Soaking vegetables and fruits for the winter is an old tradition that dates back to those times when housewives were not familiar with sterilization. Until now, products prepared in this way are popular in many families. Today we will share the best recipes for preparing soaked apples at home for the winter. You will learn how to cook apples in a barrel/jar with honey, sugar, horseradish and mustard.

There are a huge number of recipes for soaking for the winter, and a variety of containers are used for these purposes: glass jars, barrels, wooden tubs, etc. It is difficult to say that the taste of the product differs greatly depending on the type of container used. Rather, the main role is played by the spices and additional ingredients used during soaking.

Before we talk about any particular recipe, we should stipulate several rules common to each of them. Firstly, it is better to use small apples to make them easier to handle when cooking. Secondly, preference should be given to hard varieties (even unripe fruits can be used). Thirdly, apples picked for peeing should under no circumstances be immediately “used”: you need to let them rest for a while. Well, now you can start looking at the recipe. We will need:

• autumn variety apples – 7-8 kg;
• sugar – 0.5 kg;
• salt – 90 g;
• cherry, raspberry branches with leaves;
• currant leaves;
• lemon balm/mint.

Soaked apples with sugar

First of all, let's deal with the brine. To prepare it we need about 1 liter of water. Bring it to a boil, add salt and sugar, then stir until the bulk ingredients dissolve. Then dilute the boiling water with warm boiled water. So, the amount of apples used in this recipe will require about 5 liters of water.

Now we prepare the fruits. Wash the apples thoroughly and remove the stems. Then put half of all the branches and leaves in a deep pan/bucket, and put the apples on them. Place the rest of the branches and leaves on top. You can add 3-4 branches of lemon balm or 1-2 branches of mint to add a special aroma. Fill the apples with the prepared marinade to the top, place a flat board on top and a weight on it. Over the next 7 days, add water little by little. And after this period, put the apples in a cool place for a month and a half.

Advice. Under no circumstances should you pack the apples too tightly or try to compact them - the fruits should be positioned freely.

Soaked apples according to an old recipe (with horseradish)

This recipe is both simple and delicious. So, to prepare apples we need:

• apples – 5-6 kg;
• horseradish - 1 root;
• salt, sugar;
• mustard – 60 g;
• leaves of oak, cherry, black currant.

We sterilize jars. Place washed leaves on the bottom of the jars, then apples, and alternate layers of apples and leaves. We insert horseradish, cut into lengthwise pieces, into the free space of the jars. After filling the jars to the top with apples, pour mustard on them. Fill the jars with boiling water for 15 minutes and then pour it into a separate container (this will help you understand how much brine we need). Add another 250 g of water, salt, sugar to the container with the drained boiling water (at the rate of 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 times more salt for each liter of water). Mix well and wait until the brine boils.

While the brine is being prepared, the apples can be re-filled with boiling water, which will need to be drained before adding the brine. Fill the apples with brine (hot, but not boiling water) and cover with lids. Leave it for several days. Then we move it to a cool place.

Soaked apples with honey in jars

To prepare apples with honey, we need the following ingredients (all figures are based on 1 liter of marinade):

• salt – 15 g;
• honey – 35 g;
• rye flour – 20 g;
• blackcurrant branches;
• cherry and raspberry leaves;
• mint – 1-2 sprigs;
• cranberry/viburnum berries – 50 g.

First you need to prepare the jars: wash them thoroughly with soda and pour over boiling water. After that, we start filling them out. We put half of the currant branches on the bottom, then cherries and raspberries, then mint and viburnum berries. We place apples on this fragrant “carpet” (fill approximately half the jar), cover them with the remnants of fragrant branches and leaves. Then fill the jar to the top with apples.

Let's start preparing the marinade. Pour warm water over the flour, gradually stirring the mixture until the flour is completely dissolved. In this case, the consistency should be sour cream. Then boil water, add salt, honey, water and flour. Apples should be filled with cooled marinade. Close the jars and leave for about 7-8 days. When the fermentation process begins, the jars can be put away in a cool place for wintering.

Pickled apples in a barrel

Spicy soaked apples with mustard (in a wooden tub/barrel)

When soaking apples in a barrel/tub, it is important to properly treat the container. First, you need to thoroughly soak the barrel, then wash it in hot water and soda, pour boiling water over it and dry it thoroughly (if desired, you can fumigate it with sulfur).

