Assorted compote recipes
Homemade compote is invariably tastier than the “purchased” counterpart and even healthier than it. But if the standard dessert drink options are boring, then you can combine various fruits and berries. You just have to thoroughly study all the nuances.
General rules for cooking
Assorted compote is made both with and without sterilization. The choice between these options depends on personal preference. Some cooks lay all the ingredients and boil them all at once. Others pour liquid repeatedly. But the basic principles of cooking compote do not change from this. The share of fruits and berries should be approximately 50% of the volume of the jar.
The ratio of sugar to water is also standardized in most recipes. Unless otherwise indicated, you need to put 0.2 kg of sugar per 1 liter of liquid. Most often, water is poured three times beforehand, and only then canning begins. Almost any berries and fruits are suitable for compote "assorted". But you need to evaluate and select the fruits no less carefully than when working with any one product.
Be sure to throw away:
- rotten;
- affected by mold (even to the smallest extent);
- mechanically damaged fruits.
Before filling with syrup, all components must be thoroughly washed. If it is decided to use pitted fruits or berries, the core will have to be removed.
Important: if you already have compote, cooked together with the bones, you need to drink it completely within a year after preparation. Later, the drink will become poisonous.
When choosing fruits for assorted compote, an apple is often used; pre-requires peeling and cutting the core.Pears can also be used. But only until they fade. It is undesirable to put a pear that has become soft in compote. For greater safety of such a drink, a little aspirin is added to it. Chokeberries and other berries that can be bitter should be kept in the freezer before making compote.
It is necessary to take into account the nuances of preparing containers for the drink. Glass jars are thoroughly washed in hot water, in which soda is previously dissolved. After that, the container will have to be rinsed with clean water. It is then necessary to sterilize it over a source of steam or in the oven. The disinfection procedure takes 30 minutes. At this time, it is better not to do any extraneous matters or set a timer with a sound notification.
Jars that have been in the oven for too long while pouring syrup burst more often.
Good seaming lids should have a lacquered surface. The slightest scratches and chips are unacceptable. Important: you should check how tightly the elastic bands fit in these covers.
There are a few more useful subtleties that help make compote better:
- both fruits and berries should be thrown only into boiling water;
- as soon as the liquid boils, it is necessary to reduce the heat so that it boils slightly;
- if very sweet fruits are used, the amount of sugar can be reduced;
- sugar should be added only when the drink is removed from the heat;
- the balance of tastes is achieved by adding salt, acid and sugar;
- raspberries are pre-soaked in salt water;
- when cooking assorted, it is necessary to strictly control the cooking time of each component so that nothing boils soft;
- if sugar is replaced with honey, it is placed at the very end of processing;
- fruits, if possible, should be boiled without peeling;
- frozen berries can be put without defrosting and other processing.
Ways to prepare for the winter
Sterilized
Traditionally, recipes are calculated for the layout of three-liter jars. One of them involves using:
- 0.25 kg plums;
- 0.25 kg of apricots;
- 2.4 liters of water;
- 0.15 kg of cherries;
- 0.3 kg of sugar.
All fruits must be washed, slightly dried and put in a disinfected jar. It is necessary to pour boiling water to the very top. Then the workpiece is kept under the lid for ¼ hours. Next, put a lid with holes, and pour the liquid into the pan. There, in the pan, sugar is poured; the syrup must be boiled and then boiled for 2 minutes; the steamed components are poured with syrup, and the jar is rolled up.
An alternative option is assorted berries with citric acid (usually take 0.03 kg of acid). In addition to it, you will need:
- berry combination (raspberries, red and black currants, irga, garden strawberries) - only 0.4 kg;
- 2.5 liters of water;
- 0.25 - 0.35 kg of granulated sugar.
Attention: usually guided by the minimum amount of sugar. But if you have to process a lot of sour berries, it is better to put more of it.
Start by mixing cold water and sugar. Before they are put on fire, the berries are washed and dried. Next you need:
- put them in a sterile container;
- add citric acid;
- pour the prepared syrup;
- close the jar with a lid;
- keep the compote under the covers upside down for 48 hours.
In this embodiment, a fruit drink is prepared from:
- 0.5 kg of peaches and the same amount of apples;
- 0.2 kg raspberries;
- 0.45 kg of sugar;
- 3 liters of water.
