Red currant pastille at home

Red currant pastille is a traditional dish of cuisine. For the preparation of this dessert, whipped applesauce and the pulp of berries, including red currants, are used. Blackcurrant recipes are popular.

Cooking marshmallow is simple, and every home has additional ingredients for the dish: eggs and sugar or honey. You don’t need to buy anything exotic to make a dessert.

Useful properties of red currant marshmallow

Redcurrant contains a large amount of useful macro- and microelements, acids and vitamins, which are preserved almost without loss in homemade marshmallow. This is the reason for a fairly wide range of useful properties of the finished product:

• a delicacy of red currant contributes to the normalization of the digestive tract;
• regular moderate consumption of currant marshmallow serves as a prevention of many diseases of the cardiovascular system;
• currant strengthens the immune system, helps the body recover from illness;
• dessert is useful to use during outbreaks of viral and colds, as it has bactericidal and disinfectant properties;
• delicacy effectively removes toxins from the body;
• often used in marshmallows, honey normalizes metabolism.

Redcurrant marshmallow recipes

Homemade redcurrant dessert is a soft, but at the same time quite elastic canvas of sweet and sour taste with a rich fruity aroma. It is prepared by “spreading” mashed berries on a flat surface, which formed the basis of the name of the dish. Then the marshmallow is dried so that it acquires a viscous consistency.

From red currants, a product of saturated dark red color, sometimes with a hint of purple, is obtained. Both large and small berries are used to make marshmallows. The main thing is that the currant is from a variety with a thin skin and is fully ripe. Overripe currants make marshmallow too sweet, but it is also better not to use unripe ones. The general tone speaks about the degree of maturity – the berries should have an even color without splashes of a greenish tint. This is a sign of immaturity or illness.

In the dryer

It is most convenient to cook red currant marshmallow using a special dryer.

Ingredients:

• 250 grams of sugar;
• 300 g red currant;
• 50 g of powdered sugar;
• 1-2 tbsp. l. potato or corn starch.

Recipe:

1. Sugar is poured into a container with washed and dried berries. All this is mixed and left to settle for 30 minutes to form juice.
2. The resulting mass is transferred to a saucepan and put on a slow fire. From time to time, the berry mass is stirred. When the mixture boils, keep it on the stove for another 5-8 minutes, after which it is removed from the heat.
3. When cool, transfer it to a blender and make a smooth puree.
4. After that, you need to put 1-2 sheets of parchment on the dryer tray. On top of it, the berry mass is carefully laid out, evenly distributing with a spatula over the entire surface.
5. 4-6 hours dried at a temperature of 60°C. The dried canvas is taken out of the dryer and placed on a mixture of powder and starch. This dish can be considered ready.

In the oven

In the oven, redcurrant marshmallow is prepared according to the following scheme:

1. 1 kg of red currant is thoroughly washed and dried.
2. Then the raw materials are brought to the state of liquid puree using a blender or meat grinder.
3. After that, the resulting mass is rubbed through a sieve to give it uniformity.
4. The next step is to add 500 g of sugar to the red currant. Stir until sugar dissolves.
5. Then the sugar-berry mixture is put on medium heat and kept on the stove until boiling. After that, the fire is removed to a minimum and the base for marshmallow is cooked for another 5 minutes.
6. The cooled mass is lightly beaten, then distributed on a baking sheet, after laying parchment.
7. Within 8-10 hours incubated at a temperature of 60°C.

What else can be added to currant marshmallow

Homemade currant marshmallow in its pure form, without the addition of other products, has a rich sweet and sour taste. Sometimes the emphasis is shifted towards acid, so young children do not always like the treat. On the other hand, dessert can always be sweetened.

There are different ways to do this.

1. A banana is added to the raw material for treats in a ratio of 1: 1. It will give the dish softness, tenderness and sweetness.
2. One of the most common sweeteners for marshmallows is granulated sugar, but of all the additives, it is the least useful. In addition, if you add too much sugar, the treat can become too hard and brittle.
3. Instead of sugar, honey is often used. This product gives the dish a rich honey flavor. Not all varieties of honey can be used, as some of them prevent the marshmallow from solidifying. In particular, it is undesirable to mix acacia honey with berries. Rape honey is best suited, which is added to the base at the rate of 500 g per 1 kg of berries.
4. The mixture of berries and applesauce gives a uniformity to the dish. If desired, it can be replaced with grape pulp.

Caloric value

On average, the calorie content of dessert per 100 g is 327 kcal. This indicator may vary slightly depending on what food additives are present in the finished dish: honey, nuts, orange juice, or others.

Pastila is far from a dietary product, but it is healthier than chocolate and other sweets.

Terms and conditions of storage

Pastila does not tolerate high humidity. To check if it is damp, you can use pressure. Properly stored product is resilient and will not crack. If the material is sticky and loose, then the delicacy has gone bad.

After cooking, the sweet and sour cloth is cut into small plates, which are put together and put away for storage in a glass container. It is very convenient to store currant marshmallows in the form of small rolls that are wrapped with cling film. If you do not isolate each tube, they may stick together. Then the rolls are also folded into a glass container or an airtight plastic container.

When properly stored, the shelf life is 8-12 months.

Conclusion

Red currant pastille is a tasty and healthy dish. In addition, it can be used both as an independent dessert and as a sweet addition when brewing tea. Sweet and sour sheets go well with pastries, so sometimes they are used as a layer in homemade pies and rolls. Also, pieces of red currant marshmallow are added to various tinctures and compotes.

For more information on how to cook currant marshmallow, you can learn from the video: