Apple compote made from fresh apples. How to cook apple compote? Viburnum and apple compote

08.03.2024

Autumn is a time of year that is strongly associated with fragrant apples. Apples, in my opinion, are what delicious autumn smells like. Homemade apple pie, amber apple jam, sun-dried apples and, of course, apple compote.

Most often we cook assorted compote using different fruits and berries. But monocompotes are no less tasty. It even seems to me that they can provide the opportunity to fully enjoy the taste and aroma. Moreover, with a very small culinary touch it is so easy to highlight the easily recognizable apple taste.

Total cooking time – 0 hours 20 minutes
Active cooking time – 0 hours 9 minutes
Cost - very economical
Calorie content per 100 g – 37 kcal
Number of servings – 8 servings

How to make apple compote

Ingredients:

Apple – 4 pcs.
Lemon – 0.25 pcs.
Sugar - to taste
Water – 1.7 l

Preparation:

There is an opinion that any apples are suitable for compote. In principle, I agree. There are only a few "buts":

With sour or sweet and sour apples, the compote will be tastier and richer than the one made from sweet varieties of apples. Because a sweet apple will actively require the addition of sourness in order to fully reveal the aromatic bouquet;

Compote made from early summer apples (for example, the White Filling variety) does not have the most interesting taste. It will certainly be tasty, but somewhat rustic, without the rich palette that we want to experience. In addition, early summer apple varieties are not strong and become very soft during the cooking process;

They say that any apples, even spoiled ones, will do for compote. Yes, you can, but only if you trim them very carefully. Otherwise, the basic rule will apply: bad foods make bad dishes.

Based on these considerations, for my apple compote I chose strong, sweet and sour apples of the “Glory to the Winners” variety. Agree, a very common and easily accessible apple.

So, let's start cooking. Place a saucepan with cold water on the fire. I had a small saucepan, about 2 liters. I didn’t fill it completely so that there was room for the apples.

While the water is boiling, prepare the apples. They need to be washed thoroughly, cut into quarters, and cores cut out. If you come across places that aren't very good, just cut them off.

Everyone knows that sliced apples quickly darken when exposed to oxygen. The slices can be sprinkled with lemon juice (if you don’t have it, then with citric acid diluted in water). However, this must be done at will, because we do not serve sliced fruit, but plan to heat treat the apples, which will also change their original color.

By the way, cutting apples for compote is not entirely necessary. You can also use whole fruits. True, I personally only do this if I have small “paradise” apples. Because, in my opinion, the flavor develops faster and more powerfully if the apples are sliced.

I decided to add a little lemon to the apple compote. Lemon is a versatile citrus. In compote, it will not take the lead (as would happen with any berries), but it will highlight the apple flavor very favorably, giving the compote the necessary acidity and a small amount of astringency.

By the way, my son always says that if lemon is added to the compote, then the compote tastes like a drink (yeah, which is forbidden to buy in our family, but is still begged for every time).

Meanwhile, the water began to boil. It's time to throw the apples. I immediately turn the heat down, and literally after 5 minutes add sugar to taste. After another minute (as soon as the compote begins to boil again) I throw in the lemon slices. And then you can do things differently.

Cook the compote until tender, about 20 minutes. Its taste will be rich. True, the apples will be pretty boiled, and you will then have to strain the finished compote.
I'm going the second way. I cook the compote over the fire for a short time - the total time is no more than 7-10 minutes. Then I turn off the heat, cover the pan with a lid and leave it to simmer on the switched off burner. I like that this way the apples remain intact and the “rags” don’t float in the compote.

You will know when the compote is ready by its indescribable aroma. You always have a choice: drink compote hot, chilled or very cold, with ice cubes.

And the beauty is that everyone can get from such a drink what they want right now. For example, I also put pieces of apples in a glass of compote, turning a banal compote into almost a dessert.

If desired, you can highlight the taste of apple compote with several bright berries (then the compote will not only be tasty, but also beautiful in color, more saturated), sprigs of mint or lemon balm (which will add special freshness to the finished apple drink), add a cinnamon stick or a small amount vanilla (and then an ordinary apple compote will turn into a rich oriental drink, which I associate with winter - probably because of mulled wine).

In general, apple compote is a flight of your culinary imagination. Cook something unusual and tasty from the most common and cheap ingredients!

Any fruit is suitable for compote, even slightly spoiled ones. First, they should be washed well, then the rotten areas should be removed, and then cut into slices. The seeds are removed from the pieces. The apples prepared in this way are placed in a pan and filled with cold water.

The proportions of products can be very different, but the classic version is that for 700 grams of apples you will need one and a half liters of water and half a glass of granulated sugar.

The pan is placed on the fire and its contents are brought to a boil, then sugar is added. Boiled compote can be cooked for 10-20 minutes, but to preserve the vitamin, it is best to remove the pan from the heat and just let the compote brew for 20 minutes. You can wrap the pan.

Any additives will help diversify the taste of apple compote: you can add lemon zest or orange peel, a little cinnamon or mint leaves to the drink when cooking.

It is worth recalling that apples go well with any other berries and fruits - raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, chokeberries, pears, plums.

How to cook dried fruit compote

To prepare dried fruit compote (dried), we need 1 kilogram of dried apples, sugar - 4 cups, water - 5 liters, lemon juice and 3-4 tablespoons of almonds.

Before cooking, dried fruits are washed, then poured with hot water, sugar is added to the pan and our compote is cooked for about 45 minutes. If the dry fruit contains not only apples, but also other fruits, then you should remember that apples and pears take the longest to cook, and therefore and they are laid first. Dried apricots cook for a relatively short time - about 15 minutes, and therefore you need to add them to the compote 15 minutes before they are ready.

The finished drink is cooled, then filtered and poured into glasses. Crushed almonds are added on top.

How to cook compote for the winter

Apples for preparation are selected without damage, slightly unripe, so that they do not fall apart during cooking. Fruits that are too green will not have a pronounced taste and aroma. Apples of the same variety are placed in one jar.

The fruits are washed thoroughly; if the peel is very dense, it is advisable to cut it off. The core is removed, and the apples themselves are cut into slices. If the apples are small (for example, ranetki), then they are used entirely.

To make the compote beautiful and the apples not to darken, they are placed in acidified or salted water, but they should stay in it for no more than half an hour.

Then the prepared fruits must be blanched. If this is not done, then when sterilizing the compote, the apples will shrink and there will be more liquid in the jar than fruit. Blanch the fruits by placing them in a colander, which is immersed in a pan of boiling water for 7 minutes. By the way, this water can then be used to make syrup.

Pre-washed jars are doused with boiling water and apples are placed in them up to their shoulders, then they are filled with syrup. The filling should not reach 2 centimeters to the edge of the jars. The syrup is prepared at the rate of a glass of sugar per liter of water.

After the apples are laid and filled with syrup, the jars need to be sterilized. Three-liter jars are sterilized for half an hour from the moment the water boils, liter jars - for about 20 minutes. Then the jars are rolled up with metal lids and upside down, covered with a blanket, left to cool completely.

But there is also a quick way to prepare apple compote for the winter. In this case, more sugar should be added to the syrup - 300-350 grams per liter of water. The apples are also placed shoulder-deep in jars and filled with syrup to the very top. Leave to soak for 5 minutes, then pour the syrup into a saucepan and bring to a boil. The whole process is repeated again. The third time, the jars are filled with syrup so that some of it spills over the edge. Then they are usually rolled up with iron lids and turned over until they cool.

Apple compote is not only an excellent thirst quencher, but also a medicinal product. It is used to treat diseases of the kidneys, stomach, liver and bladder. It is drunk for anemia and gastritis.

Shown apple compote with, since it contains only 85 kilocalories and significantly speeds up metabolism.

