Ingredients
Bread
- 400 gstale dark rye bread
- rupjmaize, Latvian black bread
- 1.5 litreswater
The pot
- 150 graisins
- 150 gprunes, stoned and chopped
- or dried apples
- 150 gsugar
- or to taste
- 2 teaspoonsground cinnamon
- a strip of lemon zest
- a pinch of salt
To serve
- 250 mldouble cream
- whipped
- a little sugar for the cream
- a few extra raisins
Directions
- Use the darkest rye bread you can find. Some people like it and others do not. Cut the stale rye bread into pieces. Remove any of the very hard crusts. They do not break down fully at all. Cut them off or accept the texture.
- Spread the pieces on a baking tray. Dry them in a low oven for twenty minutes. Put the bread pieces in a large pot. Pour all of the water over them. Let them soak for at least two hours. Dry rye bread is very hard indeed. Break it up with a spoon as it soaks.
- Add the raisins and the prunes. Add the sugar and the cinnamon. Add the lemon zest and the salt. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Cooking it takes about half an hour.
- Cover it and simmer it gently. Stir it regularly as it cooks. Give it about thirty full minutes. Stir right into the corners each time. Lower the heat if it starts to stick. Let it cool down slightly first. Hot liquid expands violently in a blender. Hold the lid down with a folded cloth. Blending it properly takes time.
- Blend it until it is completely smooth. Give it a good full minute of it. Blend it longer than seems necessary. Press it through with a ladle. Prune skins do not blend fully. Add water if it is too thick still. Leave it looser than you want it. Taste it and adjust the sugar. Add more cinnamon if you want it. It should be clearly sweet enough.
- Pour it into a bowl or into bowls. Cover it over and refrigerate it. Give it at least four full hours. Press film onto the surface to prevent it. Pour the cold cream into a cold bowl. Add a little sugar to it as well.
- Whip it until it holds soft peaks. Soft peaks fold over at the tip. Spoon the soup out into deep bowls. Add a generous spoonful of cream. Scatter a few raisins over the top. Dust a little cinnamon over that. It keeps four days refrigerated.
Technique
- The atlas also carries leivasupp from Estonia: the same dish under another name, since the Baltic region shares a dark rye bread culture and the practice of turning stale loaves into something else. Latvian versions often lean on prunes and Estonian on apple, but the differences are by household as much as by country.
- Rupjmaize is a dense dark sourdough rye whose sourness balances the sugar; without it the soup is simply sweet, and use the darkest rye you can find. Some loaves contain caraway, which comes through in the finished soup, so choose accordingly.
- Dry rye bread needs at least two hours of soaking and preferably overnight, since a short soak leaves hard lumps that never break down; toasting the bread first in a low oven deepens the colour and flavour and is worth doing.
Substitutions
- Dried apples stand in for prunes and give a lighter result.
- Toasting the bread in a low oven before soaking deepens the colour and flavour.
Variations
- Some cooks sieve out the fruit skins and others leave them in deliberately.
- Leivasupp in Estonia is the same dish under another name.
- It is served cold with whipped cream, which is the usual Baltic way.
History
Dark rye bread soup boiled with dried fruit and cinnamon and served cold with whipped cream, a dessert made from stale loaves.
Frequently asked questions
What is Maizes zupa?
Maizes zupa is a dessert from Latvia: sweet rye-bread soup with dried fruits, whipped cream. Dark rye bread soup boiled with dried fruit and cinnamon and served cold with whipped cream, a dessert made from stale loaves.
How long does Maizes zupa take to make?
Maizes zupa takes 20 minutes plus soaking of preparation and 40 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Maizes zupa?
Yes, within limits. Dried apples stand in for prunes and give a lighter result. Toasting the bread in a low oven before soaking deepens the colour and flavour.
What is the most important thing to get right in Maizes zupa?
Use the darkest rye bread you can find. Some people like it and others do not. Cut the stale rye bread into pieces. Remove any of the very hard crusts. They do not break down fully at all. Cut them off or accept the texture.
