Equipment
Ingredients
Lemon Verbena Syrup
- 250 ml water
- 100 g white granulated sugar
- 10 g fresh lemon verbena leaves
Fruit Base
- 800 g yellow peaches, ripe
- 200 g fresh raspberries
- 30 ml lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 208 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- 51 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fiber
- 7 g
- Sugar
- 44 g
- Sodium
- 2 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 0 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 0 g
- Potassium
- 484 mg
- Calcium
- 41 mg
- Iron
- 1.0 mg
- Magnesium
- 34 mg
- Phosphorus
- 57 mg
- Zinc
- 0.6 mg
- Vitamin A
- 33 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 33 mg
- Vitamin E
- 1.9 mg
- Vitamin K
- 9 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.1 mg
- Thiamin
- 0.06 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.09 mg
- Niacin
- 1.9 mg
- Folate
- 20 mcg
- Water
- 290 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
In a medium saucepan, combine the water and granulated sugar. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil at 100°C/212°F, stirring occasionally to ensure the sugar is completely dissolved.
Remove the saucepan from the heat. Immediately add the fresh lemon verbena leaves to the hot syrup. Cover the pan and let the leaves steep as the syrup cools.
Pour the cooled syrup through a fine mesh strainer into a clean container, discarding the spent lemon verbena leaves. Set the infused syrup aside.
Roughly chop half of the peeled peaches (about 400g). Dice the remaining peaches into neat 1cm uniform cubes for texture and place them in a large mixing bowl.
In a blender, combine the roughly chopped peaches, the strained lemon verbena syrup, and the fresh lemon juice. Blend on high speed until completely smooth and velvety.
Pour the pureed peach soup base into the mixing bowl over the neatly diced peaches. Gently fold in the fresh raspberries, taking care not to crush them.
Cover the bowl tightly and transfer to the refrigerator. Chill thoroughly for at least 2 hours to allow the fruits to macerate and the flavors to meld. Serve cold in chilled bowls.
Chef's Notes
- To easily peel the peaches, score a shallow X on the bottom of each fruit, plunge them into boiling water for 30 to 45 seconds, then immediately transfer to an ice bath. The skins will slip right off.
- Lemon verbena holds essential oils that are highly volatile. Steeping it off the heat ensures you capture its delicate floral-citrus notes without extracting bitter tannins from the leaves.
- This soup benefits incredibly from time. Making it a day in advance allows the raspberries to slowly bleed their juices into the peach base, creating a stunning sunset effect in the bowl.
- For an elegant Valentine's Day presentation, freeze a few extra raspberries and tiny lemon verbena leaves inside ice cubes, dropping one into the center of each serving bowl just before presenting.
Storage
Refrigerator: 3 days — Store in an airtight container. The flavors will deepen, making it excellent for leftovers.
Troubleshooting
Soup lacks depth and tastes flat
Cause: Peaches were underripe and lacked natural sugars and acidity
Fix: Stir in an additional splash of lemon juice to elevate the acidity, or a pinch of salt to enhance the existing fruit flavors
Prevention: Select peaches that yield slightly to gentle pressure and have a strong, sweet aroma at the stem
Raspberries broke apart and made the soup cloudy and pink
Cause: Overmixing or using overripe raspberries
Fix: Cannot be fixed visually, but the flavor will remain excellent
Prevention: Use firm, fresh raspberries and gently fold them in just before the chilling phase
Cultural Context
Chilled fruit soups, or soupes de fruits, are a beloved summer tradition in classical French and broader European gastronomy. Emerging as a way to utilize seasonal orchard fruits at the peak of their ripeness, these dishes apply savory culinary techniques like infusing, pureeing, and macerating to sweet ingredients. Lemon verbena, brought to Europe from South America in the 18th century, became highly prized in French cuisine for its exceptionally clean and aromatic citrus profile.
