If you are considering how to keep your favorite apples for the cold season, pastille in the dryer can be a great solution. Perhaps this is the most budgetary option for harvesting fruits, because it does not require either sugar or huge labor costs. The pastille is perfectly stored, but its main advantage is that the vitamins in it are stored to the maximum, because fruits are not exposed to prolonged exposure to high temperatures.
Such a delicacy can be prepared without the purpose of long storage, but simply as a dessert. Preparatory work takes very little time and effort, and then a smart machine works. You just need to choose a program, and after the due time take out the finished marshmallow: aromatic, thin and very tasty. And so that everything goes well, we will consider all the stages in detail.
A treat with history
Such a dessert in Russia began to be prepared for a very long time. Mention of pastile is contained in sources from the time of Ivan the Terrible. The crushed berry and fruit puree were spread on a cloth stretched over the frame and dried in a cooling oven without closing the shutter. A gradual decrease in temperature allowed to evenly dry the fruit mass. Today, pastille in the dryer is done on the same principle.
There is another recipe in which egg whites are added to whipped fruit puree. The color of such a marshmallow is lighter, and the structure is more magnificent. But this delicacy needs to be cooked in an open oven, because it needs a temperature higher than an electric dryer can provide. Such a pastille is called Kolomenskaya - after the name of the city in which, according to legend, it was invented. The recipe was widely used in the USSR, sweetness was widespread throughout the country. This delicacy was so famous and popular that it was exported abroad even during the Iron Curtain. They also made such pastille at home, whipping mashed potatoes with proteins, and drying the layers in the oven. But the protein-free pastille has long been betrayed to undeserved oblivion. Of course, it was manufactured industrially, but home production almost came to naught. Today, with the advent of electric dryers, we can prepare such a sweetness on our own, choosing for our households only the highest quality products.
Apples for pastilles
In the old days, acidic varieties of apples were used for this dessert: Antonovka, Titovka. Often berries were mixed with apples. For sweetness, honey and later sugar were mixed.
The pastille in the dryer for vegetables and fruits can be prepared from any variety. The technology does not require the addition of any sweeteners, it is only a matter of taste. If you like sweets, choose white filling , richard, golden - they have enough fructose, sugar is not needed at all. Remember, pastille is much sweeter than the original raw fruit due to evaporation of the liquid.
Preparation for the process
Apple pastille in a vegetable dryer will be more tender if you completely peel the fruit. Even steamed and thoroughly broken by a blender, it creates grit.
Rinse apples, peel, grate, remember with your hands. They will put in enough juice to make mashed potatoes. If the variety does not have a pronounced juiciness, add a little water and put it to stew.
There is another way, more useful and simple. Just stack the whole apples with the peel on the deco and bake in the oven until cooked. The time depends on the size of the fruit, temperature and oven settings.
Methods for making mashed potatoes
Grate apple puree through a colander, mash it with a blender or mashed with a blender. And from the baked apples, you need to remove the skin, simultaneously separating the pulp with a spoon, and remove the middle. It may seem that you don’t even need to interrupt him, it turns out so soft. But the pastille in the dryer will be more tender if you beat it a little.
Drying process
Spread a circle of parchment on a wire rack and gently spread the mashed potatoes over it. One kilogram of apples is enough on average to cook 5-6 circles of marshmallow. The layer of mashed potatoes should be up to a centimeter, and even better even less - 0.4-0.5 cm. Then you will get a thin and smooth marshmallow, which will easily be rolled up. The pastille in the dryer will be cooked on average in 20-22 hours.
The settings depend on the model of the electric dryer. Typically, recommendations for the preparation of pastille are contained in the instructions. You can either select the desired mode, or set the regulator to a temperature of 37-40 degrees.
That's all, the active phase of preparing homemade apple marshmallows is completed, it remains only to wait about a day.
Do I need to put sugar?
Will there be enough sweet marshmallow in the dryer? The recipes for the preparation of this delicacy for the most part do not contain mention of sugar. Of course, the exception is the most acidic varieties or slightly unripe fruits that need to be harvested. In any case, the choice is yours. Focus on your own tastes. There are simply no strict recommendations, and many arguments can be found both in favor of and against sugar. But the fact remains: in the original recipe there is a sweetener.
Spices, additional components
But did you know that homemade pastille in the dryer can be prepared not only from apples? You can complement the recipe with any berries and fruits. Moreover, you can experiment not only with tastes, but also with colors. For example, using puree from blueberries or black currants, you can prepare striped marshmallows or peas. Imagine how great such a sweet will look on the table!
Gourmets consider cinnamon, vanilla, plum, cherry, pear, honey to be the most successful partners for apples. Strawberries will give a pleasant pink tint and recognizable taste, even if it will be much smaller than apples. Peach and Nekratin fill the sweetness with a sunny yellow tint and give softness. A tandem of blackberries, blueberries and cranberries will make this sweetness a real champion in the content of vitamins. A small amount of cocoa will give a steady chocolate flavor. Apple-plum candy is very common in the Caucasus. By the way, they do not consider it a dessert there and sometimes they even blow it to meat. Be sure to try this combination.
Prepare all types of mashed potatoes that you plan to use separately from each other. Mix already whipped, homogeneous masses. Otherwise, achieving uniformity will be very difficult. Before pouring onto parchment, fluff the fruit and berry puree again with a blender.
Storage and expiration dates
When the pastille in the fruit dryer is ready, remove it with the parchment pad. You can store the marshmallow with paper, rolled up in rolls. Parchment will not allow sweets to stick together. Cut strips with a width of 5-6 cm, twist and pull the threads. Fill the marshmallow in clean, dry cans, seal and refrigerate.
You can store pastille without paper. Roll rolls, wrap with cling film. On average, pastille is stored for about six months.
Serving & Flavoring
This dessert can be served with tea, coffee, cocoa. Vitamin-rich apple pastille in the dryer is perfect for a children's menu. She will successfully replace the unhelpful chewing gum and sweets. Many children like to feast on pastille with biscuits with sweet cereals (oatmeal, semolina) and cottage cheese dishes. If you treat pastila to kids, take care of drinks: juice, kefir, milk. Sweet candy can cause thirst.
In the cold season, pastille can be served with mulled wine and other hot drinks with a degree. In summer, you can offer pastille as a light snack to dessert wine.
Usually this sweet is served on flat common plates, but can also be decomposed in portions.
You can eat pastille with your hands, without using dessert cutlery. Some people prefer to serve large layers rolled up in rolls, while others prefer to cut smaller pastille and dust it with powdered sugar.