Fruit compotes are very good for health, as they contain many vitamins. These drinks must be included in your diet. In winter, a drink made from homemade apples is especially popular. To cook a healthy compote from fresh apples, you don’t need many ingredients or knowledge. And its taste will delight all household members without exception. Young children love this drink.

Principles of preparing compote

The word compote first began to be used in France. But they knew how to cook apple compote back in ancient times in Rus'. At that time it was called “buzz”. But this definition is more suitable for a drink made from dried fruits and berries. The recipe for making apple compote from fresh apples is very simple. If there are no other fruits in the composition, then the drink can be given even to infants. But to give better taste and aroma, the composition includes citrus fruits, strawberries or raspberries, peaches or pears, cherries or apricots, as well as other berries and fruits.

A very healthy and tasty drink is obtained if you add sea buckthorn or rhubarb, cranberries or rose hips to its composition. Often there are compotes cooked with dried fruits. The sweetener can be honey or sugar. You can also add seasonings to the composition. The most common are: nutmeg and anise, mint and lemon balm, cinnamon and cardamom, ginger and cloves, as well as vanilla and other spices.

Making this drink is very simple. Cooking times for products may vary. The method of adding the main ingredient also differs: in some recipes it is poured with cold water and the whole thing is brought to a boil, while in others the product is poured into a boiling liquid.

The cooked compote is left to cool and infuse for some time. This liquid is best consumed chilled. This is especially pleasant in hot summers.

Homemade apple compote is rich in pectins and is healthier than store-bought juices. If the compote contains a large amount of sugar, it can be diluted with boiled water. If desired, you can serve the fruit in a glass with a drink or separately from it.

Necessary utensils and products

Serve in a glass bowl.

Delicious with cranberries

The compote prepared according to this recipe turns out very tasty. It is perfectly refreshing on a hot summer day. Cranberries give the drink a special sour taste. Thanks to this sourness, digestion improves. All useful vitamins and substances are preserved in the preparation. The ingredients are:

Water - 3 l.
Prunes - 200 g.
Fresh homemade apples - 1 kg.
Sugar - 2 tbsp.
Cranberries - 1 tbsp.

To prepare compote, you should do the following:

Sort out the cranberries, rinse them well under running water and squeeze out the juice.
Rinse and steam the prunes for 10 minutes (optional).
Pour clean cold water over the cranberry pulp, place the container with it on the stove and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil the berries for 3 minutes and then strain them.
Pour the prunes into the pan with the broth, as well as the sugar. Stir well and cook for 15 minutes.
During this time, you need to wash each apple fruit, remove the core and cut into small pieces. After the time has passed, put them into the boiling mass.
Cook everything together for about 15 minutes.
After this time, you need to pour cranberry juice into the hot broth, stir the mixture well and wait for it to cool.

Bon appetit!

With lemon and strawberries

On a hot summer day, the body requires something light and cold. A compote made with apples, strawberries and lemon is ideal for this. It is thanks to lemon that the drink acquires a refreshing, pleasant note. To prepare you need to have the following set of products:

Fresh homemade apples - 2 pcs.
Freshly picked strawberries - 300 g.
Lemon - 1 medium citrus.
Sugar or any other sweetener - 0.5 tbsp. (taste).
Water - 2 l.

To brew such a tasty drink, you need to follow the following technological scheme:

This drink should be served chilled.

With rose hips and lemon juice

This drink is recommended to be consumed in the off-season. It is at this time that the body needs a large amount of vitamins. Thanks to rose hips, the body will be able to overcome vitamin deficiency and various colds. This compote contains the following ingredients:

Dried apple slices - 2 handfuls.
Rose hips - 0.5 handfuls.
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp. l.
Granulated sugar - to taste.

To brew such a healthy drink you need to carry out the following procedures:

Lemon juice should be added when the liquid has cooled slightly.

