Lingonberry is among the leaders in the content of vitamins, so it is often used not only for culinary purposes, but also for medical purposes. The berry which has not passed thermal processing is especially useful. Lingonberry mashed with sugar is made for the winter for two reasons: firstly, it is very tasty, since sugar neutralizes the bitter taste of this berry, and secondly, it is useful because all the valuable properties of lingonberry are preserved in this delicacy. It will be easy to store it if you follow the technology of preparation and storage rules.
Cooking Features
Lingonberry contains a natural preservative, benzoic acid, thanks to which it is stored for a long time, even if it is not subjected to heat treatment, and no salt, sugar, vinegar and other preservatives are added to it. However, it can deteriorate if you do not follow some rules.
- Before cooking for the winter cowberries, rubbed with sugar, it should be well looked through, removing every single spoiled berries. If they fall into the cold jam, they ruin it.
- Wash the berries, dropping them in a colander repeatedly into the water and allowing it to drain. This allows you to keep the shape of the berries, not to damage them when washing.
- It is important to dry the berries carefully before grinding them. This increases the safety of the finished jam.
- Banks only need to be sterilized. What kind of lids to close them, metal or nylon, you decide, most importantly - do not forget to boil them.
- It is possible to store lingonberries rubbed with sugar only at a low temperature, that is, in a refrigerator or cellar. If it is necessary to keep it at a higher temperature, for example in an unheated storeroom, the jam should be heated to 95 degrees, but not boiled, and only after that should be laid out in cans. In this case, the banks must be sealed with metal lids. A lingonberry that has undergone such processing in a refrigerator can be stored for two years, just in a cool room (up to 16 degrees) - up to two months.
Recipes may contain different amounts of sugar. In fact, if other berries or fruits are not part of the dessert (the exception is irga), the amount of sugar will not affect its safety. You need to navigate in this case only to your taste: the less sugar, the more noticeable will be the characteristic bitterness of lingonberries. In this regard, usually less than 1 kg of sugar per 1 kg of berries is not used, but adding more than 2 kg of granulated sugar per 1 kg of lingonberry does not make sense either.
Classic recipe for lingonberry mashed with sugar
Composition:
- lingonberries - 1 kg;
- granulated sugar - from 1 to 2 kg.
Method of preparation:
- Go through the berries, cleaning them from forest litter and sticky leaves.
- Rinse the lingonberries and dry them on a cloth or dishcloth.
- Grind the lingonberries in the way that you feel most comfortable with: using a blender, meat grinder or by hand, pushing the berries through a metal sieve with a wooden spoon. The easiest way is to crush the berries with wooden pulp, which is usually used to make mashed potatoes.
- Pour rubbed cranberries with sugar.
- Cover the container with lingonberries with a thin cloth so that insects do not get into it, and leave it overnight.
- Sterilize in the morning small jars.
- Stir the lingonberries and place in prepared containers, cork and store in cold storage in winter.
This option of cooking lingonberries, mashed with sugar, is the most common, but there is another way, even more simple.
A simple recipe for mashed cowberries for the winter
Composition:
- lingonberries - 1 kg;
- sugar - 1-2 kg.
Method of preparation:
- Sterilize jars and lids.
- Rinse the lingonberries, having cleaned it of debris before it and throwing away all the spoiled berries.
- Put the lingonberry on a towel so that the glass is watery and wait until the berries dry completely.
- Scroll the lingonberries through a meat grinder or chop in any other way.
- Pour a couple of spoons of sugar to the bottom of each can, then lingonberries. The berry layer should not exceed 2 cm.
- Sprinkle sugar on the berry and place the second layer. Continue to fill the jar, alternating a layer of berries and sugar. Last should be a layer of sugar.
- Close the cans and put them in a cold place for the winter.
This technology makes it possible to harvest lingonberries quickly, but it has a drawback: cold jam prepared according to this recipe can be sugared.
Lingonberry mashed with sugar and orange
Composition:
- lingonberries - 1 kg;
- oranges - 1 kg;
- granulated sugar - 1 kg.
Method of preparation:
- Prepare the lingonberry by sorting it by washing and drying it.
- Wash the oranges, cut them into pieces and remove the grains.
- Crank cranberries and oranges (without peeling) through a meat grinder. In this case, berry and orange is better to alternate: a handful of berries - a few orange slices.
- Fill the fruit and berry mass with sugar and leave for two or three hours, not forgetting to cover the container with jam with gauze.
- Spread out a useful delicacy on sterilized jars. Close them and put them in the fridge.
This dessert is especially useful for the prevention of colds. In addition, it has a unique taste - even children will not refuse it.
Lingonberry mashed with sugar can be used to make fruit drinks, desserts. You can also eat it by spreading it on a sandwich, or just spoons of tea.
