Preparations made in the autumn allow you to enjoy delicious desserts, dishes and delight everyone around you all winter. Chokeberry or chokeberry - a healthy berry containing a significant amount of ascorbic acid, vitamin P, and iodine.
In terms of vitamin composition, it is ahead of lemon, gooseberries and other berries. Chokeberry is not only tasty, but also healthy, both fresh and canned.
Despite the heat treatment of the product, vitamins and nutrients are preserved to a greater extent. You can make a lot of delicious and original preparations from chokeberry - candied fruits, tinctures and liqueurs, preserves, compotes, jam, marshmallows, or simply freeze them. Collection is recommended to be carried out in late September - early October. Let's look at step-by-step recipes for preparing chokeberries for the winter.
Chokeberry, pureed with sugar without cooking
Despite the huge amount of vitamins P, C, iodine and many other useful substances and microelements, alas, not everyone likes chokeberry because of its tart and sour taste. Therefore, good housewives find a way to “sweeten the pill.” For example, the recipe for grated raw chokeberry with sugar without cooking is simple and easily gives the berry the desired taste.
Products for the recipe are taken in proportions of 1: 0.5 (1 kg of rowan berries and 500 g of sugar). First of all, we sort out the berries, separating the rowan from the branches. Then we thoroughly wash our harvest and dry it naturally. Then take a blender and grind the berries along with granulated sugar. The result is a homogeneous berry mixture.
Now you can sterilize the jars with lids and pour the infused berry puree, which has released the juice in sugar, into the still hot containers. Set the jars aside for a few minutes so that the berries release more juice. During this time, the sugar should completely dissolve. The treat is ready! The lidded jars can be stored in the refrigerator once they are completely cool. Bon appetit!
Curd pie with chokeberry
Ingredients
- 200 g cottage cheese;
- 100 g sugar;
- 2 eggs;
- 100 g sifted flour;
- 10 g baking powder;
- 200 g chokeberry;
- a little vegetable oil.
Preparation
Mash the cottage cheese and sugar with a fork. Add eggs and beat with a mixer. Add flour combined with baking powder and mix until smooth.
Add berries to the dough and mix again. Grease a baking dish with oil, place the dough there and smooth it out. Bake the pie at 180°C for about 30 minutes.
Leave the cake to cool for an hour before removing from the pan and cutting.
10 simple plum pies for lovers of light sourness →
Black chokeberry jam for the winter
Chokeberry can be prepared for the winter in the form of delicious jam. To do this, take berries with sugar and water in the following quantities:
- Chokeberry berries – 1 kg;
- 1.5 tbsp. water;
- Granulated sugar – 1.2 kg.
Place the sorted and washed berries in a saucepan, add water and put on the fire. Under the lid, steam the rowan until it softens completely. Then we grind the soft berries through a sieve. Place the berry puree in a bowl for cooking, add sugar and boil until tender.
Storing dried chokeberries
Aronia fruits tolerate cold well and can retain all their benefits and taste, provided that storage rules are followed. The optimal place to store fresh chokeberries is the refrigerator. A cool, dry place, such as a cellar or basement, is also suitable. To preserve the crop, the humidity temperature should not exceed 70%.
When fresh, chokeberry retains all its beneficial properties. The only thing that may upset you is that it can be stored for a relatively short time.
Fresh chokeberry does not last long
True, it is still possible to slightly increase this period. To do this, chokeberries are collected in a certain way - without picking the fruits from the cluster. That is, they do not pick each berry individually, but cut off the whole bunch at the base. The bunches of berries are laid out in a single layer in cardboard or wooden boxes and stored in a cool room or hung on a pre-stretched rope.
Chokeberry berries also retain vitamins and nutrients, but for this they must be properly dried.
We invite you to familiarize yourself with: Adjika for the winter - 15 different photos of recipes for preparing adjika for the winter
Chokeberry berries can be dried
Aronia berries are picked from the bunches, washed, drained and dried in an oven or dryer.
Drying berries in the oven
The fruits are laid out on a baking sheet previously covered with parchment, placed in the oven and kept for 30 minutes.
at a temperature of 40°C. Then the temperature is increased to 60°C and drying continues until done. Important: chokeberry berries should not be overdried, so constantly ensure that they do not acquire a reddish (or brownish) tint during processing. It is this color that will indicate that the berries are overdried.
Drying berries in a dryer
Aronia berries are laid out in an even layer, the temperature and drying duration are set (according to the instructions for the device).
Self-assembled dryer 50x50 cm1 100 RUR Russian Vegetable Garden
Dried chokeberries are placed in a bottle or any other convenient plastic (glass) container that does not allow moisture to pass through and stored in a dry room that is often ventilated.
