Danish Fruit Soup Recipe

I'm a regular user of the recipes section of allotment.org.uk and thought I'd send one I picked up whilst travelling in Denmark. It's prefect for this time of year and can be used with any tart fruit, not just elderberries. It's a great way to use up a glut of blackcurrants, or even rhubarb.

Ingredients:

• 1½ litres of water
• 1 kg fresh elderberries
• 2 apples
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 whole cloves
• 100g sugar
• zest of one lemon

Method:

1. Rinse the berries and remove them from the branch. Peel and slice the apple into wedges.
2. Boil the berries, water, spices and apples under a lid for 20 minutes.
3. Strain the juice off with a sieve and boil this again, together with however much sugar you feel the soup needs.

Serve with crushed rusks, toasted oatmeal or bread cubes, apple boats or dumplings cooked in the soup for 3-5 minutes.

My mother-in-law says she used to eat this as a child, dipping pears in instead of bread. Not only is it delicious, but it also uses up lots of fruit that would otherwise never be given a second-thought these days.