🇱🇻 Latvia
Maizes zupaLatvian sweet rye bread soup
A sweet Latvian soup of toasted dark rye bread soaked and simmered with dried fruit, sugar, cinnamon and a tart berry juice, served warm or chilled with whipped cream or sour cream.
Origin and history
Maizes zupa, bread soup, is a sweet soup built on dark rye bread, described by Latvia's public broadcaster as a classic of the Latvian dessert repertoire, under the name biguzis as well. Latvia's official portal lists it among the sweet rye bread dishes found on pub and cafeteria menus, and it is sold as a ready-mix in food shops. The sources read for this recipe do not say how old it is.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 45 min
- Hands-on
- 25 min
Ingredients
- 500 g1.1 lb dark rye bread (rupjmaize), stale is fine; sliced, crust kept only if it is not very dark
- 1.5 l6 cups boiling water, for soaking, plus more as needed (no amount in the source; we estimate)
- 200 g1 1/4 cups mixed dried fruit, prunes, apricots, raisins, apples; large pieces cut up
- 160 g3/4 cup sugar, adjust to taste
- 250 ml1 cup cranberry or blackcurrant juice, to taste
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon, to taste; the LSM recipe's method mentions cinnamon but gives no amount, so this is our estimate
- 1 tbsp potato starch, optional, about 1 tbsp dissolved in a little cold water, as in the LSM recipe
- 250 ml1 cup heavy cream, for whipping, or use sour cream
- 3 tbsp sugar, for the cream
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar, for the cream
Method
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1. Heat the oven to 200 °C (390 °F) and toast the sliced bread on a tray until dry and crisp at the edges, turning once.
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2. Put the toasted bread in a pot and pour the boiling water over it; leave it to soak until it is completely soft.
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3. Blend the bread with its soaking water until smooth, or mash or whisk it for a chunkier soup.
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4. Add the dried fruit, the 160 g (3/4 cup) of sugar, the cinnamon and the cranberry or blackcurrant juice, stirring well.
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5. Add water as needed to reach the thickness you want and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes; stir in the dissolved starch if you want it thicker.
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6. Taste and balance the sweetness with more sugar or juice; it should be sweet and tart together.
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7. Whip the cream with the 3 tbsp of sugar and the vanilla sugar until it holds soft peaks.
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8. Serve the soup chilled (or at room temperature), topped with a spoonful of whipped cream or sour cream; if it is very thick, a splash of milk is another way to serve it.
Notes
- Maizes zupa is also called biguzis. LSM, the public broadcaster, calls it a classic Latvian dessert served with whipped or sour cream, or with milk when the soup is thick. Its recipe gives 500 g bread, 200 g dried fruit, 160 g sugar and 250 ml sweet cream with 3 tbsp sugar and vanilla sugar, but no amounts for water or cinnamon; those are our estimates.
- Latvia's official portal lists it among the sweet rye bread dishes found on pub and cafeteria menus (and sold as ready-mix), a thick mixture of bread, sugar and dried fruit. A 3 Seas Europe feature says it is made from stale bread and served cold with whipped cream; LSM does not say whether it is eaten warm or cold, so serve it as you like. Chilling is the common way.
- Use real dark Latvian-style rye bread; lighter or sweet rye loaves give a bland soup. Remove very hard or burnt crusts, and use unsweetened juice if you prefer to control the sugar. The thickness is a matter of taste: blend the bread for a smooth soup, or mash it for one with crumbs of bread.
- It keeps for 2 days in the fridge and thickens as it stands; thin it with water or milk before serving.
- Lingonberry juice or a spoonful of lingonberry jam can replace the cranberry, which is also a tart berry.
Adapted from LSM.lv: Maizes zupa ar žāvētiem augļiem un putukrējumu and Latvia.eu (official portal of Latvia): Rye bread dishes.
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.