Ever tasted cold fruit soup? Kisseli is family favorite!

In Finland and other Scandinavian countries, fruit soup is a part of summer and another way to use the fresh fruit of the season. Last week we attended a Midsummer's Party and along with many tasty dishes 2 types of Fruit Soup -- rhubarb and apricot were served. I've always made the rhubarb version which has been a family favorite as long as I can remember. I have yet to make the apricot version, but it should be about as simple as substituting which fruit you use in the recipe below. When I visited Lappland one summer, my friend served prune kisseli.

I served this at brunch yesterday and thought I'd share the low carb twist we did in substituting from the orginial recipe.

Finnish Rhubarb Soup --Rapaperi Kisseli
Boil 7 cups water,
add 4 cups chopped rhubarb (Choose rhubarb that is as red as possible for a nicer look.)
2 cups Albertson's strawberry jam (optional--I skip it but my mother used it.)
and 1 cup sugar until the rhubarb starts to fall apart.

Taste it and add more sugar, if you want it sweeter.
Remove from heat and
add (4T potato starch stirred into cold water) stirring continually. Use may use corn starch but it will not be as clear.
After it thickens, put it back on heat until it bubbles, then remove completely.

UPDATE:  7/27/13 Usually I serve this cold.  Today I served this rhubarb soup warm and it was great this way too.  Usually my Mother take out her fancy glass bowl, place a silver spoon it and then pour the fresh from boiling soup in the glass bowl to cool.  She would put the spoon in to keep the hot liquid from breaking the bowl.  She'd sprinkle sugar on the top to keep a film from developing on top as it cools.  

Serve with whipped cream on top or just pour some cream, half and half or milk.  Also sprinkle some sugar on top for some crunch! Usually we serve Pulla, the Finnish sweet cardamom braided bread I posted the recipe for at Christmastime.

Now for the low carb adjustments. Instead of using potato starch only, my my husband suggested using part Bob's Red Mill Xanthum Gum, so we did. I'll experiment next time to see if it can be used exclusively. Instead of sugar, I used Splenda. Instead of strawberry jam, I used fresh strawberries and drastically increased the cups of Splenda.

Also I did some looking on the internet and found this recipe for it you may want to look at. Finnish Rhubarb Soup
(Rapaperikiisseli)
http://www.soupsong.com/rrhubarb.html
Such a soft shade of pink, and so pretty with the mounds of whipped cream drifting across the surface. It's a wonderful last course, serving as a delicate and refreshing palate cleanser after a rich dinner...right before you retire to the parlor and bring on buttery pastries and coffee. Serve cold to 6 in flat soup plates to heighten the effect of the puffs of whipped cream.
2 cups water
2 cups of little bitesize pieces of fresh rhubarb
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick cinnamon
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 Tablespoons water
Garnish: 1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped
Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan and stir in the rhubarb bits, sugar, and cinnamon stick. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes (or until very tender). Mix the cornstarch into the 2 Tablespoons of water, then slowly stir into the boiling soup. Cook several more minutes, until the soup is clear and thickened. Remove the cinnamon stick. Let cool, then cover and let chill.
When ready to serve, ladle into flat soup plates and float several puffs of whipped cream on top of each.