Candied fruits are the same product that is more difficult to imagine than to cook. Candied pieces of fruit or berries have been known to mankind since the same time as sweets in general. At first they were boiled in sweet juices, bringing them very slowly to a thickening. With the advent of crystalline sugar, the process went more fun, and recipes were noticeably increased.
Candied fruits, in addition to preserving most of the taste of the original berries, are also very sweet. This allows you to use them in the initially "savory" sweets - jelly, Easter cakes, muffins. The joy of a child from candied gooseberries or strawberries is generally difficult to convey. Well, of course, such a treat is much more useful than sweets with synthetic aromas.
Candied strawberries - general principles of preparation
• The production of candied fruits from strawberries is a rather lengthy process, but not laborious. It consists of two stages: aging or boiling berries in concentrated sugar syrup and drying them to the desired state.
• When choosing strawberries for candied fruit, give preference to medium-sized berries of approximately the same size. They must be sufficiently dense, without any damage and necessarily ripe.
• Be sure to rinse the selected strawberries under a stream of running water in a colander. Then dry well.
• There are not so many ways to make strawberry candied fruits, and they all differ. Some recipes involve repeated boiling in syrup. Another option, when the berries are poured with hot syrup, the mass is allowed to cool, drained and reheated syrup. The procedure is repeated for several days. There are quick recipes for making such a “treat”, in which the berries are boiled with syrup in the oven or on an open fire.
• After the strawberries are laid out on a sieve or colander so that it is well dried out from the syrup. Then bring to the desired state in the oven or electric dryer.
• Ready candied strawberries should be soft, almost transparent. If the candied fruit is slightly pressed down, juice should not stand out from it.
• After drying, candied fruit roll in sugar or icing sugar. They are placed in hermetically sealed containers and stored in a darkened, not moist place.
• Candied strawberries are not only a delicate delicacy, but also a wonderful component for making desserts and baking.
Candied strawberries without cooking
Ingredients:
• a pound of fresh ripe strawberries;
• a large spoon of powdered sugar;
• granulated sugar - 500 g .;
• 50 ml of drinking water.
Cooking method:
1. Straw carefully sort. Berries intended for the preparation of candied fruits should not be rotten and soft. Remove the sepals, rinse well and leave to dry on a colander.
2. Pour granulated sugar into the pan, fill with water and mix. With moderate heating, cook, stirring occasionally, until all the grains dissolve. After that, slightly increase the heat and, as soon as the syrup boils, turn off the stove.
3. In a hot, almost boiling, syrup, lay the strawberries and leave in it until completely cooled.
4. Then pour the syrup into another saucepan. Boil again quickly and pour the berries, cool. Do this at least seven times.
5. After the last (seventh) pouring, place the berries on a sieve and leave it in for two hours.
6. Do not pour fragrant, concentrated strawberry syrup. Boil it for two minutes and pour into a sterile jar. Cover the container and roll it up. Such syrup delightfully soaks biscuit cakes, you can add it to compotes, tea or make jelly.
7. Cover a large baking sheet with parchment and place the berries dried from the syrup on it.
8. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and dry the strawberries in it for three hours. Do not close the oven door tightly. To prevent the door from closing, insert an empty matchbox between it and the oven.
9. Ready candied strawberries are sprinkled with powdered sugar. Then place them in a glass container, under a tight lid. Store in a dry, dark place.
Baked cottage cheese balls with candied strawberries in strawberry sauce
Ingredients:
• two large packs of 9% cottage cheese;
• five tablespoons of candied strawberry;
• a tablespoon of dry poppy;
• three tablespoons of rice flour;
• one chicken egg;
• a teaspoon of cocoa powder.
In the sauce:
• 300 gr. frozen or fresh strawberries;
• three teaspoons of granulated sugar.
Cooking method:
1. Rub the cottage cheese through a sieve into a deep bowl. Pour in rice flour and poppy seeds. Add the strawberry candied fruit, beat the egg and knead well with a spoon.
2. Divide the curd mass in two equal parts. Mix cocoa in one, and the second will remain white.
3. With moistened hands, form small balls with a small plum. Put the workpieces on a greased baking sheet or in a mold and bake in a hot oven at 180 degrees for a quarter of an hour.
4. While the balls are baking, prepare the sauce. To do this, put the strawberries in a stewpan. Add three tablespoons of granulated sugar. Set cook on low heat for at least half an hour.
5. If you want the strawberry sauce to be homogeneous, after cooking, beat it with the kitchen processor in mashed potatoes.
6. With sauce, you can pour the baked balls or pour it into the sauce boat and serve separately.
Candied strawberries - "Weeks"
Ingredients:
• 250 gr. white sugar;
• fresh, medium-sized strawberries - 0.5 kg.
Cooking method:
1. Sprinkle the washed, well-dried strawberries with sugar and leave until the juice stands out.
2. Bring the bowl with strawberries to a boil on a small one. Shake gently periodically for three minutes. After that, turn off the stove and leave until the next day.
3. On the second day, drain the syrup and set it on low heat to boil. Boil for three minutes and dip the strawberries into it. Boil everything together for another two minutes and leave again until the next day. This should be done every day until all the syrup is respected. It usually takes 6-7 days.