Then the bottom of the barrel is covered with clean and scalded straw (without a hint of weeds). After that, apples are laid out in the barrel, which then need to be covered with straw, and a napkin or cotton cloth placed on top. Be sure to cover the barrel with oppression (the circle is under a weight) and fill it with marinade. Now let's look at the process of its preparation.

Advice. If the apple variety chosen for soaking is not very fragrant, then spices will help correct the situation. The following are used most often: parsnip, tarragon, mint, etc.

To prepare 1 liter of marinade we will need: sugar – 250 g; malt – 100 g; salt – 90 g; mustard (powder) – 1 tbsp. spoon.

Pour the malt into 1 liter of water and boil for about 10 minutes. Then remove the resulting wort from the heat, pour the remaining 9 liters of water into the container, add the remaining bulk ingredients and mix the mass thoroughly until all ingredients are completely dissolved. After this, pour the marinade into a barrel and leave it warm for a week. Then we transfer the barrel to a cold room.

This concludes our material. Be sure to try any of the proposed recipes and it will undoubtedly end up on the list of your favorite culinary recipes. Good luck!

Pickled apples: video

Our ancestors did not have as many opportunities to pamper themselves with desserts as we do now. But the “snacks” traditional for Russian cuisine were prepared exclusively from natural ingredients with a rich vitamin composition.

One of these delicacies is soaked apples, which, depending on the method of preparation - simple, sour or sugar - can be either an appetizer to start a meal or a sweet end to it, as well as a savory ingredient in salads and other complex dishes.

Apple fruits preserved in this way retain their vitamin composition as much as possible, and this includes ascorbic acid, vitamins A, E, D and group B, which are so necessary in winter. There is also a whole set of important minerals: iron, calcium, potassium, silicon, iodine, phosphorus, zinc and many others.

It is important that even those who are losing weight and those who are simply watching their weight can afford such a dessert. Indeed, 100 g of soaked apples, depending on the method of soaking, contain only 40-69 kcal and a huge amount of coarse fiber that cleanses and activates the intestines. And lactic acid bacteria contained in the product restore intestinal microflora

However, this useful product can harm those who suffer from gastritis with ulcers and other inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract, as well as pancreatitis and urolithiasis. Pregnant women who are prone to edema should eat soaked apples with caution.

What varieties of apples are suitable for harvesting?

This is a very important point. No matter how appetizing these fruits may look on display, not all of them are suitable for soaking. The classic variety for this purpose is Antonovka. Experienced chefs also recommend the varieties pepin, anise, and titovka.

In any case, the apples should be ripe, but not flabby. Instances with the slightest signs of damage are subject to rejection, otherwise the entire batch can be destroyed.

Choosing the right cookware

It is optimal to use a wooden barrel with a weight for soaking - this is a circle of wood that is placed on top of the apples and pressed down with a heavy weight. This method has developed historically, and it is quite justified: anyone who has tasted soaked barrel apples will confirm that in this form they acquire a special taste and aroma.

This also saves the housewife’s time, which is spent on packaging jars and pre-processing them. However, in a modern city, not everyone can afford to place a whole barrel in their apartment, so a variety of glass, ceramic, enamel dishes, and, in extreme cases, even food-grade plastic, are quite successfully used for soaking.

Classic recipe

You don’t need any special wisdom to please yourself and your loved ones with the simplest version of soaked apples. To do this, put well-washed apples into jars and prepare the filling at the rate of: 120 g of salt and exactly the same amount of sugar per 10 liters of water.

This liquid is poured into apples, covered with ordinary plastic lids and left for storage in a cool, dry place, protected from sunlight. Pickled apples are tasty and aromatic on their own. But various additives will help diversify the sensations: cinnamon, oregano, rosemary, leaves and berries of garden trees and shrubs, and so on.

With rowan

Apples soaked with rowan berries will give apples a tart taste and an impressive appearance. For 10 kg of apples you will need 1.5 kg of rowan, as well as 5 liters of cold water, 250 g of sugar and 75 g of salt.

Water with bulk ingredients dissolved in it must be boiled and cooled. Place pre-washed apples and berries in layers in containers and fill with brine, press down with a weight and store for two weeks at a temperature of about +16 °C, and then put in a cool room.