Chokeberry berries are packaged in small containers (pre-washed and completely dry), calculating the volume for the portion that is planned to be consumed at a time.
Chokeberry berries can be frozen
The containers are placed in the freezer, in the quick freezing compartment. This is done so that during the freezing process, the sugar contained in the chokeberry berries does not turn into starch.
Not only aromatic teas, but also compotes are prepared from frozen chokeberry berries, and they are also added to various flour products. Before use, rowan fruits are thawed at room temperature and pureed in a blender.
In addition to storing chokeberry in fresh, dried and frozen form, you can prepare a lot of tasty and very healthy delicacies from it: excellent juices and compotes, unusual jams, various fruit drinks and syrups.
Apple and chokeberry jam recipe
Jam made from apples and chokeberries will also be no less healthy and tasty. For this recipe you will need:
- Rowan berries – 1 kg;
- 1.5 kg sugar;
- Apples – 0.4 kg;
- 2 tbsp. water.
We also sort out and wash the berries and apples in running water. From the latter we remove the seed box and peel it. Grind everything together in a blender to a puree mass and mix with sugar. Place the pan with apple and berry puree on the stove and simmer until tender over low heat.
Any of these jams can be preserved until the winter holidays if you close it in sterilized jars and put it in the cellar. The delicacy turns out very tasty, and the jam with apples acquires a special aroma and taste. Bon appetit!
Chokeberry marmalade, “Homemade” recipe
Despite all the astringency and astringent properties of chokeberry, the marmalade according to the recipe comes out very sweet, not cloying and aromatic. At the same time, it is prepared very simply. For the recipe we need:
- Chokeberry - 1-1.2 kg;
- 400 ml water;
- 600 g sugar + a little for decoration.
We sort out the rowan, rinse it and place it in a saucepan with water over medium heat. Heat the contents and boil until the berries soften. Then we rub the rowan through a sieve, obtaining berry puree. The output should be approximately 600 g of pureed berry mass.
Now add sugar to the rowan puree (it turns out 1:1) and put it on the stove again. The berry-sugar mixture is cooked until thickened. Next we need to prepare a dish on which we will place the marmalade. To do this, you need to moisten it in ice water and only then spread the thick mass on it. Using a knife, distribute the mass evenly and dry it naturally.
You can serve by cutting the marmalade into pieces and rolling each one in sugar. Bon appetit!
Rowan chokeberry
The plant grows up to one and a half meters in summer and is strewn with dense black fruits; they taste sweet and sour, slightly tart.
For the first time, chokeberry (in Latin Arónia melanocárpa) was discovered in America, its northern part. In the eighteenth century, the plant was brought to Europe, but no one knew about the beneficial properties of its fruits. I liked the appearance of the bush, so it was grown for aesthetic purposes, to decorate the property. Only in the twentieth century did people recognize how valuable substances are in chokeberry berries. And the berries began to be eaten as medicine and as a delicacy.
Beneficial features
The fruits of chokeberry contain a lot of vitamins. There are vitamins B, C, P, A and minerals: potassium, phosphorus, calcium, sodium, magnesium. The berries contain useful elements such as boron and iron, copper and manganese, molybdenum and fluorine. They contain many biologically active components that support the body and prevent its premature aging and weakening.
Useful properties of chokeberry:
- removal of heavy metal salts from the body;
- normalization of intestinal function;
- adjusting the pressure;
- lowering cholesterol levels;
- normalization of blood composition;
- protecting the body from allergic reactions;
- relieving spasms;
- excretion of bile;
- maintaining thyroid function;
- normalization of liver function.
Contraindications
Despite the usefulness of the fruits, their consumption is prohibited for people:
- suffering from hypotension;
- with stomach diseases;
- with diseases of the urinary system;
- having increased blood clotting;
- with kidney diseases;
- with chokeberry intolerance.
There are also age restrictions. So, berries should not be included in the menu for children under two years of age. This can be explained simply: a small child may choke on it, and an allergic reaction to an unfamiliar product is also likely.
Chokeberry jelly for the winter “Black Mirror”
Like any other berry, rowan berries can also be used to make tasty and sweet jelly. At the same time, the taste will not be tart, you will get a real dessert. For him we take the following products:
- Rowan - 1 tbsp.;
- 3/4 tbsp. Sahara;
- 2 tbsp. l. gelatin;
- 4 tbsp. water;
- Citric acid - on the tip of the knife.
We sort through the rowan, wash it and squeeze the juice from the berries. Place the pulp in a saucepan and add hot water to the fire. After boiling the cake for 10 minutes, strain it. Add sugar and acid to the resulting broth. Then we put it back on the stove and boil, periodically removing the foam.
