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Estonian Bread Soup

A fruit and bread soup made with raisins, apples, prunes, cranberries, and spices, served chilled with whipped cream.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,390 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Estonian Bread Soup

serves 6

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the raisins in the plum brandy for 20 to 30 minutes.

  2. Put the water and 1/2 cup sugar into a soup pot and bring to a boil over high heat.

  3. Add the bread, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the bread just begins to dissolve.

  4. Remove the bread with a slotted spoon.

  5. Push the bread through a fine sieve. Optionally, process it in a food processor for no more than two pulses, but do not puree the bread.

  6. Stir the bread back into the pot.

Simmer the fruit

  1. Add the raisins with their soaking liquid, apples, prunes, cranberries, cranberry juice, cinnamon stick, lemon zest, and cloves.

  2. Bring to a boil.

  3. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the fruits are tender.

  4. Remove from the heat.

  5. Taste the soup and add more sugar if desired.

Chill and serve

  1. Cool the soup, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

  2. Remove the cinnamon stick and cloves before eating.

  3. Serve the soup into serving bowls with whipped cream.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

906Calories
20 gProtein
8 gFat
194 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 13 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Apple1 medium (182g)95
Sourdough1 slice (36g)93
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Cranberry1 cup raw (100g)46
Plum Brandy1 medium (66g)30
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Waternot in our table0
Prunenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  2. Cranberry + cinnamontop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together116 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  3. Apple + cranberrytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together169 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,598 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  5. Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Black sourdough bread
Breaks down into the body that thickens the soup.
Raisins
Add sweetness and plump, soft texture after soaking in brandy.
Dried prunes
Add concentrated sweetness and a soft, sticky body as they cook.
Tart apples
Add acidity and bright flavor while holding some structure.
Fresh cranberries
Add tartness and color, balancing the sugar.
Sugar
Sweetens the soup and balances the tart fruit.

The step that matters

Do not puree the bread. Pureeing bread overworks its starch and gluten, making the soup gluey. Pushing it gently through a sieve keeps a smooth but light texture.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, plum brandy, sugar, bread, apple, cranberry, cinnamon):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Pearfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, plum brandy, sugar, bread, apple, cranberry, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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