Simple recipes for preparing prune compote for the winter, with and without sterilization

Fresh prune compote is one of those drinks that will please you, both on a hot day and on a frosty winter evening. For those who don't know, prunes are dried plums. The dried fruit itself, like the dishes made from it, is a storehouse of useful substances. It can be bought inexpensively in winter, summer and autumn, which means that you can pamper your body with health benefits all year round. And most importantly, cooking will not take much time and money.

Content

1 Cooking features
2 Selection and preparation of prunes
3 How to make prune compote at home
4 Terms and methods of storing compote

Cooking features

To prepare compote, no matter what recipe you choose, it is important to find out three nuances:

How much to cook?
How long does it take to cook?
How to properly prepare prunes for cooking?

The most suitable volume for one-time cooking for a family is 8-10 servings of 200 milliliters. It makes no sense to cook any more: the drink is not stored for long. How much time to cook? At home, 15-20 minutes will be enough. With further cooking, the prunes will get very wet and fall apart - the drink will have to be filtered from large pieces.

And the most important thing is the selection and preparation of prunes for cooking. Both the impression of the resulting drink and the simplicity of its preparation depend on this.

If you are a lover of subtle notes of taste, the compote can be diluted with other dried fruits to taste: dried apricots, pears, raisins.

Selection and preparation of prunes

When buying prunes in a store or on the market, it is worth exploring several properties of high-quality dried fruit:

choose black and blue fruits;
holds its shape, but soft to the touch;
ideal prunes have a matte color;
the taste is sweet and sour, without bitter notes;
a high-quality dried product forms a white bloom during soaking;
a good product does not leave black marks on the hands.

Having chosen and brought home a prune, it is necessary to prepare it for further use. There are two most practical ways:

rinse with cold water;
soak in cold water and wait 25-30 minutes.

After that, the prunes will be ready for cooking.

How to make prune compote at home

The technology for making compote at home is simple and does not take much time. First, the fruits should be prepared and washed in warm water 2-3 times. Next - pour boiled water and cook for 8-10 minutes over medium heat. Add sugar, reduce heat and simmer for another 8-10 minutes. Remove the finished compote from heat and cool to 15-20 °. Before pouring into portions, stir the drink in a container.

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A simple recipe for the winter

There are several simple methods, the recipe of which includes additional ingredients, or the cooking method itself differs in its characteristics. All of them are designed for a 3-liter can.

Ingredients:

0.5 kilograms of fresh prunes;
200-250 grams of sugar;
3 liters of filtered water.

First, boil all the water in a saucepan. As soon as the water boils, add sugar and stir. Boil for 3-4 minutes until sugar is completely dissolved. Put the prunes in pre-sterilized jars. Pour into containers up to the very neck. Then you need to close it with a sterilized lid and roll it up. Place upside down and cover with a thick blanket. After 3-5 days, the blanket can be removed and the jars can be put in storage.

Without sterilization

For convenience and acceleration of the preparation process, sterilization of containers can be neglected. Make compote with similar ingredients in similar proportions.

Fill the jars with dried fruit exactly halfway.
Bring water to a boil and pour over the prunes. Wait 10 minutes.
Pour the water from the jar back into the boiling container.
Add sugar and boil the 2nd time until completely dissolved.
Pour the prunes with the resulting syrup to the brim.
Turn the jar over, cover and leave for 5-7 days.

Sugarless

This recipe is suitable for drinking only in the first 24 hours.

For a liter of drink you will need:

0.2 kilograms of dried plums;
1 liter of water.

Bring water to a boil, add prunes, cover and cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes. Then remove from heat and, without opening the lid, leave for another 1 hour. Properly aged compote will have a mild laxative effect and will be especially useful for children under 1 year old.

Seedless

If you come across a prune with a stone inside, but you want to use not only the drink, but also the fruit itself, you will have to remove the seeds. This is quite easy to do. There is no need to cook, scald and make other unnecessary movements.

Once the bones are removed, cook the compote according to any recipe you like.

In a slow cooker with dried apricots

If you have a multicooker on hand, you can cook the compote in it.

Sugar - 150 grams.
Water - 4 liters.
Dried apricots - 150 grams.
Prunes - 150 grams.

Pour boiling water over two types of dried fruits for 10-15 minutes. As soon as the ingredients are softened, put them in a multicooker and pour cold water, stepping back 6-7 centimeters from the top of the multicooker. Add 150-170 grams of sugar to 4 liters of water. Set the "soup" or "stewing" mode for 1 hour. After completing the device, the compote should be insisted for another 1.5-2 hours.

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With raisins and fresh apples

Apple 1 piece.
Raisins - 65 grams.
Dried plums - 110 grams.
Water - 3 liters.

If in the future there is a desire to strain the compote, you do not need to peel the apple, just cut it into 10 equal pieces. Put all the ingredients in boiled water and cook for 15-20 minutes in a sealed container. Insist the drink for 2-3 hours.

With honey and cranberries

For cooking, you can take both fresh and frozen cranberries:

dried plum - 300 grams;
cranberries - 150 grams;
honey - 30-40 grams;
water - 3 liters

Put dried fruit in boiling water and cook for 10-15 minutes. Then add cranberries and cook for another 5 minutes. Add honey to the cooled drink and stir well.

With zucchini

Prunes - 0.5 kilograms.
Water - 3 liters.
Zucchini - 0.5 kilograms.
Sugar - 0.5 kilograms.

For cooking, you only need the pulp of the zucchini, so you must remove all the seeds and skin.

Pour the prunes and zucchini with boiling water for 10 minutes, then drain the water into another container. Add sugar to the broth and cook the syrup for 2-3 minutes. Separate the prunes from the zucchini and add only it to the drink. Insist 2-3 hours.

With lemon

A great option for a hot day:

prunes - 200 grams;
sugar - 150 grams;
water - 1 liter;
lemon - 1 piece.

Scald the lemon with boiling water and cut in half. Cut into thin slices.Add prunes to boiled sugar syrup and cook for 15 minutes. Then cook with lemon for another 10 minutes. Cool, add ice and some fresh lemon.

With wine berries

Dried plums - 0.2 kilograms.
Wine berries - 0.05 kilograms.
Lemon juice - 0.01 milliliters.

Boil the grapes over low heat for 20 minutes. Cook the prunes separately for 20 minutes. Cool, mix the two broths and dilute with lemon juice to taste.