Now you need to properly prepare the gelatin. To do this, according to the instructions on the package, soak the substance in cold water for 5-40 minutes. The time will depend on the type of gelatin (granules or plates).
Add the prepared gelatin to the broth and bring everything to a boil. After this, the raw juice that was squeezed from the rowan is sent here, and everything is mixed. Distribute the boiled mixture into molds and place in the refrigerator to harden. Also, the hot mixture can be poured into sterilized hot jars and covered with gauze - this is how chokeberry jelly is preserved for the winter. When the mixture has cooled completely, seal the jars with parchment paper.
Compote
The best chokeberry preparation for the winter can be compote. It can be made either from this type of berry alone or with the addition of other ingredients that can brighten the taste of the finished drink. Let's talk first of all about a simple option for creating such a drink.
In order to make one three-liter jar of rowan compote, you need to take 500 g of fruit and the same amount of sugar. The berries must be thoroughly washed and then, without drying them, poured into clean and sterilized jars. Lemon slices (a third of a large fruit) should be added to them.
Separately, prepare sugar syrup. To do this, bring 2.5 liters of purified water to a boil over low heat, in which 500 g of sugar should be dissolved. From the moment it boils, let the mixture boil for another couple of minutes, then remove it from the heat and pour the hot syrup over the berries in the jar, filling it to the very top.
After all preparations have been made, glass containers can be rolled up immediately, without additional sterilization. It is best to store chokeberry preparation for the winter according to this recipe in a cool place, but if it is supposed to be kept at room temperature, then it is better to carry out a second sterilization.
Recipe for chokeberry jelly without gelatin
If you don’t have a gelling agent on hand, you can make chokeberry jelly without gelatin. To do this we take:
- Rowan – 1 kg;
- Sugar – 700 g;
- 0.5 kg of water.
We sort the berries, wash them and put them in a bowl, filling them with heated water. Place on the stove to boil until the berries are completely softened. Then strain the berry mass and squeeze it out using gauze or cotton cloth. Add sugar to the broth and place on the stove over low heat.
The mixture is boiled for about 15 minutes, after which the still hot broth is poured into sterilized jars and covered with gauze. When the jelly has cooled, cover the jars with parchment paper and tie them tightly. Bon appetit in winter!
When to pick berries
To prepare the best chokeberry preparations for the winter according to the recipes presented in this article, you must use berries collected in a timely manner. Practice shows that the later they are picked from the bushes, the better; some gourmets even claim that aronia becomes the most delicious after the first frost - during this period it finally loses its characteristic bitterness and astringency.
However, if the chokeberry was collected before frost, you should not be upset. To bring it to the desired condition, you should keep the berries in the freezer for several days.
Chokeberry jam for the winter: a healthy sweetness
Regular consumption of chokeberry normalizes blood pressure and strengthens blood vessels. And so that the astringency of the berries does not affect the desire to consume healthy preparations, you can make aromatic jam from chokeberry for the winter. For it you will need:
- Rowan berries – 1 kg;
- Water – 200-300 ml;
- Sugar – 1-1.2 kg.
As when making jam, the main ingredient needs to be washed, sorted and poured into an enamel container. Pour water in there, mash the berries well and add granulated sugar. Place the pan on low heat and heat until the sugar dissolves. After this, increase the heat and boil the jam until tender. Stir the mixture periodically with a spatula.
If you plan to pasteurize jam in jars, then turn off the heat at a temperature of about 105°C. To store jam without pasteurization, the temperature must reach 107°C. Pour the finished, still hot delicacy into clean, heated, dry jars. If necessary, pasteurize or seal when a sugar crust forms on top of the jam.
What can you cook from frozen chokeberry?
Defrost chokeberry fruits in the lower section of the refrigerator or under normal room conditions.
Important! To make jam or preserves, the fruits can not be defrosted at all, but immediately placed in boiling sugar syrup.
Often, chokeberry fruits, after defrosting, are used to make homemade wine, tinctures and medicinal teas. In winter, compotes and other non-alcoholic drinks with the addition of frozen chokeberries will be healthy, tasty and beautiful.
It is also often used as an additive to any prepared jam, especially with a sour taste. It can increase its value and improve its taste. And homemade chokeberry jam has an original taste and is very healthy.
Finally, once frozen, this berry is invaluable when used in any baked goods, both for fillings and decoration.
Apple and chokeberry jam “Fantasia”
Autumn is rich in the harvest of vitamins. In addition to the classic recipe, chokeberries can be combined with another equally healthy fruit - an apple. Autumn vitamin jam made from apples and chokeberries has a delicate taste and aroma. For this recipe we take:
- Rowan – 1 kg;
- Apples (Antonovka) – 2.5 kg;
- Water – 5 tbsp;
- Granulated sugar - 3 ½ tbsp.
