When buying white sweet sticks sprinkled with powdered sugar in a store, it is hard to believe that this is an original Russian delicacy. After all, shop pastille tastes like oriental sweets - marshmallows or Turkish delight. But, despite the Latin name (pastillus means “flat cake”), this dessert was invented in Kolomna, in the distant XIV century. The fact is that for making pastille, a Russian stove is required , which has the effect of slow cooling. Homemade pastille was previously made with whipped sour apple puree with the addition of various berries - lingonberries, mountain ash, raspberries or currants. Honey was used to add sweetness.
From the 15th century, another component was included in the manufacturing process - egg whites. They gave the product a beautiful cream shade and helped to maintain the desired consistency during long-term storage. But the calorie content of the marshmallows increased. Before the revolution, three types of this dessert were known: Kolomna - traditional, with a homogeneous structure, Rzhevsky - with thin lingonberry or mountain ash layers - and Belevsky, in which layers of baked apples and a protein bisse alternated. Russian pastille was so popular that it was exported from the 19th century.
Considering the
calorie content of pastille, you should immediately make a reservation: which product do we mean - home or store? Indeed, now the food industry produces whetstones using simplified technology. It is clear that thoroughly whipping
applesauce is unprofitable, and therefore use emulsifiers and stabilizers. It is not honey, but regular sugar that gives sweetness to the dessert. In addition, food colorings and perfumes are added to make the product salable. All this chemistry in the most deplorable way affects not only the calorie content of the pastille, increasing its nutritional value, but also on beneficial properties.
How to be? Based on the foregoing, one involuntarily wonders: is it possible to make marshmallows at home? Easy! Take a kilogram of berries (such as raspberries), rinse, dry, tightly close the lid and place in a warm oven. Wipe the hot berries through a sieve. Put the mashed potatoes on a small fire, add a glass of sweet fruit juice and boil until the volume decreases by one and a half to two times. After that, spread the pastille on paper-covered tins and dry in the oven at 60 ° C. Roll the finished product in icing sugar. The calorie content of pastila made at home should not exceed 300 Kcal per 100 g.
However, you can find a quality purchased product. It costs more, but its useful properties are much higher. If agar-agar and pectin
are added to fruit and berry puree and
egg whites to form a gelatinous consistency, this is a good, useful marshmallow. Calorie 1 pc. so low that it won’t hurt your body. Indeed, in 100 g of the product contains only 323 kcal. Agar-agar is a gelatin derived from algae. It is rich in iodine, calcium, iron and phosphorus. Pectin lowers cholesterol, cleanses the body of toxins, improves intestinal motility. Therefore, this marshmallow is considered a dietary product and is recommended by the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences for baby food.