Raspberries are advised to lay out on a plate and clean from all contaminants. Important: jars and lids are sterilized in advance. The berries are placed at the bottom of the jars. Peaches are processed second. They must be thoroughly washed and the bones cleaned.
The peaches themselves are cut into small even pieces. Put them over raspberries. Apples, after washing and peeling the cores, are also cut into small pieces. When all the fruits are in the collection, you need to prepare the syrup. Boiling water is kept in a jar until it cools slightly, and then poured back into the pan, after which sugar is poured into it.
The syrup should be boiled over low heat. Stir it periodically. The prepared mixture is poured into a jar. After rolling, it is turned over and kept in this form for 24 hours wrapped in a blanket. After that, the workpiece can be placed in a permanent storage location.
Without sterilization
There is a recipe based on:
- 0.75 kg of cherries;
- 0.2 kg strawberries;
- 0.1 kg of gooseberries;
- 0.2 kg of sugar;
- water (take enough to fill a jar, usually about 5 tablespoons).
The fruits fall asleep in a container. Cherries can be cooked along with the bone. Berries are poured with hot water and kept for 5 minutes under the lid. Draining and boiling water is repeated twice; while adding sugar at the end. After the 3rd filling, the cans are usually rolled up.
One important digression must be made here: jars for storing compote must be disinfected in any case, even if the recipe says “without sterilization”. The same rule applies to lids.
The syrup is poured in excess: if it overflows, then there is definitely no air left inside. Shelter with a blanket is designed to provide the most even cooling.
Given these recommendations, it is easy to prepare old Bulgarian drink "Globus", former very popular in the last century throughout Eastern Europe. Peaches, apples, pears and plums are used for its preparation. The number of them is selected according to your taste. Additionally, you will need 0.15-0.2 kg of sugar and 1 liter of water.Pears and apples are kept in water diluted with lemon juice during preparation; then they won't fade.
The procedure is:
- sterilizing jars and boiling lids for 5 minutes;
- peeling peaches from stones, cutting them into halves or quarters;
- peeling and cutting pears, apples;
- filling jars with fruits by 1/3;
- pour boiling water for 10 minutes;
- draining water, measuring volume and adding sugar;
- boiling the syrup for 5 minutes;
- pouring compote into jars, rolling them up and wrapping them.
There is also a Hungarian version of the "Globe". Use for it different fruits to taste (no more than a quarter of a three-liter jar) and 1 cup of sugar. Some people highly recommend pairing raspberries with cherries and with different currants. Alternative options are halves of pears and cherry plums, whole small apples and peaches. The methodology is:
- products are placed in a jar and sprinkled with sugar;
- pour the workpiece with boiling water;
- roll it up or tightly tighten the screw cap;
- after a day, unfold the blanket and remove the container for permanent storage.
Recipes for every day
A simple fruit preparation recipe is designed to be cooked in 20 minutes. It is implied by default:
- 0.15 kg of cherries;
- 0.15 kg of grapes;
- 3 apples;
- 2 peaches;
- 4 plums;
- 0.1 kg of sugar;
- 0.03 l lemon juice;
- 2.5 liters of water.
The fruits are thoroughly washed, and the apples are cleaned of seeds, then they are cut into a saucepan. The pits are removed from plums and peaches before slicing. Pour sugar and pour in lemon juice or citric acid. Optionally use vanilla sugar or ground cinnamon. The next step is adding hot water (not to the top).
Cook compote for 10 minutes on minimum heat after boiling.Readiness is assessed by lowering the cut to the bottom and changing the color of the liquid. Then the drink is cooled at room temperature to 35 degrees. You can even serve it over ice. It turns out no worse than a warm compote.
You can cook assorted step by step using a different technology. For a drink, take 3-4 apples, 0.35 kg of plums and 0.33 kg of apricots; you will also need 2 liters of boiled water and 0.15 kg of sugar. Fruits are rinsed twice with water (between keeping in a bowl of water for ¼ hour). Apricots, apples and plums are cut in half, stones are removed from other fruits. Identical slices are poured with water in a saucepan.
Then:
- boil;
- put on moderate heat, put sugar to taste;
- brew a drink for 6 - 8 minutes;
- add Sudanese rose petals for a pleasant color.
For information on how to make fruit compote "Assorted", see the following video.