Sloeberry Soup with Nockerl

Ingredients

• 1 kg sloe berries
• 2 Apples
• 100 ml White wine
• 100 g sugar
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1 Organic lemon
• 2 cloves
• 3 allspice berries
• 0.5 stick cinnamon
• 2 tbsp Cornstarch
• 0.5 l milk
• 80 g semolina
• Pinch Salt
• 25 g butter
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 Eggs
• powdered sugar (for dusting)
• mint (for garnish)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Remove stems from sloe berries, wash and drain them.

2. 2.

   Peel apples, quarter them, and slice into thin strips.

3. 3.

   Bring wine with sugar and honey to a boil, then remove from heat. Add apple strips, let steep for about 3 minutes; they should not separate. Remove half with a slotted spoon and cool. Add about 800 ml water to the remaining apples in white wine. Cut off lemon peel without the white pith, add cloves, allspice, and cinnamon into a spice bag. Add this bag along with juniper berries to the liquid and simmer for about 10 minutes. Then remove several tablespoons of sloe berries as a garnish for later. Remove the spice bag and strain the soup through a sieve. Bring the soup back to a boil, adjust seasoning with lemon juice and sugar if needed, and thicken with cornstarch dissolved in water. Let it simmer briefly then cool.

4. 4.

   For the semolina dumplings, bring milk with salt, butter, and sugar to a boil. Add semolina and stir until thickened into a lump. Remove from heat, let sit briefly, then whisk in one egg. Allow to cool slightly before adding the second egg. Cool for about 10 minutes.

5. 5.

   Cut dumplings into pieces and drop them into boiling water; cook for about 4-5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove them and let cool.

6. 6.

   Serve soup on plates, add dumplings, top with remaining sloe berries and apple strips, dust with powdered sugar, and garnish with mint.