The Best Soup Garnishes For Stunning Soup

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The most important factor when it comes to homemade soup is, of course, the flavor. The best homemade soup makes you want to close your eyes and savor every sip while you distinguish the different ingredients and let the combined flavors melt in your mouth.

As important as a good flavor is, it is also true that attractive dishes make us want to eat them and you can tempt someone's appetite by presenting an appealing recipe to them.

Livening Up Chicken Soup

An example of this can be a chicken soup recipe. Imagine a cream of chicken soup. It is beige in color and rather plain. Chicken soup tends to smell inviting and the flavor is appealing. However, now imagine the same bowl of soup with a swirl of cream on top and some chopped green onions.

Does that not look ten times as inviting? Garnishing your best soup recipes is something that only takes a couple of minutes but can transform a plain-looking soup into something elegant and restaurant class.

Recipe for Elegant Chestnut Soup

If you are having a dinner party or catering for a similar occasion where it is important to impress your guests, the following chestnut soup recipe can do just that. The swirl of cream on top is flavored with honey, pumpkin pie spice, black pepper and more and the garnish really does add to the flavor of the soup. This is an easy recipe to make but one that is guaranteed to impress, no matter what the occasion.

You will need:

White part of 3 leeks, chopped
7 cups chicken broth
3 chopped ribs celery
1/2 stick butter
8 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cored, peeled, chopped green apples
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 cups roasted chestnuts, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons salt
Fresh thyme, for garnish
Sliced apple, for garnish

For the Spiced Cream Garnish:

1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup creme fraiche
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

How to make it:

Melt the butter in a soup pot, and then add the celery, fresh thyme and leeks. Cook for 5 minutes or until the leeks are soft. Add the apples and chestnuts, turn the heat down and cover the soup pot. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Add the cream and broth, then some salt and black pepper to taste.

Bring the soup to a boil, and then simmer it for half an hour. Pick out and discard the fresh thyme and puree the soup in batches in a blender. Add more salt or black pepper if you need to. Whisk the spiced cream ingredients.

Divide the soup between bowls and garnish each one with some spiced cream. Use a toothpick to pull it through the chestnut soup in a swirl pattern. Add some ground black pepper, apple slices and thyme sprigs to garnish.