With sea buckthorn

The variation with sea buckthorn looks bright and cheerful and contains a rich vitamin composition. And if you complement this set with the same rich orange ripe pumpkin, you will get a completely independent snack dish. For 4 kg of apples and 3 kg of pumpkin you need 200 g of sea buckthorn, 0.5 kg of sugar and 0.3 liters of water.

Place the washed and dried apples and berries in a clean container. Water with sugar dissolved in it needs to be brought to a boil and the pumpkin chopped into pieces should be immersed in it, boiled until tender and pureed using a blender.

A mixture of this puree and broth is poured over the apples and kept for a week at room temperature, after which they are stored in a dark, cool place.

With honey and lemon balm

The presence of mint or, alternatively, lemon balm gives a refreshing aroma, and honey enhances the benefits of the fruit. In addition to all of the above, to prepare this masterpiece you will need fresh cherry and currant leaves, as well as salt, malt or rye flour.

You need to line the bottom of the container with currant leaves. A double layer of apples is placed on this litter and covered with cherry leaves. We again place a double layer of apples on top, then we use mint as a covering layer and again apples. On top of the entire structure we lay mint sprigs or a mixture of them with the mentioned leaves of garden shrubs and press them down with a weight.

Now we prepare the filling: in 10 liters of boiled water, cooled to a warm state, dilute about 200-300 g of honey until completely dissolved, add 150 g of salt, 100 g of malt or rye flour. Pour the liquid directly under the load. We stand for 4-6 weeks at a temperature of +15-18 degrees. As the volume of brine decreases, add the required amount.

For 20 kg of apples, 500 g of honey, 170 g of salt, 150 g of rye flour and 10 liters of cold water are required. And also 100 g of basil with sprigs and 20 black currant leaves.

Water needs to be boiled and cooled to 40 °C, then add flour and salt to it, mix thoroughly and cool the entire mixture completely. Meanwhile, sort and wash the apples and herbs. Use currant leaves to form a bedding at the bottom of the vessel. Then layer apples and basil in alternating order.

Cover with currant leaves, pour in brine and keep under pressure for about two weeks at a temperature of about +15 °C, and then store in a cool place.

With mustard

This method of preparation is dedicated to connoisseurs of thrills. For two dozen kg of apples and 10 liters of water, there are 100 g of salt, 150 g of mustard powder, 500 g of rye flour and 30 mint leaves.

The water must be brought to a boil, flour, salt and mustard must be dissolved in two liters, stirring well and quickly, and the mixture must be poured into the remaining boiling water. This is how the brine is prepared, which needs to be poured into the apples laid out in a container with layers of mint.

All this is stored under pressure in a cool room.

With lingonberries

In addition to apples and lingonberries (10 kg and 0.5 kg, respectively), this recipe contains cherry and currant leaves (15 pieces each), 400 g of sugar, 200 g of rye flour, 100 g of salt and 10 liters of water.

Place half of the cherry and currant leaves on the bottom of a deep dish washed and scalded with boiling water. We dilute the entire volume of flour in a small amount of water to obtain a creamy consistency. Boil the remaining water, dissolve sugar, salt and flour pulp in it. Cook for a couple of minutes, remove from heat, cool and pour over apples, laid out in layers or mixed with lingonberries.

We store it according to the usual, already mentioned scheme under oppression.

The presence of a fermented milk product does not mean that the shelf life of apples is short. They are perfectly preserved in this brine: 10 liters of water, 200 ml of kefir and 3 tablespoons of mustard powder.

Boil and cool water, mix with kefir and mustard. Pour the apples placed into a container and covered with gauze and store in a cool place. After two weeks, the product is ready for use.

With dill and currant leaves

Apples soaked according to this recipe will retain the aroma of summer for a long time. For 10 kg of fruit you need 300 g of dill sprigs, 200 g of black currant leaves, 200 g of sugar, 50 g of rye malt and salt and 5 liters of water.

First, wash the greens and dry them lightly on a towel. Place half the currant leaves in the treated container, and then alternate layers of apples and dill sprigs. Cover with currant leaves and oppression. Boil water with malt added to it for 20 minutes, dissolve salt and sugar in it, cool and pour over all layers. We keep it for five days at room temperature, and then in a cool room.