We sort the berries, peel them from leaves and twigs, and then wash them. Boil the rowan in water for about 45 minutes until soft. We pour the water into a separate container and grind the berries in a meat grinder. Now we prepare the apples - wash the fruits and dry them with a kitchen towel. We peel clean apples from the seed box and cut them into slices or small cubes.
Fill the chopped Antonovka (or other variety) with rowan water and boil for about 25 minutes, also until soft. You can puree the apples through a sieve, then discard the peels. Mix the finished puree of berries and apples, add sugar to them and leave to infuse overnight.
In the morning, put the pan on low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick like sour cream. This will take approximately 45 minutes. You can check the complete readiness of the dish by dripping jam on the saucer. If, after cooling, the drop does not spread on the plate, then the delicacy is ready. Turn off the heat on the stove, and pack the still hot jam into pre-prepared sterilized jars and seal.
Chokeberry marshmallow at home
Do you like sweet and healthy things, but don’t want to bother with jars? Then the recipe for such a sweet as chokeberry pastille, prepared at home, is exclusively for you. For this you need to take:
- Rowan - 10 tbsp. berries;
- Granulated sugar – 5 tbsp;
- 2 squirrels.
Pour the berries removed from the stalks and thoroughly washed into a (metal) pan and crush with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle the berry mass with granulated sugar, cover with a lid and place in the oven, preheated to approximately 160°C. It is recommended to use a glass lid to make it easier to “peep” at the mountain ash.
As soon as enough juice is released in the pan, stir the mass to better distribute and dissolve the sugar. After this, the mixture takes on a jelly-like appearance, grind it using a sieve and leave to cool. Add raw whites to the already non-hot mass and beat until the mass turns white.
Now the future marshmallow needs to be dried. Let's prepare a heat-resistant glass dish for this and fill it 1/3 full. Heat the oven to 80°C, place the dishes and watch the marshmallow so that it does not dry out. Upon reaching the desired condition of the first layer, the next part is laid out on top. We do the same with the remaining third of the mass.
When all the pastille is ready, the container is covered with white paper and then a lid. The treat should be stored in a cool, dry place. Bon appetit!
Aronia compote “Winter's Tale”
Like any other berry, you can also make compote from rowan. To do this, take berries (the quantity will depend on the expected volume of the container) and sugar at the rate of 500 g per 1 liter of water. We clean the berries, rinse them in running water and dry them on a towel. In the meantime, we sterilize the jars, after which you can fill them 1/3 with dry berries, no more.
Pour boiling water over the rowan jars and leave for 3 minutes. After this, pour the water into a saucepan, bring to a boil and pour sugar into it. After stirring, boil everything for up to 10 minutes, after which we pour it back into the jars with rowan berries. The jars are rolled up and turned over until they cool completely, wrapped in a blanket. After a month you can drink the compote.
Rules for preparing chokeberry preparations
When making any piece of mountain ash, you should adhere to several rules:
- It is better to use berries that were picked immediately after frost; such fruits have the lowest percentage of astringency and have a sweeter and more pleasant taste.
- On the contrary, rowan collected before frost has a strong astringency, but has a very long shelf life and is suitable for long-term preservation of the product.
- If you need to obtain berry juice for a recipe, you should first blanch the fruits - pour boiling water over the product for 1 minute, after which the fruits are placed in ice or ice water. You can also achieve this result by briefly baking the berries in the oven at low temperature.
- If the berries are excessively astringent, they should be placed in the freezer for several hours and then defrosted naturally.
- Before preparing rowan jam, it is better to pour boiling water over the fruits of the crop for 2-3 minutes - this will significantly soften the berries and make them easier to prepare.
Compote of ranetka and chokeberry “Paradise Apple”
A more delicate taste can be obtained by preparing a compote of ranetka and chokeberry. For him we take:
- Apples – 1-1.5 kg;
- Rowan - 0.5-0.7 kg;
- Cold water – 4-4.5 l;
- Sugar – 6 tbsp.
We sort out the small juicy ranetkas, rinse them under warm running water and pour them into a bowl, filling them with water. We wash the rowan berries in a colander, also in warm running water, while simultaneously sorting out any spoiled berries. After letting the excess water drain from the rowan, set it aside for now.
We prepare jars for compote - we wash and sterilize the containers and leave them to dry. Pour some ranetki and 2 handfuls of rowan into the finished jars. As a result, about half the jar should be filled. Now take a large saucepan, fill it with clean water and put it on the stove.
When the water boils in the covered pan, turn off the heat. After this, fill the containers with apples and berries with boiling water almost to the neck. In this form, the future compote is infused for about 15 minutes. After the specified time, the liquid should become a delicate scarlet shade.
