Sweet assorted compotes for the winter
Compote is one of those drinks that absolutely everyone, without exception, loves, and any housewife who prepares food has made compotes for the winter at least once. Assorted recipes are good because they are distinguished by their diversity. You can combine any fruits and berries: maybe you want to amaze your imagination with an unusual compote with the addition of sweet pepper, or put whatever is at hand in a jar - the choice is endless.
Read also the article: delicious cherry compote for the winter!
General cooking rules
Standard proportions for cooking: fruits and berries occupy about half of the jar, sugar and water are taken in a ratio of 200 g per 1 liter. As for adding water to jars, it is usually poured with it twice (the third - the last) and only then proceed to conservation.
The most popular "compote" fruit, the apple, is better to peel when it comes to purchased fruit. If you are one hundred percent sure of the harmlessness of the peel, then you do not need to remove it, but you must remove the cores from any apples.
Pear is a capricious lady. Even if there is a slight darkening on the surface, it is absolutely impossible to put it in the compote. Choose strong and fresh fruit.
It's good to add lemon juice to pear compotes or add an aspirin tablet - this will not affect the taste, but definitely on preservation.
Berries with bitterness (like chokeberry) need to be sent to the freezer for a while before adding to the compote: this will get rid of the bitterness that will ruin the whole taste of the compote.
Grape compote is a separate topic. If you choose a variety that is too sweet, then instead of the desired result, you will almost get nectar. Grapes can be put in a jar as a whole bunch, after thoroughly rinsing it.
Assorted compote recipes
Assorted berry compote resembles the taste of childhood, and therefore is so popular. The most common berry mix is a combination strawberry, cherries and raspberries, a real gamut of aromas. For him, you just need to thoroughly wash the berries, put them in sterilized jars, and then pour boiling water over the berries in two steps for 15-20 minutes. Then sugar is poured into the water, boil for a couple of minutes and can be preserved.
An assorted fruit compote for the winter is also often prepared. The recipes are usually very traditional: apple-cinnamon, apple-pear, but the option with the addition of orange to the apple compote may seem quite unusual. An important nuance: the orange in this recipe is not considered a full-fledged "partner" of the apple, but only complements the aroma and taste. There are practically no differences between making apple-orange compote and ordinary apple compote, except that two or three orange slices are put in the jar. Don't overdo it! Otherwise it will taste bitter.
Quite often, fruit and berry compotes are also made for the winter. Assorted recipes in this category are headed by plum-apricot compote with the addition of raspberries, currants... Please note that apricots and plums need to be pierced several times with a toothpick before placing them in the jars.
Video recipe for assorted berries compote
Can sterilization be dispensed with?
Search engines helpfully offer options for recipes for assorted compotes for the winter without and with sterilization.
Fact one: most of the home canned products not only spoil easily, but also explode. Fermented compote can still be used, but it is better to abandon experiments with an exploded one for safety reasons. Poisoning is not the worst thing that can happen: small fragments in the drink will do more significant harm.
It is not necessary to say goodbye to fermented compotes forever. This drink will make an excellent homemade wine.
Fact two: a universal answer to the question "why did the compote ferment or explode?" not. It all depends on the specific fruit or berry. For example, a plum may not be sterilized in a large-scale sense, but the compote may turn out to be spoiled due to a single stale berry or not very thorough cooking. But canned drinks, in which a pear is present, are distinguished by their special tenderness: the fact is that this fruit contains very little acid, which is necessary for preparations.
Compotes for the winter, assorted recipes of which do not involve sterilization, have a number of their own rules, but much simpler ones:
- jars are always sterilized, regardless of the recipe, the lids are also;
- as a rule, the compote is poured into a jar in such a way that the liquid overflows a little - no air should remain inside;
- the compote should cool gradually, so after twisting the jars are tightly wrapped in a blanket and only in this way are they left to cool.
Read also:rhubarb compote recipes with photos!
Video recipe for cherry, strawberry and gooseberry compote
Choose the option at your discretion, and know: if the winter compote seems too time-consuming process - cook a regular one and drink it on summer days. And then you will probably want to repeat this taste on a December evening.