Good evening,

Good news if you've been wanting to try the Morello Sour Cherries, or are ready for another round. There is one more chance tomorrow as I open the orchard for Morello picking (Sunday 11 Jan) 

🍒 open from 7am until sold out. 

🍒 End of season sale – pick your own to level fill a 2kg box for $20.  

🍒No entry fee but minimum 1 box per two adults. 

🍒Roth Family Orchard. 108 Eurunderee Lane Mudgee

🍒 Morello Sour Cherries only (sweet cherry varieties finished before Christmas).  

🍒 I have 3 boxes available ready picked

This time it really is ‘last chance’ for the season - I kept some trees to trial how long the morello sour cherries would keep ripening.  A heatwave and broken irrigation pump was a bigger test for them and I hadn’t been too hopeful.  They’re looking and tasting remarkably good, and a good irrigation tonight should help. 

Thankfully the forecast tomorrow is a bit cooler. I’d still suggest to get in early before the heat, then spend the afternoon in the aircon pitting these beauties to make something refreshing like this Hungarian chilled sour cherry soup 🍒

Hungarian Sour Cherry Chilled Soup (Hideg Meggyleves)

We had this chilled soup last night – so delicious and really refreshing in this hot weather. 

There are many variations on this very traditional recipe. The amount of sugar is varied to taste, some recipes add lemon or orange juice or even egg yolks. You can used bought bottled sour cherries, they just don’t have quite the same intensity of flavour or colour – but worth a try so you know to get to us for fresh Morellos next season! 

500g Morello sour cherries, pitted

1.5L water

½ to ¾ cup sugar

250g sour cream

3 tbsp arrowroot or tapioca flour

¼ tsp salt

Cook the cherries and sugar in the water in a large saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved and then at a low simmer for around 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, mix the sour cream with the flour and salt.

Stir a ladleful of the hot cherry liquid into the sour cream mixture, then another ladleful (this tempers it to it doesn’t curdle).  

Then mix it all together in the saucepan and whisk until smooth. 

Simmer around 5 minutes without boiling. 

Plunge the saucepan into a sink of cold water to cool it quickly to room temperature.

Refrigerate until cold (can be overnight).

Enjoy as a first course or a dessert.      

My photo styling doesn't really do justice to how good it tasted - especially at the end of a hot day!

And then this is a signing off until next summer.

The resident kangaroos are happy to have the orchard quiet again as they seek shelter in the cool soil under the irrigation driplines under the trees. it's incredibly hot and dry between the trees. Here's hoping Mudgee will see some good rain soon, hard to believe there are floods and heavy rains up the coast.

Take care and thank-you for your support this season.

Ingrid Roth