Now pour the infusion back into the pan and put it on high heat, adding sugar. The proportions are 1 glass of sand per 1 liter. Stir the boiling liquid with a wooden spoon until the sugar crystals are completely dissolved. After this, the fire can be turned off. Using a ladle, we fill the jars again with sweet syrup and seal them with metal lids. Store the cooled compote in the cellar or pantry.
Chokeberry syrup with citric acid and cherry leaf
Chokeberry syrup is very useful for people with high blood pressure. To preserve maximum benefits, you can prepare chokeberry syrup with cherry leaves and citric acid. This vitamin preparation is easy to use and treats many diseases. So, for the syrup we take:
- Chokeberry – 2 kg of berries;
- 2.5 liters of water;
- Citric acid – 25 g per liter;
- Granulated sugar – 1 kg per 1 liter;
- Cherry leaves - to taste (the more, the tastier it will be).
The leaves will be needed for the recipe in approximately 1:1 proportions with rowan.
We wash the cherry leaves and rowan berries in running water, then pour boiling water over everything. In this form, we leave the products to infuse for a day. The next day, the infusion from the rowan is poured into a saucepan and put on the stove. When the infusion boils, acid is poured into it in the indicated proportions. We throw away the cherry leaves from the container with rowan berries and pour the resulting syrup into the berries. Let the infusion stand again for a day.
The next day, drain the rowan infusion again; the berries are no longer needed. Again we put everything on the fire, and when it boils, add sugar at the rate of 1 kg per 1 liter of infusion. Pour the well-mixed, still boiling broth into pre-sterilized jars or glass bottles at the top and seal.
Black rowan jam: filling for pies
For this recipe, take chokeberry and sugar in a 1:1 ratio. The fruits are washed under running water, placed in a colander and allowed to drain.
Important! There should be a minimum amount of liquid left in the chokeberry fruits.
Only in this case will the jam be thick enough to be used as a filling for baked goods.
Preparation:
- Sugar and chokeberry are combined in a 1:1 ratio. Set the pan aside for several hours - the berries should release their juice.
- After simmering for 5 hours, the sweet berry mixture is placed on the stove and simmered over low heat for 60 minutes after boiling. At the same time, the jam is constantly stirred to prevent burning.
- As soon as the jam thickens, remove it from the stove and cool. Afterwards the berries are ground in a blender.
- Place the chokeberry puree back into the pan and simmer over low heat until the juice has completely evaporated, about 15-20 minutes.
The finished jam is sealed in sterilized jars or stored in the refrigerator. The twists are cooled in the kitchen at room temperature, after which they can be transferred to the pantry or cellar.
Chokeberry juice - recipe in a juicer
Aronia juice is an excellent multivitamin. It can act as an excellent alternative medicine for constipation, colds, runny nose and cough. Of course, freshly squeezed is healthier, but you can prepare chokeberry juice in a juicer according to a simple recipe.
We sort and wash the berries, then lightly knead the rowan berries and sprinkle them lightly with sugar. So the berries are infused for several hours, you can leave them overnight. In the morning, squeeze the juice out of the berries. You can squeeze out the juice without sugar, then take frozen rowan.
To prepare 5 liters of juice for future use in a juice cooker, it must be properly prepared. We put the hose on the drain pipe of the vessel to drain the resulting juice, securing it. We carry out all preparatory activities according to the instructions for the device. Fill the container with water - 4 liters. As soon as the water in the juicer boils, we begin the procedure of squeezing the berries and cooking the juice. It is necessary to ensure that the container is constantly boiling so that steam is generated.
When water boils, you can add it, but not exceed 4 liters. This amount will be enough to cook the juice for 70-80 minutes. When cooking is finished, the juice should be immediately poured into prepared containers - sterilized bottles or jars.
How to make rowan juice
Chokeberry juice will be very beneficial for the human body. It is better to prepare it using a juicer, and to create the drink you should take at least 2 kg of berries. You should be prepared for the fact that you will get quite a bit of juice, since chokeberry berries are quite dry.
The process of preparing rowan juice must be carried out in two stages, one of which consists of preparing the concentrate, and the second of diluting it.
First of all, you need to pass the desired amount of pre-washed and dried chokeberry berries through a juicer. The resulting juice should be placed in the refrigerator to infuse for a couple of hours, and the pulp should be collected in a separate bowl.
The cake obtained by squeezing the berries must be poured with boiling water so that it is lightly covered with water. Then the mass should be allowed to brew at room temperature for 2-3 hours, then strain through cheesecloth or a very fine sieve.
