Hungarian Sour Cherry Soup

In Hungary this would be served as a starter, but we had it as dessert. It is always served cold, and is a typical summer dish, when cherries are plentiful, and it's very refreshing on a hot day – not that we get that many hot days in England. The dish is best with sour cherries or morellos rather than the sweet bing variety, and really wouldn't be the same with canned or frozen cherries. I substituted fromage frais for the much more fattening soured cream in the original recipe.

Serves 2

2½ syns on Extra Easy

200g fresh cherries, pitted

generous pinch of salt

2 tbsp sweetener

450ml water

250ml fat free fromage frais

Place the cherries, water, salt and sweetener in a saucepan and simmer for about 10 minutes. Leave to cool. Reserve a couple of tablespoons of cooking liquid, then stir the fromage frais into the soup, mixing well. Serve with the reserved cooking liquid swirled in.