One of the things I enjoyed most about the food on our last cruise was a different cold fruit soup which was featured every day. The cold fruit soups came in luscious fruit flavors; most of them slightly sweet like the fruit they were made of, and I loved every one of them. My husband, who isn’t an adventurous eater, refused even a taste, which meant I could have two servings to make up for what he wouldn't eat! Since I had made fruit soups several times in the past, I was familiar with how light and refreshing they can be. If you haven’t tried fruit soup, now is a good time to do so since several different varieties of local summer berries are at their peak in late summer.

A couple of years ago, I was testing recipes for a picnic class I was teaching, and I was making this fruit soup with fresh berries. My granddaughter, Isabella, liked that soup so much, she requested it to be served at her birthday dinner. I've served this fruit soup as a first course to a summer dinner, and also as a light dessert with cookies and brownies. It's always a hit and the bonus is that it's low in calories and fat (174 calories per serving with 1 gram of fat). Of course it's also very fast and easy, too!

I use a food processor to make this soup, but if you don’t have one, you can certainly chop the berries by hand. If you’re interested in saving time in the kitchen, however, it would be a good idea for you to invest in one of these wonderful appliances. You don’t have to purchase an expensive one; if you don’t like to cook and do as little as possible, you can get a decent processor for under $30 at discount stores. It will save you hours of prep time in the kitchen. Whichever method you use to make this soup, it will be a hit with everyone on a hot summer day.

Cold Berry Soup

 
8 Generous Servings

4 cups fresh berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, or a mix)
3 cups buttermilk
3 cups orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 dash ground cinnamon
1 dash freshly ground nutmeg

Place the berries in the processor and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped. Add the buttermilk, orange juice, sugar, honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg; pulse until well mixed. Cover and refrigerate until serving. This soup can be made up to two days ahead.