If you have been to the city of Kolomna, near Moscow, you could not help but try the famous handmade Kolomna pastila. Not only amazingly tasty, but also healthy, as it contains the best substances of apples: pectin, fiber, vitamins, iron. We suggest you prepare something very similar at home.
Ingredients:
- Apples: 1 kilogram, or 8-10 large apples. Net weight, including skin and seeds.
- Sugar: 300 grams.
- Powdered sugar (for sprinkling).
Other things that will come in handy: a large sieve, a saucepan (preferably with a thick bottom), baking parchment.
Preparation
1 step. Wash the apples. For small fruits, you can not remove the cores, but cut them only into 4 parts; for large ones, cut off all the sides (with peel, but without bones). Place in a large saucepan, add a little water (about 50 ml), simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the apple mass turns into puree. This will take about 20-25 minutes depending on the size of the pieces of raw material.
Step 2. After softening the apples and turning them into a homogeneous mass, reduce the heat, open the lid and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring.
Step 3. Remove apples from heat, place in a large sieve and drain.
Step 4 Add sugar. You don’t have to add it, but if the apples are sour, it’s better to add it.
Step 5 Cover the baking sheet with baking parchment; the piece of parchment should be solid, wide and extend over the sides. Lightly grease the paper with vegetable oil.
Step 6 Place the apple mass (about 700 g) on parchment and spread in an even layer about 0.5 cm thick.
Step 7 Place a baking sheet in the oven, preheated to 70 degrees. The marshmallow takes 6 to 8 hours to prepare. If you have a timer in your oven, you will need to turn it on periodically. You can just time it. It is better not to do this at night, because the pan needs to be turned over periodically (every 2 hours, for example). This is necessary so that the apple mass is heated evenly on all sides.
How do you know when the pastille is ready?
The pastille is ready if its thickness has decreased, the consistency has become denser, and a few sweet drops of sugar syrup appear on the surface. Essentially, heating in the oven simply draws excess moisture out of the food. The surface should become smooth and not stick to your hands. At a temperature of 70 degrees, the human hand can withstand touch.
After 6.5-8 hours, remove the parchment from the oven and cool slightly.Cover a flat surface with powdered sugar, turn the pastille over and carefully remove the parchment from it. If the edges are stuck, trim them: you can eat them too. Cut into strips and roll into rolls. You can fasten with toothpicks and sprinkle with powdered sugar for beauty. If any edge of the marshmallow has not yet “set” in the oven, cut it off and send it back to warm up.
From one kilogram of apples I got 6 fairly thick rolls (3-4 cm thick, 5 cm long). Output weight is about 300-400 g. The edges of the marshmallow that are stuck to the parchment can also be separated from the surface and eaten.
Application
This unique homemade handmade marshmallow will decorate any holiday table! For all its usefulness and original taste, it also stores well. Wrap it in parchment and cling film, put it in a cool place, take it out as needed.
Pastille is perfect for decorating desserts and cakes. Using a knife or stencils, you can easily cut out letters or any other shapes from this product.
Although pastille contains sugar, it remains an excellent dessert for weight loss due to its high density and content of nutrients.
