14 best recipes for preparing wild strawberries for the winter
Strawberry is a fragrant wild berry rich in amino acids, pectin, folic acid and vitamins of various groups. The berry is valuable for humans, has a beneficial effect on the body, supports immunity. The fruits retain their beneficial properties during processing, so many are trying to prepare strawberries for the winter in different ways. We will tell about them.
Features of harvesting strawberries for the winter
In order for the strawberries to remain the owner of vitamins and minerals, it is important to collect and process them in time.
Selection and preparation of strawberries
Berry picking time is late June, first half of July.
Preparation principles:
- picking berries in the morning;
- pluck it from the stalk;
- put garden strawberries in wooden boxes with holes;
- rinse under a thin stream of water;
- remove rotten and bruised fruits;
The berry quickly absorbs moisture, so it is not recommended to soak it in water. If possible, dust off with a soft brush.
Cooking utensils
For the manufacture of jams, jams and drinks, enamel containers without chips and signs of rust are used. To prevent the jam from burning, it is recommended to constantly stir with a wooden spatula or use pots with a double bottom.
It is better to store preservation in glass jars or bottles.
Before use, the container is well washed with baking soda and rinsed several times with water. Banks must undergo a sterilization procedure. They are treated with hot steam, boiled along with the contents, or put in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
The lids are sterilized just before seaming, for this they are dipped in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes.
What can be made from strawberries at home
Strawberries, or garden strawberries, were one of the first to be grown at home and used to prepare various dishes. There are many proven recipes for harvesting berries. Jam, jams, drinks are made from strawberries. The fruits are frozen or dried and used as an additive in tea or desserts. You can save twigs and leaves of a bush, make medicinal infusions on their basis.
Strawberries, mashed with sugar, without cooking
Ingredients:
- strawberries - 500 g;
- sugar - 750 g
The harvest is sorted out, cleaned of debris. Use a blender to make mashed potatoes. Mixed with sugar. The workpiece is distributed in sterile containers, without adding 1-2 cm to the edge.The top layer of the jam is covered with sugar to form a crust. Banks are tightly rolled up with lids, put away in the cold.
Strawberry canning
Strawberries are a rather delicate berry that is stored in their natural form for a short time. Therefore, with large yields, the question of harvesting berries for future use arises.
Jam
For the recipe:
- strawberries - 1.5 kg;
- sugar - 1.2 kg;
- lemon juice - 50 g.
Grate the berry into a gruel, put on fire. At the time of boiling, add granulated sugar, lemon juice, mix thoroughly. Cook the mixture for 40 minutes. Arrange in jars, put in a cool dark place.
Compote
Ingredients:
- berry - 2 kg;
- sugar - 500 g;
- water - 1 l.
Pour sugar into a saucepan with water, cook for 10 minutes until completely dissolved. Pour in the strawberries. Prepare the drink for another 5 minutes. Remove from stove, pour into sterilized bottles.
Jam
The classic recipe for jam is made only from berries and sugar. Strawberries need to be sorted out and rinsed with running water. Cover with sugar, let the juice run for 20 minutes. Put the fruits in syrup to cook. Simmer for 5 minutes, remove from heat, let cool. Reheat the jam, simmer until the syrup thickens.
Option for a multicooker
You can make strawberry jam in a slow cooker. For this, the berries, covered with sugar and letting in the juice, are laid out in the bowl of the apparatus. They turn on the temperature regime of 150 degrees, set the time to 15 minutes. Cook with the lid open.
Freezing berries
Before freezing, the fruits are carefully sorted. Remove stalks, leaves and debris. The berries are carefully washed under a thin stream of water, laid out on a paper towel, and allowed to dry. The crop is laid out on a tray in a thin layer, in the open form it is sent to the freezer for an hour. The finished product is poured into a container or packed in plastic bags.
How to dry strawberries?
You can harvest strawberries for the winter by drying the fruits. In the cold season and during colds, it will be a useful addition to tea.
Before drying, the berries are sorted out, crumpled, rotten fruits are removed, washed if necessary.
It is not recommended to keep fruits in water - they quickly absorb moisture.
There are several ways to dry strawberries. The choice depends on the desire and time available to the hostess.
The dried berries are stored in cloth or paper bags in a cool dry place.
On air
Drying strawberries in the fresh air is difficult. The process takes up to 2 weeks. All this period should be sunny dry weather.
For drying, the fruits are washed and spread in a thin layer on a towel or soft paper. The crop is taken out in the morning, laid out in direct sunlight and brought in for the night period.
A sign of readiness of strawberries will be its brown color and dense texture.
In the oven
The most common way to dry berries is to bake them in the oven. To do this, the berries are spread on a baking sheet in one layer and placed in the oven. The temperature is set at 35-40 degrees and the berries are dried for an hour. Then the temperature is increased to 60 degrees and baked for 6-8 hours. It is advisable that the oven door is slightly open.
In the dryer
There are many devices for drying fruits and vegetables, one of which is an electric dryer.
The machines have special trays for distributing berries. The temperature is set within 50-60 degrees. Drying time for strawberries depends on the model of the apparatus and ranges from 6 to 10 hours.
Fast drying in the microwave
If the house does not have an electric dryer, you can also prepare strawberries using a microwave oven. Due to the rapid heating, the process will take much less time than using an oven.
For drying, strawberries are laid out between two layers of fabric, placed on a plate, and placed in a microwave oven.
The mode is set to 220 watts. The time should not exceed 2 minutes. If the berries stick together or juice is released from them, send them to the oven for another 30 seconds.
Strawberry pastila
Strawberry pastila is not only tasty, but also a healthy treat. Almost all vitamins are preserved in the product, since the heat treatment of fruits is minimal. You can prepare the marshmallow using a fruit and vegetable dryer or in the oven. Fruit puree is baked at a temperature of 60-70 degrees for 8-10 hours.
Sugarless
The technology for making the diet marshmallow corresponds to the usual recipes, only at the time of preparation, no sugar is added to the berry puree. The sweetness in such a dish will be natural, highlighted by the fruit.
If it is not enough, honey or a sweetener is added. The amount of sweetener depends on taste.
Pre-boiled
For cooking you will need:
- garden strawberries - 1 kg;
- granulated sugar - 200 g;
- lemon juice - 40 ml;
- water - 200 ml.
Grind the berry until puree, mix with water, sugar, lemon juice. Boil the sweet mass and cook for 20-30 minutes until thickened. Cover the baking sheet with parchment, grease with vegetable oil. Put the puree in a thin layer, send to the oven. Keep in the oven until the mixture hardens. Remove the marshmallow with a thin knife, cut into strips.
Pastila with gelatin and egg white
Ingredients:
- strawberries - 100 g;
- sugar - 200 g;
- gelatin - 10 g;
- water - 100 ml;
- chicken egg - 3 pcs.;
- lemon juice - 20 ml;
- honey - 50 g;
Make mashed potatoes from the berries. Separate the egg whites from the yolks and beat until stiff foam. Dissolve sugar and honey in a separate container in water, put on low heat. Boil the syrup for 5 minutes. Slowly introduce the protein mass into it.
Pour gelatin with water, let it swell. Mix with lemon juice and berry mass, add syrup. Pour the product into molds, refrigerate for 10 hours. Cut the finished marshmallow into cubes, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