The process of preparing compote seems to be very simple. But some subtleties that will help you brew a very tasty drink are still present. These include:

Sweet and sour apple fruits are best suited for making compote. Only from them will you get a truly tasty drink.
The fruits should not be overripe or green, but strong and ripe. And all because unripe fruits do not have the required aroma and taste, and an overripe fruit will simply turn into mush.
When serving, the finished drink can be decorated with tangerine or orange slices, as well as lemon slices.
If you leave the compote to infuse throughout the night, its taste will be amazing and rich, especially if you add spices and the necessary seasonings.
If you beat the contents of the compote using a blender, you can prepare a drink with pulp. It's great for kids. In this situation, all useful microelements and vitamins will remain in the liquid.
It is recommended to boil hard fruits for 20 minutes. But it is best to focus on their softness and readiness.
To cook compote, you should use only spring or settled water.
You can use cane or brown sugar instead of regular white sugar. However, the taste of the drink will be different. When using honey, it is recommended to dilute it not in boiling water, but in compote, which has already cooled a little. In this way you can preserve the beneficial properties of honey.
Spices should be added at the end of the cooking process, as they will lose their aroma and taste if boiled for a long time.
The compote will be healthier if it boils for a short time. You can almost completely preserve all the benefits of fruits and berries if you lightly boil the mixture and then simply leave it to infuse.
If you place chopped fruits in a highly boiling liquid containing citric acid, then all their benefits will also be preserved.

By following the correct cooking technology, as well as following the recommendations and advice of experts, even a novice housewife can easily cook healthy apple compote with the addition of various spices and fruits.

The most common and accessible fruit for canning are apples. They can be bought at any time of the year. They have excellent shelf life, so the housewife has no problems storing them if she cannot start harvesting fruits in the near future.

In addition to these advantages, they have a lot of useful properties. They are rich in vitamins C, B1, B2, B6, E, as well as microelements necessary for health: potassium, calcium, sodium, zinc, phosphorus, iodine, iron, manganese, magnesium.

Apples are pickled, dried, frozen. They are used to make jam, marmalade and compote.

Subtleties of cooking

Almost any variety of apples are suitable for compotes. But it is better to use Aport, Lemon, Antonovka, Pepin saffron, Boyken.
For compote for the winter you need to take only ripe apples. Compote made from unripe fruits will not have a very pleasant taste. Overripe fruits may become boiled during sterilization, and the compote itself will turn out cloudy.
They should also not be wrinkled or soft. Wormy apples are not suitable for canning for the winter.
For compote, they can be used whole, cut in half or wide slices.
If the peel is not too hard, the apples are not peeled. Otherwise, the skin must be removed. Be sure to cut out the seed chambers.
Before storing in jars, apples are blanched. To prevent them from being overcooked, they should not be processed in boiling water. The liquid should be heated only to 85-90°. Then the apples need to be quickly cooled by immersing them in cold water.
The more acidic the fruit, the less minutes it takes to sterilize it.
To prevent cut apples from darkening, they can be immersed in cold salted water for 15-20 minutes (put 10 g of salt per 1 liter of water).

Apple compote for the winter: a classic recipe

Ingredients for two 1 liter jars:

apples – 1 kg;
sugar – 300 g;
water – 1 l.

Cooking method

Select ripe apples with soft skin without dents or wormholes. Wash thoroughly.
Prepare the jars. Sterilize them in boiling water or bake them in the oven. Wash the lids and boil for 5 minutes.
Pour water into an enamel pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so that the surface of the water only ripples slightly.
Cut the apples in half and remove the core. Cut into wide slices.
Place the chopped apples in hot water and blanch for 7 minutes.
Then transfer them to a colander and cool quickly under running cold water. Do not pour water out from under them. You will need it to make syrup.
Place the apples in jars, filling them up to their shoulders.
Add sugar according to the norm in the water in which the fruits were blanched. Boil the syrup.
Fill the jars with prepared apples to the top with boiling syrup. Cover with lids.
Place in a wide saucepan with hot water. Sterilize liter jars for 18-20 minutes, half-liter jars for 12-15 minutes.
Seal tightly with boiled lids. Turn it upside down. Cover with a blanket and cool as is.