As soon as the decoction made from rowan cake has cooled, it should be combined with the concentrate, and then everything should be mixed thoroughly. The liquid mass should be placed on low heat and brought to a boil. Add sugar to the juice (add to taste, but definitely not less than 1 kg) and a large pinch of citric acid. While stirring the juice, you need to wait until the grains are completely dissolved in it, and then, bringing it to a boil, keep it on the fire for about 5 minutes, and then remove it from the stove. The finished drink must be poured into sterilized jars and then sealed with metal lids.
Preparing adjika from chokeberry for the winter
Everyone is used to preparing adjika from hot peppers with spices, salt and herbs. And probably few people can prepare this dish from berries. Meanwhile, chokeberry makes an excellent adjika for the winter. To prepare we take:
- Berries – 1 l;
- 2-3 tbsp. l. salt;
- 130 g sugar;
- 60 ml vinegar (9%);
- 125 g garlic;
- Cinnamon – 0.5 tsp;
- 0.5 tsp. carnations;
- 1 tbsp. l. spicy mixture of khmeli-suneli;
- Allspice – 5-6 peas;
- Ground red pepper (hot) – 0.5 tsp.
Rowanberries, as in any other recipe, are sorted, washed and placed in a colander. You need to get rid of excess water. Then we peel the garlic cloves and pass it and the berries through a meat grinder, mixing them together. Add allspice and ground spices to the resulting mass. Separately mix sugar with vinegar and salt and pour it over the berries.
Now we prepare the jars - wash and sterilize. Pour boiling water over the lids. Place the finished adjika into jars, close and place in the refrigerator. The dish has an original pleasant taste. Bon appetit!
How to freeze chokeberry in containers
This freezing method can be called the most universal in use and simple in the process itself.
To freeze and store chokeberries for the winter, use containers of any convenient size and shape. Most often, these can be plastic boxes for a variety of salads or ready-made dishes.
The most important thing, as mentioned above, is the preliminary preparation of the berries. Completely dried chokeberry fruits are loosely laid out in clean and dry containers, covered with lids and sent to the freezer.
Chokeberry berries frozen in this way can be used for almost any dish: compotes, fruit drinks, jelly, healing syrups, preserves, jam, pie filling. They are added to dough when baking instead of raisins, they are used to make smoothies, tinctures, liqueurs, homemade wine, or simply added to tea along with decoctions of other medicinal herbs.
Attention! It is from frozen chokeberry berries that especially tasty jam is made, since when water freezes, it breaks the cell walls and through the resulting microcracks, sugar from the syrup penetrates and saturates the fruit much more easily.
For the same reason, chokeberry, which when fresh is distinguished by the relative dryness of its fruit, becomes especially juicy after defrosting, and is much more pleasant to eat simply for food.
Homemade chokeberry raisins
Chokeberry is a very healthy berry, but it does not leave a pleasant sweet aftertaste. Unfortunately, its fruits are tart and have an astringent specific taste. But chokeberry raisins made at home for the winter are worth trying - they are quite sweet and melt pleasantly in your mouth. Plus, anyone can cook it, it’s very simple! We take:
- Rowan – 1.5 kg;
- Granulated sugar – 1 kg;
- Water – 2 tbsp.;
- Citric acid – 1 tsp.
We carefully pick the berries from the branches and sort them, getting rid of leaves and debris. After this, the berries are washed under running water and placed in a colander. Now let's prepare the syrup. Water is poured into the pan and sugar dissolves in it. Place them on the stove and bring to a boil until all the granulated sugar has dissolved. When the water boils, pour the rowan and acid into the pan.
Cook the berries for about 25 minutes, after which we place them in a sieve or colander. Rowan syrup is perfect for making compote or ice cream. The boiled berries now need to be dried. To do this, you need an electric dryer or a conventional oven. Let's use a more traditional method. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and spread the rowan berries evenly on it.
Dry the berries at a low temperature - about 50°C. If you still have an electric dryer at your disposal, then its grate should also be covered with paper. Rowan raisins are kept in paper or fabric bags, or you can also leave them in a closed glass container. Raisins can be stored like this for a whole year, and you can eat them like this or add them to baked goods. Bon appetit!
Chokeberry recipe for the winter
Rowan is beneficial for the human body. All this is thanks to its unique and rich composition. Preservation made according to special recipes allows you to preserve it for the winter.
With sugar without cooking
It is necessary to prepare the components:
- granulated sugar - 1.2 kg;
- berries - 1.5 kg.
Rinse the rowan. Carefully place on a clean cloth and wait until completely dry. Visually divide into 2 equal parts. Grind in a blender one by one, adding some granulated sugar. Turn on the kitchen appliance and wait until the food is completely chopped. You should get a puree-like mass.
