Sour Cherry Cream Soup (Hungarian Meggyleves)

Frozen bing cherries can substitute fresh sour cherries in a Hungarian dish that's dessert disguised as a soup.

2 (24 oz) jars pitted sour cherries (preferably morellos), with their juice (Alternatively, you may use 1¾ lbs fresh bing cherries, stemmed and pitted, or 1½ lbs frozen bing cherries with 2¾ cups sour or regular cherry juice)
½ tsp. sea salt
1 stick cinnamon
1 slice (½" thick) lemon
1 (8 oz) container sour cream

Add cherries, with their juice, to a 4 qt saucepan. Add salt, cinnamon stick, and lemon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until cherries are soft, about 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream and ¼ cup of hot cherry liquid from pan. Remove pan from heat; stir in sour cream mixture. Chill the soup.

Makes 4-6 servings.