Compote of apples and lemon

apples – 3 kg;
sugar – 500 g;
citric acid – 1.5 g;
water – 2.5 l;
lemon – 1 pc.

Cooking method

Sort through the apples. Wash well in cold water. Cut them open and remove the core. Cut into slices.
Place them in acidified water.
In an enamel pan, cook syrup from water and sugar.
Place apples in sterile jars. Add sliced lemon.
Pour boiling syrup over.
Place the jars in a wide saucepan and cover with sterile lids. Sterilize liter jars for 25 minutes, half-liter jars for 20 minutes.
Then seal the jars with sterile lids and turn them upside down. Cool.

Compote of apples with lemon and spices for the winter

Ingredients for six 1 liter jars:

apples – 3 kg;
sugar – 600 g;
cinnamon - to taste;
cloves – 2 buds;
water – 2.5 l;
lemon – 1 pc.

Cooking method

Peel ripe hard apples. Cut in half, remove the core.
Cut into slices. Rinse in cold water. Immediately place in a saucepan of boiling water. Blanch for 5 minutes.
Drain the apples in a colander. Place in sterile jars. Add washed lemon, cut into slices.
Add sugar as required to the water in which the apples were heated. Boil the syrup by adding cinnamon and cloves. Strain.
Fill apple jars with it.
Seal and sterilize for 20 minutes if the jars are liter. A half-liter container can be sterilized for 10-15 minutes.
Turn the jars with the finished compote upside down and leave them to cool as is.

Apple compote with wine

Ingredients (for 10 liter jars):

apples – 7 kg;
cinnamon – 3 sticks or to taste;
cloves - 20 buds;
lemon peels from 1 lemon;
sugar – 800 g;
water – 4 l;
Riesling wine – 2 tbsp.

Cooking method

Wash firm ripe apples well. Remove the core. Cut into slices or quarters. Fill with cold water.
Pour enough water into the pan and add sugar. Boil the syrup.
Dip the apples into it. Add cloves and cinnamon. When boiling barely noticeable, blanch for 5-10 minutes.
Drain the apples in a colander. Divide into jars.
Boil the syrup with lemon peels and wine.
Pour it over the apples.
Place the jars in a wide pan of water and sterilize for 15-20 minutes. Seal the jars tightly with sterile lids.
Cool upside down.

Apple compote for the winter without sterilization

Ingredients for two 1 liter jars:

apples – 1 kg;
water – 1 l;
sugar – 200 g.

Cooking method

Prepare sterilized jars and lids in advance.
Wash ripe hard apples. Cut in half, remove the core. Cut into slices.
Place in jars, filling them up to their shoulders.
Pour boiling water over it. Cover with lids and leave for 15 minutes. During this time, the apples will warm up, and the liquid, on the contrary, will cool down.
Close the jar with a lid with holes. Pour the water through it into the pan. Add sugar as required. Boil the syrup.
Pour hot syrup over the apples until it slightly overflows. This will push the air out of the can.
Seal immediately with a lid.
Turn the jar over and cover with a blanket. Leave in this position until completely cooled.

Assorted compote of apples, apricots and raspberries without sterilization

Ingredients (for 1 three-liter jar):

apples – 5 pcs.;
apricots – 8 pcs.;
raspberries – 200 g;
sugar – 300 g;
water – 2 l.

Cooking method

Wash the apples. Cut in half, remove the core.
Wash the apricots. Cut into two halves, remove the seeds.
Place the raspberries in a colander and wash by immersing them several times in a bowl of water. Remove the sepals.
Sterilize the jar and lid.
Place fruits and berries in a jar. Pour boiling water over it. Leave for 15 minutes, covering with a lid.
Pour the cooled water into the pan through the lid with holes. Add sugar as required. Boil the syrup.
Pour this syrup over the fruit until the liquid overflows. Seal with lids immediately.
Turn the jars upside down. Wrap yourself in a blanket. In this state they will be pasteurized for 24 hours. When the compote has cooled, return the jars to their normal position.

