.  Barely cover them with water, about 3/4 of the way up the sides of the cherries.  Not too much as the cherries will relax into the ‘Suppe’, once they are cooked.  Add the sugar.
Set on the stove on very low.  Try not to disturb them.  Let the cherries very gradually come up to a simmer.  Then turn off and cover.  Allow to cool.
Enjoy a bowl of Kirsch Suppe, with natural yoghurt, cream or ice-cream if desired.
Don’t forget to offer a small bowl for the stones!