Blåbärssoppa (Swedish Wild Blueberry Soup)

Blåbärssoppa is a quintessential Swedish summer dessert and an old favourite at midsummer gatherings. Made from the intensely flavoured wild blueberries (blåbär) that carpet the forest floor across Scandinavia, the soup is gently simmered with lemon and cardamom, then chilled and served with a cloud of lightly whipped cream. It bridges the worlds of dessert soup and semifreddo, and is gloriously refreshing after a rich midsummer feast.

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Soup:

• 600g (1 lb 5 oz) fresh or frozen wild blueberries
• 700ml (3 cups) cold water
• 80g (3 oz / 6½ tbsp) caster sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp (10g) potato starch (or cornstarch) dissolved in 2 tbsp cold water

To serve:

• 200ml (¾ cup) double cream (heavy cream), chilled
• 1 tbsp (8g) icing sugar
• ½ tsp (1.5g) ground cardamom
• Fresh mint leaves

Instructions

1. Combine the blueberries, water, sugar, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and lemon zest in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium heat, then simmer for 8–10 minutes until the berries have completely broken down.
2. Remove the cinnamon and cardamom pods. Using a hand blender or food processor, blend until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve for a silky result, pressing well to extract all the juice. Return to the pan.
3. Stir the potato starch mixture into the warm soup and bring back to a gentle boil, stirring constantly, for 1–2 minutes until lightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
4. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate until completely cold, at least 2 hours.
5. Whip the cream with icing sugar and ground cardamom to soft peaks.
6. Ladle the chilled soup into small deep bowls. Top with a generous spoonful of cardamom cream and a few fresh mint leaves.

Cook's Notes: Wild blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) are smaller and more intensely flavoured than cultivated varieties and are available frozen in Nordic and specialist grocery stores. The soup can be made 2 days ahead. For a frozen version, pour the finished soup into ice lolly moulds before adding cream.