Note to the hostess

To add flavor, cherries, raspberries, currants and other berries are added to the compote. They are placed in jars at the same time as blanched apples. You can add cloves, cinnamon, lemon and even wine to apple compote.
If the compote is prepared without sterilization, the berries and fruits are placed together with apples and prepared according to the recipe described above.

To cook a tasty and fortified compote from apples, you do not need to have culinary talents. The process is simple, despite the presence of several specific points. There are many options for processing the main component, and everyone can choose the optimal approach for themselves.

You can simply throw pieces of fruit into cold or hot water, bring the mixture to a boil and keep it on the fire for a few minutes. But the drink turns out much tastier if you use additional components during the cooking process and carefully select suitable fruits.

Rules and nuances of preparing the drink

There are no rules, as such, in this area. But there are many subtleties, the observance of which will allow you to cook a truly worthy and healthy compote:

The most delicious drink is made from fresh fruits of sweet and sour varieties. They must be dense - overripe pulp will give a strong sediment and turbidity, spoiling the final result.
In the process of creating culinary masterpieces, it is allowed to actively use spices. But with this approach, the finished compote must be steeped for at least 6-8 hours.
For children, apple drink is best brewed with the addition of chopped pulp. In this case, it will contain vitamins in the maximum amount.

Advice: Despite the fact that you can find many recipes for making apple compote based on unripe fruits, you should resort to them as a last resort. Such fruits do not yet have the right balance of components to give the desired taste profile. Even the aroma of such products is often blurred or absent altogether.

Regardless of how long you plan to keep the composition on the fire, you can only use drinking or pre-filtered water.
If you want to get the most healthy compote, then it is better to cook it without sugar at all. Honey is added to the ready-made composition, the main thing is that the drink is warm or cold.
If spices are used during the cooking process, they are introduced before turning off the heat. Otherwise, as a result of boiling, the components will lose their aroma.

Recipes for traditional compote and unusual variations

Regardless of what recipe you plan to prepare the compote according to, it all starts with processing the apples. They are washed, cut into slices or pieces, after removing the seeds. It is not recommended to peel the skin of fresh fruits; it contains many natural flavors and beneficial components. Next we proceed depending on the specifics of the recipe:

Traditional apple compote. For 700 g of fruit, take 1.5 liters of water and half a glass of granulated sugar. Fill the pre-prepared fruits with water, put on the fire and bring to a boil. Add half the sugar, reduce the heat and after two minutes add the remaining sugar. Mix the mixture and turn it off. It is not recommended to cook longer; it is better to leave the drink for 20 minutes.

Drink made from apples and rhubarb. For three large fresh apples, take 400 g of rhubarb stems, half a glass of sugar, a little cloves and a little more than 1 liter of water. We wash the rhubarb stems and cut them into pieces; we do the same with the apples. Dissolve sugar in a saucepan with water, add cloves, and bring the liquid to a boil. Add apples and rhubarb. The main thing here is to know how long to keep the composition on the fire. It is best to stick to 25 minutes. After this, you don’t have to infuse the drink, but it’s better to cool it.

Apple compote with citruses. We take apples, plums and oranges (how many depends on individual preferences). Choosing a sweetener. This could be fructose, honey or regular sugar. We clean the washed fruits from seeds, leave the skins and peels, and cut them into slices. Place the fruits in a saucepan with water, bring to a boil and reduce the heat. You only need to brew the drink for a few minutes, adding sweetener to taste after turning off the stove.

It turns out that you can cook a delicious apple-based compote in just a few minutes. But it won’t be possible to close it for the winter. Due to the low sugar content and too short heat treatment, the composition will quickly begin to deteriorate.