With cabbage and carrots

Another classic recipe from Russian cuisine. Sour varieties are recommended for it. For 3 kg of apples - 4 kg of cabbage and two or three medium carrots, 3 tablespoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Vegetables need to be chopped, mixed with salt and sugar and squeezed with your hands until the juice releases, then set aside for an hour and a half. When the mixture is infused, lay out the vegetable and apple layers alternately. Cover everything with cabbage leaves and pour in the juice squeezed from the vegetables.

If its volume is not enough to cover all the layers, we supplement it with marinade: dissolve a tablespoon of sugar and salt in a glass of boiled and cooled water.

To get perfect soaked apples, you need to pay attention to several details at the stage of selecting raw materials. For example, it is recommended to use apples from the orchard for soaking, and not from the store counter, where fruits most often end up after chemical treatment, which prolongs their life.

Moreover, diseased fruits or those that have fallen from a tree to the ground cannot be used in this case, as well as apples with any hint of rotting. Signs of spoilage may not be immediately noticeable, so it is better not to use recently picked fruits for urination, but to let them sit for several days when the spoilage becomes obvious.

The utensils for urination must be thoroughly processed, rinsed with soda and doused with boiling water. The apples themselves and any accompanying plant components are also thoroughly washed and dried. It is better to place apples in a container with the stems facing up.

During storage, the established temperature regime must not be violated. When temperature limits are exceeded, soaked apples quickly become unsuitable for food. The optimal temperature for standing is about 15 °C, for storage – +4 °C...+6 °C. At least once a week you need to remove mold and foam, wash the oppression and scald it with boiling water.

Conclusion

Many people today pay great attention to proper nutrition and maintaining health. Natural delicacies prepared according to homemade recipes, proven over centuries, are an excellent alternative to modern industrially produced confectionery products. Therefore, soaked apples are a good option for preparations.

A simple, tasty, affordable and versatile fruit that is great for preparing various dishes, desserts, and winter preparations. They are particularly popular with consumers, which are widely used as a separate snack, a quick snack or a raw material for baking. How to properly ferment the described fruits and which variety to choose - more on this later in the article.

Selection and preliminary preparation of fruits

They are a very healthy specific dish, which is characterized by an unusual, piquant taste and refined aroma. Not all varieties are suitable for soaking fruit. Dense fruits with elastic skin and hard pulp are considered an excellent raw material for preparing homemade snacks. The best option is autumn or winter crop varieties, which include Babushkino, Pepin Litovsky.

Important! with damaged skins, they are quickly soaked in the solution, while almost all the beneficial substances from them pass into the marinade, as a result of which the fruits lose their characteristic taste and aroma, and become watery and loose.

Recipes for soaked Antonovka apples

There are many different recipes like. However, I would like to dwell in more detail on those that have long become classics. Preparing fruits according to such recipes is quite quick and simple, and the resulting apples are extremely tasty, aromatic and can benefit the body, saturating it with essential vitamins and minerals.

Recipe No. 1

Grandma's old recipe

Did you know? Antonovka is an old Russian variety of apples, which was introduced by the gardener from Tula S.V. Batov. According to the agrarian, the variety was named Antonovka in honor of a certain gardener Anton, who bred it many centuries ago-The exact date of the appearance of the culture is still unknown.

Recipe No. 2

With currant leaves

4 cans of 1 liter each 20 minutes

Steps

6 ingredients

apples

10–15 pcs.

Granulated sugar

100 g

Salt

1 tsp.

Rye flour

100 g

Water

2.5 l

Currant leaves

300–350 g

Energy value per 100 g:

Calorie content

Carbohydrates

Important!During the fermentation process, it is very important to ensure that the apples are always completely in the brine, otherwise the top fruits will begin to rot or ferment unevenly. That is why it is recommended to install oppression on top of the container.

Terms and features of storage of blanks

The most comfortable temperature for preserving the workpiece is considered to be:

• about +15…17°С - during the fermentation period, which lasts 10–14 days;
• no more than 0…+4°С - for further storage.

When the pulp is well salted, the workpiece can be stored in the refrigerator. The optimal place for preserving the product is considered to be a basement, where it can lie without loss of taste and attractive appearance until May. Pickled apples are an unusually tasty and aromatic dish that will become the highlight of the dinner table in winter.

In addition to the fact that the fruits have original taste properties, they are also very beneficial for human health and are a source of many essential vitamins and minerals. Fermenting fruit at home is quite simple; the main thing is to choose high-quality raw materials and choose the most optimal recipe.