Fragrant barberry compote for the winter
Recently, it has become fashionable to plant a hedge of perennial shrubs, including barberry, on the site. However, this is not his only merit. Thanks to the abundant harvest of edible red berries, with which the bushes are literally strewn with autumn, you can harvest compotes and jams from barberry for the winter, make tinctures or simply dry the fruits.
The aromatic barberry compote has an unusual sweet and sour taste and a very beautiful, deep red color. It quenches thirst well and has a positive effect on the body. Drinking this drink in winter increases your resistance to colds.
The beneficial properties of barberry compote have been noted for a long time and are beyond doubt. Adherents of traditional medicine recommend drinking it in case of disorders of the digestive system and with high blood pressure. Besides, barberry has a mild laxative effect and is used for stool retention. Barberry compote helps to lower body temperature and active perspiration. It is used for diabetes mellitus, excluding granulated sugar from the composition.
Since barberry has the ability to quickly lower blood pressure, drinks should be taken with caution by people suffering from vegetative-vascular dystonia. And because of the characteristic sour taste of the berries, they are contraindicated in case of high acidity.
To prepare the barberry compote for the winter, ripe berries are harvested. They have a rather soft structure, so you need to wash them carefully so that the barberry does not burst and does not let the juice out. If you need to remove the seeds from the fruit, it is better to pick a slightly unripe barberry.
It is categorically impossible to use green berries of barberry - they contain toxins and are very poisonous.
There are many recipes for barberry compote, in which only its fruits are used. But since such drinks can not be drunk by everyone (due to the rather sour taste), barberry is often combined with other fruits or berries. Combined compotes are sweeter, since barberry is used mainly to give the drink a beautiful color and only then - a slight sourness. They are especially popular with young children.
Sterilized barberry compote
To determine how much water is required for pouring, pour it into a jar of barberry and then drain into a saucepan.
Boil the syrup from the drained water, adding 700 g of sugar for each liter of water.
Pour barberry in jars with hot syrup, cover and sterilize for 30 minutes, having previously spread an old towel on the bottom of the pan.
Roll up and leave to cool completely. Store the barberry compote for the winter in the cellar.
Barberry drink by double pouring
For those who do not have time to mess around with preservation, there is a quick recipe for barberry compote for the winter without sterilization. It should be noted right away that, since the compote itself is not subjected to prolonged heat treatment, bottles for seaming must be sterilized for at least 15 minutes.
Put the metal lids in a saucepan and boil for 10 minutes.
So, carefully sort out one kilogram of barberry so that there is no garbage and spoiled berries left. Rinse and empty into a colander.
Arrange the dried berries in three-liter jars. You don't need to put a lot, it is enough to fill the container less than half.
Prepare a drink in two ways:
- Pour water into a large saucepan, bring it to a boil and pour over the jars of barberry. Cover with a lid, wrap the containers with a warm blanket and leave to infuse for 15-20 minutes.
- After the specified time has elapsed, drain the water back into the pan and cook the sugar syrup at the rate of 2 tbsp. sugar for one bottle of drink. Pour the berries with them a second time and immediately roll up.
- Turn the jars upside down and wrap them well. After they cool down, lower them into the cellar for storage.
Barberry and apple compote
The main component of the compote will be fruits and some berries - for color:
- apples - 1 kg:
- barberry - 200 g.
Sort the berries and rinse.
Peel the apples and cut into pieces of any shape.
Lay the ingredients in 1 liter jars.
For pouring, boil syrup from the calculation:
- water - 1 l;
- sugar - 500 g
If the apples are of very sweet varieties, put less sugar (300 g).
Pour boiling syrup into jars and sterilize the compote for 25 minutes, then roll up and allow to cool.
Barberry and pear compote
Prepare fruits and berries:
- Rinse 1 kg of barberry;
- Peel and cut 1 kg of pears.
Next, put the prepared foods in the jars one by one.
Pour water into a saucepan, bring to a boil and add sugar at the rate of 700 g per 1 liter of liquid. While stirring, let it dissolve.
Pour hot syrup over jars of barberry and pears and sterilize them for at least 20 minutes. Roll up.
Concentrated Barberry Juice
If you don't have a large supply of glass containers for making compotes, you can make barberry juice. One jar of such juice is enough to make a barberry compote for a large family in winter, simply by diluting it with boiled water.
Pour well-ripe berries into a saucepan, add water. Cook until the barberry is tender.
Drain the water, and rub the fruits through a sieve.
Pour the resulting liquid mass into half-liter jars and sterilize for 15 minutes. Roll up.
Some housewives use a forgotten recipe for barberry compote in a saucepan. According to him, the fruits are not laid out in a jar, but compote is immediately prepared from them: water is poured into a large saucepan and covered with barberry in small quantities. After the water boils, add sugar to taste and let it dissolve. Next, the finished compote is poured into bottles and sterilized for 20-30 minutes to increase the shelf life. If you plan to consume the drink in the next 7 days, skip the sterilization process. In this case, the finished compote is stored in the refrigerator.
Those who have not yet tried to preserve barberry compote should take a chance and prepare it for the winter. Thus, you can not only pamper your loved ones with a delicious novelty, but also provide your family with vitamins for the whole winter. Enjoy your meal!