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This wonderful ruby-colored soup is equally at home in a soup bowl as a first course or in a martini glass as a dessert. Even in the heart of summer, I make this soup with frozen berries and rhubarb, just because nothing can beat their sweetness and ease of preparation. Frozen berries would not be just an acceptable substitute: they would be quite wonderful, as frozen fruit are picked at their sweetest and ripest. Try them in this recipe. The fact that they are a little bruised by freezing will not matter in the least since we are cooking them. Of course, if you have lots of beautiful fresh berries and/or rhubarb on hand, go ahead and use them. In season, add plums, cherries, etc.

2 Granny Smith (green) apples, peeled, cut in chunks
10 cups total fresh or frozen (I prefer frozen) straw- berries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, pitted cherries, plums (in any combination you like)
A mixture of the following spices, tied in a cheese- cloth: 1 large piece lemon peel, 1 large piece orange peel, 6 cloves, 10 black peppercorns
2 cups dry red wine (liquor stores)
4 cups unsweetened cranberry or pomegranate juice
1⁄4 cup Créme de Cassis (liquor stores; Passover: any nice berry liq­ueur)
Juice of 2 limes or lemons
1⁄2 to 2⁄3 cup maple syrup (start with less and wait until you taste the finished soup to add more)
1⁄2 cup tapioca flour, whisked with a little cold water until smooth (for Passover: potato starch)

Bring all but last ingredient to boil in a heavy pot. Reduce the heat to medium low, add the tapioca mixture, and cook 10 more minutes, no more. Remove the cheesecloth.

Cream the soup with an immersion blender, but not completely. Leave about a quarter of it chunky. Adjust the texture and seasonings. Chill completely before serving. Serve as a first course, alone or with a scoop of plain yogurt (dairy free perfect, too), or as a dessert, alone or with a scoop of coconut sorbet. Makes a dozen ample servings.

Variation: Strawberry Rhubarb Soup
Use 10 cups combined strawberries and rhubarb and no other berries. Proceed exactly as above. You might need to add more maple syrup, rhubarb being quite tart.

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