Transfer the berry-sweet mixture into an enamel pan. Do the same with the remaining ingredients. Stir and leave in a warm place for a quarter of an hour. The dish is ready.
Jam
The product has a sweet-sour, tart taste. The positive side of the recipe is the pleasant, bright aroma of apples and cinnamon. Additionally, conservation helps reduce high blood and intracranial pressure.
It is necessary to prepare the components:
- chokeberry - 650 g;
- water - 450 ml;
- apples - 250 g;
- granulated sugar - 750 g;
- cinnamon - 1/2 tsp.
Prepare the berries. Rinse, pour over with boiling water. Place in cold place and carefully remove. Pour the liquid into a container for making jam and add the same amount of sweet sand. Stir and wait until dissolved. Boil. Add chokeberries and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and leave in a warm place for 7 hours.
Wash the apples, divide them into 2 parts and remove the unsuitable seeds. Cut into slices. Place in boiling liquid and simmer for 7 minutes. Filter, cool.
Place granulated sugar into the berries. Boil, cook for 30 minutes, stirring. Add the slices and continue cooking for another quarter of an hour. Add cinnamon and citric acid and heat for another 5 minutes. The dessert is ready to eat.
Jam
The delicacy turns out thick. Perfect for pancakes, pancakes or cupcakes.
It is necessary to prepare the components:
- chokeberry - 750 g;
- granulated sugar 300 g;
- water - 150 ml.
Process the rowan. Grind until grains appear. Place the mixture in a cooking container, add sweet sand and water. Bring to a boil, reduce temperature and cook for 20 minutes. The jam is ready.
Jam with apples
The dessert turns out thick and tasty. The presence of apples relieves the product of bitterness, but astringency is present.
Products:
- Antonovka - 1.2 kg;
- chokeberry - 400 g;
- water - 550 ml;
- granulated sugar - 550 g.
Wash the Antonovka apples. Cut coarsely; you do not need to remove the seed box. It is in them that the substance pectin is present, which makes the dessert jelly-like. Prepare and rinse the berries.
You need to pour the specified amount of filtered liquid into the cooking container. Place apples and chokeberries in it. Place on the stove and boil for 15 minutes from the moment it boils. If the apple slices remain hard, then increase the cooking time.
Cover, cool, wipe. The result should be a homogeneous puree. Throw away the cake. Then add sweet sand.
Pour a glass of water into a saucepan and boil. Spread the sweet berry-fruit mixture. From the moment it boils, cook for 30 minutes with regular stirring. The confiture is ready.
Marmalade
Even a child will love this berry dessert.
Products:
- chokeberry - 3.5 kg;
- granulated sugar - 2.7 kg;
- water - 1.5 l.
Prepare the berries. Combine with liquid, bring to a boil, cook until softened. Using a blender, turn the mixture into puree.
Place it in a container for cooking, add sweet sand. Cook until thickened.
Moisten a baking sheet with water and distribute the resulting mixture. Place in a baking cabinet at 70 degrees. Wait until dry. Cut into convenient slices, sprinkle with sweet powder.
Paste
Pastila is the favorite dessert of many girls. Therefore, it is especially recommended to include it in the diet during the menstrual cycle. Taking sweets with a cup of tea helps prevent iron deficiency, eliminate headaches, and fatigue.
Products:
- chokeberry - 800 g;
- sugar - 550 g;
- white egg - 1 pc.
Prepare the berries, chop them, add sweet sand, mix. Place the container in the oven, preheat it to a temperature of 150 degrees, stir constantly. The mixture has become thicker, in which case it must be rubbed through a sieve and cooled.
Add the protein to the berry mass using a blender and beat well. The resulting mixture must be divided into 3 equal parts. Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the first thin layer on it. Place in the oven, bake at 70 degrees.
When the first layer dries, you need to lay out a second, and then a third. Cool the finished dessert and divide into equal parts.
Compote
Chokeberry compote helps remove excess bile, improving liver function. Antioxidant properties allow you to fill voids in the organ, stopping the work of free radicals.
Products:
- water - 4.5 l;
- rowan - 600 g;
- red plum - 600 g;
- granulated sugar - 1.2 kg.
Rinse the plum, divide into 2 equal parts and carefully remove the pit. Prepare rowan.
Divide the indicated amount into 2 jars. Pour boiling water over it. Cover and leave for 15-25 minutes. Strain back and bring to a boil. Add granulated sugar. With regular stirring, wait until it dissolves. Fill the jars with syrup and seal tightly. Cool under the blanket upside down.
Juice
Chokeberry juice helps thin thick blood, increasing circulation. Cleanses away toxins and harmful substances, thereby gently opening the blood vessels. With regular consumption of the drink, the blood is enriched with oxygen particles, micro and macroelements, and vitamins. Thanks to this, the normal functioning of all organ systems occurs.
