cherry soup

Rainier cherry soup with ginger, vanilla, lime and raspberries

For 4 people

You need:

• 1 pound Rainier cherries, pitted
• Plain yogurt or vanilla ice-cream, to serve

For the syrup:

• 1.5 cups water
• 1/3 cup (80 g) blond cane sugar
• 1-inch piece of ginger root, peeled and diced
• 1 vanilla bean, split open and seeds scraped out
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 cup raspberries

Steps:

• Combine all the syrup ingredients in a pot and bring to a simmer, making sure the sugar is dissolved. Stop the heat, cover and let infuse for 30 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and transfer the syurp to a blender to puree. Strain through a chinois to remove the seeds and transfer to the pot again with the pieces of vanilla bean you previously removed. Reheat.
• Poach the cherries for 5 to 8 minutes in the warm syrup. Let the cherries cool in the syrup before putting in the fridge. Serve with plain yogurt or vanilla ice cream. But the soup is also delicious on its own.