For the Russian soul, apples occupy about the same place in the world of fruits as potatoes in the world of vegetables. All self-respecting poets and prose writers who were older than Peter I wrote about apples, because it was during his reign that apple trees became widespread in Russia. These fruits are now outside of social classes. They can crunch with equal pleasure and frequency both in a remote Altai village and in a huge mansion on Rublevka. And who does not want (or cannot) crunch - he is happy to eat apple jam or drink apple compote.
It is necessary
- - Fresh or dried apples;
- - sugar;
- - honey;
- - water;
- - lemon acid;
- - spices;
- - knife;
- - cutting board;
- - pan;
- - cans or bottles with lids.
Instructions
Step 1
Delight your homemade fresh apple compote. Absolutely any fruit that preserves its texture during heat treatment is suitable for it. As a rule, they include a significant part of autumn and winter varieties - they contain more substances that keep the crystal lattice of fruits from changing when heated. Make sure that the apples that you have selected for the compote would not be "cottony", unfortunately, they are no longer suitable, they can only be used for jam or drying. Fruits abundantly affected by scab will not work either - these are such black dots, which are sometimes speckled with the flesh of pome fruits. If you cut out each point - nothing will remain from the apple, what kind of compote is there! Wash and dry the selected fruits, peel them from the skin and seed nest. Cut into even wedges and drizzle with lemon juice. If this is not done while the syrup is boiling, the apples will have time to oxidize and darken.
Step 2
For syrup, dissolve 50 g of sugar and 2 g of citric acid in a liter of water, bring to a boil and remove the foam (if any). For those with a sweet tooth, the proportion of sugar can be doubled, and for supporters of a healthy lifestyle, do not put it in at all, sweetening the ready-made drink with a spoonful of natural honey. The ratio of liquid to prepared apples should be approximately 1: 1, but depending on your taste preferences, the ratio may be different. Dip the fruit slices into the boiling syrup, which will stop boiling for a while, and when it boils again, keep it on the fire for another 5 minutes and remove. Cover the apple compote with a lid and leave to cool at room temperature. It is better to drink it the next day.
Step 3
Diversify the compote by adding some whole spices. The classic combination is apples with cinnamon. This spice will very well complement the drink with light Christmas notes. It will also perfectly play its part of star anise, it is also called "star anise". Green cardamom sounds interesting in tandem with cloves, together they make the apple compote even more aromatic and original. You can add lemon or orange zest when cooking, or you can pour in a little of your favorite syrup - this option for cooking apple compote is quite common in Scandinavian countries.
Step 4
In the absence of fresh apples, compote can be made from dried ones. For 1 liter of water, take 50 g of dried fruits, be sure to rinse them with running water, blot with a paper towel to get rid of excess moisture, fill with boiling water, wrap and let it brew for 24 hours. In some cases, such compote is not insisted, but boiled, while adding sugar or lemon juice. If nutritionists have no objections to the latter, then the first two "interventions", in their opinion, are undesirable. Cooking dried fruits is optional, moreover, it destroys vitamins, which in the winter-spring period is an impermissible waste. Dried apples also contain enough fructose, so adding sugar will make the drink too rich in fast carbohydrates, and therefore not very healthy.
Step 5
If you want to prepare compote for the winter in August-September, choose medium-sized fruits for it without crumpled barrels, which are often found in apples harvested from the ground. Cut the larger fruits into halves or quarters, depending on the size. Be sure to first remove the seed nest and chop the pulp. An interesting compote can be obtained from apples of different varieties: the slight sourness of one will be complemented by the sweetness and honey aroma of the other; as a result, apple compote will only benefit from such "friendship". (By the way, it can also be made by adding pears, plums, cherries, or raspberries.)
Step 6
Prepare the container for the blanks in advance. These can be cans with a capacity of 1-3 liters or bottles with a wide mouth. Many people believe that only jars with “seaming” lids (they are called “sko”) are suitable for blanks from berries and fruits. Nothing of the kind, screw cans ("twist") fit exactly the same, the main thing is to provide the blanks with the necessary tightness, and for this, the lids for screw cans should not be used twice. Yes, they may look quite normal - without traces of rust and corrosion, but even microscopic deformation leads to a leakage, and this negates all the work.
Step 7
The most delicious and healthy apple compote will turn out if you blanch the apple pieces three times for 3 minutes, put them in jars or bottles, and make syrup on the broth, taking 100 g of granulated sugar and 3 g of citric acid for each liter of liquid. Boil this syrup for 3-5 minutes, pour the apples over it so that it spills out a little, close the lids and sterilize (the sterilization time for liter cans and bottles is 10 minutes, for 3-liter cans - half an hour).
Step 8
Remove the compote from the pot with a water bath, cool it slowly at room temperature, if the jars and bottles remain damp, dry with a waffle towel, sign (it is especially important to sign the container made of opaque glass) and store. You can store the drink at room temperature, but it is desirable - away from heating appliances and without direct access to the sun. Light contributes to the activation of fermentation processes, and our task is to preserve the apple compote until spring, when our bodies especially need its useful substances.
