Dried fruits are a source of vitamins and nutrients in the winter season. They are often used as an independent dish, used in cooking as fillings for various confectionery products. Many housewives cook dried fruit compote, while the proportions of the components play an important role in the preparation of the drink. The use of compote also depends on the time of heat treatment of dried fruits.
Useful properties of the drink
With the advent of colds, the human body feels the need for an increased amount of vitamins. Sources of beneficial substances are vegetables and fruits. However, in most stores in winter on the shelves you can find imported products, the use of which seems to many to be doubtful. Special processing of fruits with chemicals that increase their shelf life can harm human health. In this case, dried fruit compote comes to the rescue.
The proportions of water and dried fruits, as well as the cooking time of the drink can significantly affect its beneficial properties. The high content of vitamins helps to ensure:
- normalization of a full metabolism;
- strengthening immunity;
- excellent condition of the skin, hair, nails;
- vision improvement;
- increased mental activity.
It is important to remember that a long cooking process will make the drink more saturated and aromatic, but less useful.
Correct proportion
Many inexperienced housewives often wonder how to properly maintain proportions. Dried fruit compote is easy to cook, it is much more difficult to determine the amount of ingredients. In fact, much depends on personal taste preferences. There is an average norm of dried fruits for a certain volume of water, but if you prefer a rich and pronounced taste, the amount of dried component can be increased.
According to the recipe, the classic compote of dried fruits should be cooked based on 1 liter of water 80 g of dried fruit. A healthy drink can be prepared both from one type of dried fruit, and using assorted ones. We should not forget that prunes, apricots and cherries are distinguished by a more saturated taste, while apples, pears, raisins have more neutral taste notes. Therefore, if we cook dried fruit compote, the proportions of the components can be changed.
Dried fruit selection
The quality and taste of a drink beloved by many depends to a large extent on the correct selection of components. It is important not only to combine dried fruits suitable for taste, but also to pay attention to their quality. A good product has an even characteristic shape, without visible flaws and defects.
Unscrupulous harvesters often use fruits with signs of rotting to dry. Such a product, as a rule, has an unpleasant color, it can be determined visually. High-quality drying, dense to the touch, has a pleasant aroma characteristic of the type of fruit, without extraneous odors.
Component Preparation
A properly cooked compote will delight you with excellent taste and useful properties at any time of the year. However, it is important to pay attention to the preparation of dried fruits. First of all, they need to be washed several times under running cold water, to remove spoiled fruits, small specks.
Then the drying is poured with cold boiled water and left for half an hour to swell. After time, you need to drain the water, rinse the dried fruit again under running water using a colander. The presence of seeds in dried fruit can affect the taste of compote after infusion. It is better to remove the bone from the swollen drying.
How to cook compote
To make the drink useful, its taste must be natural. Sugar, honey or citric acid should not be added to it. Dried fruits should be cooked taking into account the cooking time of each component. So, for example, raisins and dried apricots will cook much faster than an apple or pear. Such a component as prunes has a laxative effect, therefore it is better to add it to the decoction in small portions.
After calculating the amount of necessary ingredients, you need to pour water into the pan and bring to a boil over high heat. If several types of dried fruits are used for compote, they must be laid gradually. First of all, apples, pears, cherries are dipped in boiling water. After 4-5 minutes of boiling add dried apricots, prunes, at the last stage you can lay raisins, dried fruits.
The average boiling time of the compote is no more than 15 minutes, after which you need to remove it from the stove and insist for 2-3 hours. Filter the finished drink, if desired, bring it to taste with sugar or natural honey. Compote can be drunk chilled as a tonic or warm in the cold season. To get unusual taste notes, spices or spices are added to the drink. The dried fruit compote goes well with cinnamon, anise, cardamom.
Compote for children
A healthy homemade dry fruit drink can replace factory-made baby drinks. It will not only perfectly quench your thirst, but also help strengthen the baby's body, increase immunity, and provide a supply of nutrients. Experts recommend giving children a decoction of dried fruits from the age of six months. However, you should not get involved in components that can cause allergic reactions.
The proportions of dried fruit compote for the child must be observed in order to get a drink that does not harm the baby's health. To prepare a healthy decoction, you should take 200 g of pre-prepared drying. In a saucepan, you need to bring 750 ml of water to a boil, then lower the dried fruits into it and boil over low heat for 20-30 minutes.
5 minutes before cooking, you can add a few raisins, and then remove the broth from the heat and leave for 3-4 hours. The finished compote is filtered through a sieve, natural honey is added to taste. A healthy drink is introduced into the diet of crumbs for 1-2 teaspoons, while you need to carefully monitor the reaction of the child's body. Also, a child from one year old can be given boiled fruits from compote. It is undesirable to make the broth too sweet, experts recommend leaving the natural taste of the fruit without drowning it with additional components.