4. After all the syrup is boiled out, lay the berries on parchment, slightly departing from each other and dry in the room for three days.
5. Then pour the finished strawberry candied fruit with powdered sugar and put in a clean, hermetically sealed container.
Mannik with candied strawberries
Ingredients:
• one glass of dry semolina;
• pasteurized 2.5% milk - 1 cup;
• two chicken eggs;
• half a glass of vegetable oil;
• a full glass of white baking flour;
• soda - 0.5 tsp;
• candied strawberries - to taste;
• table vinegar.
Cooking method:
1. Pour dry semolina with slightly warmed milk. Stir well and let stand for half an hour.
2. Separate the yolks and squirrels. Beat whites with granulated sugar until white foam forms. Pour the flour into the protein mass, stir and add the baking soda that is slaked with vinegar.
3. Mix yolks with vegetable oil and combine with flour mixture. Add the swollen semolina and beat well with a whisk.
4. Grease the mold with margarine, lightly sprinkle with dry semolina and pour the dough into it. Flatten, spread the strawberry candied fruits evenly over the dough and slightly drown them with a knife or fork.
5. Then put the mold in a hot oven (180 degrees) and bake the mannik for about 25 minutes.
Candied strawberries in the oven
Ingredients:
• a pound of granulated sugar;
• one kilogram of strawberries;
• half a teaspoon of lemon.
Cooking method:
1. Mix citric acid with sugar and sprinkle cooked strawberries.
2. When the juice comes out and the sugar crystals completely dissolve, transfer the berries along with the juice to the roasting pan.
3. Sprinkle the remaining sugar evenly on top and place in the oven, at 200 degrees.
4. When the syrup boils, lower the heat to 170 degrees and continue cooking for another 25 minutes.
5. After that, lay the berries on a parchment sheet and leave to dry for several days.
6. Sprinkle the candied fruit with powdered sugar.
Dessert - "Bavarian cream with candied strawberries"
Ingredients:
• three cookies, preferably strawberry;
• 2/3 teaspoon butter unsalted butter;
• several strawberries (candied fruit);
• 250 ml of pasteurized 3.2% milk;
• 15 gr. instant gelatin;
• a teaspoon of vanilla sugar;
• five raw yolks;
• 80 gr. curd cheese.
Cooking method:
1. Crumble the cookies and mash it with butter until a thick paste is obtained.
2. Leave gelatin for 20 minutes to swell in cold water.
3. Lightly warm the milk and stir in it the vanilla sugar.
4. White, while heating in a water bath, beat the granulated sugar with the yolks, and, without stopping the whipping, introduce a thin stream of vanilla milk.
5. Discard excess water from gelatin and hold until completely dissolved in a water bath. Do not let it boil!
6. Add more warm gelatin to the cream, mix. Enter the cheese, mix everything well again and put the cream in the refrigerator for ten minutes.
7. Mix chilled cream with whipped cream.
8. At the bottom of a wide glass or bowl, put a "cake" of cookies, candied fruit on it and fill it with cream.
9. Refrigerate the dessert in the refrigerator for half an hour until it hardens.
Quick candied strawberries
Ingredients:
• 800 gr. granulated sugar;
• one kilogram of medium-sized ripe strawberries;
• 800 ml of drinking water.
Cooking method:
1. Mix granulated sugar with water and set on low heat. When it has completely dissolved, pour dry strawberries into boiling syrup and boil for a quarter of an hour without changing the heat.
2. Catch the strawberries with a slotted spoon on a sieve and leave in it for two hours until all the syrup has drained.
3. Put the dried berries on a large roasting pan, and bring the candied fruits in the oven until cooked at 60 degrees. This will take more than one hour.
4. Candied fruits will be ready when juice does not stand out when pressed on them.
Candied strawberries in the dryer
Ingredients:
• ripe dry strawberries - 700 gr.;
• 150 ml of water;
• a pound of white sugar.
Cooking method:
1. Pour sugar into a large, wide bowl. Pour in water, stir well and cook with little heat.
2. When the sugar is completely dispersed, boil the syrup for another three minutes and pour the prepared strawberries into it, cool.
3. Put the berries in a colander, and again bring the syrup to a boil at a moderate temperature, preventing it from boiling. As soon as the first bubbles begin to appear, immediately remove the syrup from the heat and transfer the strawberries into the colander from it. Leave it like this all night.
4. In the morning, repeat the procedure and after the berries have dried well, lay them on the drier tray and hold it for at least ten hours.
5. Roll the finished candied fruit in sugar and place in tightly closed containers.
Candied strawberries - cooking tips and tricks
• Candied fruits made from spoiled berries may be bitter and will not be stored for long.
• The longer the berries are aged in syrup, the sweeter the candied fruit.
• When boiling or keeping strawberries in syrup, be sure to mix periodically. This should be done carefully, it is best to shake the container several times. This is enough to let the upper berries sink to the bottom.
• When adding to baked goods or desserts, in no case do soak candied fruits in water. They are already quite soft.