It is necessary to prepare the components:
- berry juice - 2 l;
- granulated sugar - 250 g.
To obtain juice, berry fruits are prepared and passed through a juicer. Pour it into a saucepan, add the sweet, free-flowing product, stir. Pour into container. Sterilize from the moment of boiling and cook for a quarter of an hour. Remove jars and close.
Wine
You need to prepare:
- chokeberry - 2 tbsp.;
- cherry leaves - 85 pcs.;
- water - 2 l;
- granulated sugar - 500 g;
- citric acid - 1 tsp;
- vodka - 1 l.
Prepare the berries, add liquid, sweet sand and aromatic cherry leaves. Boil. Cook for a quarter of an hour, then cool. Filter, add lemon powder.
Stir, cook for 15 minutes on low heat. Cool, add vodka. Pour, keep for 3-4 weeks in a dark place, and then you can consume.
Freezing and drying
The berries can be prepared whole for the winter. The first, convenient and fast - freezing. Prepare rowan, wash and dry. Place in a container to freeze. Place in the freezer.
The second way to preserve fruits is drying. To preserve vitamins and other elements, you will need to carry out the drying process without using electric ovens.
Prepare the berries. Dry, place on a clean baking sheet, first covering it with paper. Place in a dark place. Dry in the shade, stirring the fruits from time to time.
Chokeberry is an amazing berry and not loved by many. When properly prepared, it can turn into a delicious dessert or drink. You can use the berries to make jam, pastille or marmalade, wine or compote.
Is it possible to freeze chokeberries for the winter?
Vitamins, minerals and pectin substances from chokeberry strengthen blood vessels in the brain, help the liver function properly and improve the functioning of the endocrine system. Therefore, it is recommended to stock up on healthy berries for future use by any means possible. One such method is freezing.
How to freeze chokeberries for the winter: a simple recipe
The berry survives freezing well, retaining all its beneficial properties. There are several ways to do this. The choice of freezing method will depend on future plans for the berries. To freeze whole berries in the simplest way, use:
- Rowan;
- Towel;
- Colander;
- Vacuum bags.
We sort the berries from leaves, petioles and twigs, rinse and drain in a colander. Then dry on a kitchen towel, turning the fruits periodically. Now we place the dry rowan in portions into vacuum bags (preferably in one layer) and try to get rid of the air in them as much as possible. Hermetically sealed bags of berries can be stored in the freezer.
Beneficial properties of chokeberry
Rowan is not only tasty and attractive, but also very healthy, it has the following positive qualities:
- The variety of composition of the berry, which includes vitamins (C, E), organic acids, fructose, various essential oils, iron, zinc, carotene, copper, magnesium and other beneficial substances necessary for the human body.
- The berry is an excellent preservative, which allows it to be used for preparing other fruits.
- The fruits of this crop are used in folk medicine because they have diuretic, multivitamin, choleretic and antiscorbutic properties. In addition, eating rowan helps reduce cholesterol in human blood.
How to dry chokeberries in the oven
In the oven you can prepare chokeberry for storage not only for one winter, but also for more than a year. To do this, you need to take berries that are already ripe. It is recommended to harvest after the first frost, then the rowan will fully reveal all its beneficial properties.
How to properly dry chokeberry berries in the oven
The berries are removed from the collected umbrellas and washed thoroughly, then discarded in a colander. You can also spread it in a thin layer on a kitchen towel. When the berry has dried, it can be moved to the oven at a temperature of 40°C for 25-30 minutes. After the time has passed, the temperature in the cabinet rises to 60°C, and the berries are already dried until fully cooked.
Readiness is visible by the lack of water in the berries. In this case, the rowan should not be red or brownish. This will mean that the berry has dried out. Dried chokeberries can be stored in plastic containers or glass containers covered with nylon lids. The main thing is that moisture does not penetrate inside. All drying is ready!
Features of preparing chokeberry
The amount of harvest does not depend on weather conditions. Even in rainy summers, the berries ripen well and remain on the branches until frost. Unlike other berry crops, chokeberry is always present in abundance.
Features of preparing berries:
- It is necessary to collect fruits after the entire harvest. The suitable taste of chokeberry is observed after the first frost;
- softens the taste of the finished chokeberry product with citric acid, which softens the viscosity, making the taste lighter;
- It is required to wear gloves to protect the skin of the hands from strong staining;
- the workpieces are perfectly stored without additional heating;
- rowan juice will not ferment for a long time, which makes the process of preparing wine drinks a little more difficult;
- can be easily combined with other types of berries and fruits.
Products made from chokeberry are tasty, tender, and healthy.