I would like to paraphrase the famous advertising slogan: “Are you still boiling? Then we’re coming to you!” and ask: “Are you still buying candied fruits in the store? It's time to start making them at home!” Preparing this healthy sweet is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. All you need to do is decide what you will make the candied fruits from and take the sugar. One of the best ideas is candied zucchini. Everyone can certainly afford these vegetables.
However, apart from the products (without them we cannot prepare anything out of thin air), please be patient and persevering. They will be required no less than the main components, since the whole process will take 5-6 hours - we won’t be able to finish it in 2 hours, as when making jam. So, we clean up the garden and pick one large yellow zucchini - it is from this that we will make candied fruits in the oven. If you have a ripe pumpkin, you can use it; the cooking technology will be identical. The recipe for candied pumpkin is not much different from this one.
Ingredients:
- large zucchini – 1 pc. (you should get approximately 1 kg of purified product);
- sugar – 1 glass;
- lemon – 1 pc.
Step-by-step recipe for candied zucchini
Peel the zucchini and remove the seeds.
To prepare candied fruits, we only need the fruit part. You can cut the zucchini into rings and peel them, or you can cut it lengthwise, peel off the skin and scoop out the unnecessary pulp with a spoon.
Cut the zucchini into small pieces.
It is difficult to say what they should be: cut not quite thin, but not quite thick either.
Place the zucchini in a deep bowl, add sugar and leave for 1 hour.
There is no need to add any water: after standing, the pieces will release the juice themselves (after all, zucchini is 90% water). Shake the contents periodically, this will speed up the process of melting the sugar and releasing liquid.
After an hour, you will see pieces of zucchini floating in the syrup. There won’t be much of it, but it will be enough to boil future candied fruits in it. Peel the lemon and squeeze out the juice (we do everything by hand).
This is exactly what we need. Lemon juice will prevent the pieces from boiling. Combine the zucchini, peel and juice in a saucepan.
Let it boil over medium heat. After boiling, keep on low heat for about 1 hour. Don’t forget to stir: if you don’t do this, one part will cook well, and the part that was not in syrup will remain raw. The main thing is that during cooking all the pieces become transparent.
When this stage in preparing candied fruits is completed, remove the pan from the heat and leave until completely (!) cooled.
Now all that remains is to transfer the cooled pieces to a baking sheet or large form and place in the oven for 4 hours at 120 degrees (or at the minimum temperature of your oven).
Keep in mind that they will still dry out when you take them out of the oven, so do not overcook them (if you suddenly think that the zucchini is not completely dried).
We transfer the candied fruits into a bowl or jar and eat them as a snack with tea. In the same jar, candied fruits can be stored for the winter by placing the container in a cool and dark place. Usually, such candied squash are not stored for long-term storage, although if it is in an airtight container and in the refrigerator, then why not. At home, you can make delicious sweets from zucchini, which will also be healthy.
Candied fruits are already delicious, but homemade ones are doubly pleasant. Of the many interesting options, the most unusual is zucchini. In addition, it is cheap and an excellent option to extend the life of a vegetable for a long time. Let's cook!
Recipe contents:
Zucchini, like weeds, grows and grows. They have already been prepared in a variety of forms, made into jam, frozen for future use, preserved, etc. It's time to make a sweet preparation from this simple vegetable - candied fruits. They are very easy to prepare at home. The technology is practically no different from the one used to make similar sweets from other products. The pieces are not cloying, moderately sweet, with a subtle lemon aftertaste, quite flexible and elastic. They are a great substitute for store-bought sweets. For our children, this is the best dessert - exclusively natural, without dyes, preservatives or harmful additives! In addition, they can not only be consumed on their own, but also used in baking.
It can take a day or even more to prepare candied fruits. It depends on the drying method. For example, if you cook candied fruits in an oven or a special dryer, it will take 4-5 hours. Drying at room temperature will take a couple of days. But no matter how long the vegetables take to dry, this recipe can be classified as a quick dessert. Therefore, I recommend that you definitely prepare them; besides, when tasting, the candied squash will become completely unrecognizable. And even those who do not like this vegetable will enjoy it in its sweet form.
- Calorie content per 100 g - 224 kcal.
- Number of servings - 100 g
- Preparation time - about a day
Ingredients:
- Zucchini - 1 pc.
- Lemon - 0.5 pcs.
- Sugar - 200 g
Step-by-step preparation of candied zucchini:
1. Wash and dry the zucchini. Peel hard skins and remove large seeds if using old and mature vegetables. You don’t have to do this with young fruits, because... they have thin skin and practically no seeds. After this, cut the fruits into medium-sized cubes. But don’t chop them very finely, because... When dried, they will decrease in size by 2-3 times.
2. Place the chopped fruits in a cooking pan and sprinkle with sugar.
3. Leave to stand for 1-2 hours so that the sugar dissolves and the vegetables release their juice.
4. Wash and dry the lemon. Squeeze the juice out of it, cut the zest into thin strips and the pulp into pieces. Add everything to the pan with the zucchini.
5. Place the pan on the stove, boil and cook over medium heat for no more than 5 minutes. Remove from heat and leave in brine so that the pieces are saturated with syrup.
6. Cover a baking sheet with parchment and lay out the vegetables. Place them in an oven heated to 60 degrees for 3-4 hours. At the same time, turn them over occasionally so that the candied fruits dry evenly on all sides. Candied fruits are considered ready when they do not stick to your hands, are elastic, but flexible.
You can also leave them to dry on the balcony in the fresh air. Then they will dry for at least a day. And if you wish, you can keep the finished candied fruits under the grill for a while so that they acquire a golden hue. Since candied zucchini has a very light color and, for many, not an appetizing color.
Preparing candied zucchini can be called an amazing transformation of a vegetable into a sweet treat for tea. It doesn't taste like zucchini at all. Everyone who tries it is sure that they are eating dried pieces of exotic pineapple.
Any housewife can handle making candied zucchini. The only slight difficulty is proper drying within a few hours. The pieces should not contain moisture so that they can be stored for a long time and not worry about the appearance of mold. Let's make candied zucchini.
For 500 g of candied squash ingredients:
2.5 kg of zucchini;
. 450 g granulated sugar;
. 2 lemons;
. powdered sugar for sprinkling.
How to cook candied zucchini
1. Peel the vegetables, remove the inner soft part with seeds, and chop the hard part into cubes of approximately 2x2 cm.
2. Transfer to an enamel basin, cover with granulated sugar and let stand in the kitchen for a couple of hours. The zucchini under the sugar will release juice, the crystals will dissolve, and the slices will float in their own syrup.
3. Zest the lemons and squeeze out the juice. Grind the zest and add to the zucchini along with the juice. Let it cook over high heat. After boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer the vegetables in the syrup for 4 minutes.
4. Turn off the stove, leave the jam for 3 hours, boil again and cook for 4 minutes. Repeat the entire procedure with cooking and infusion 2-4 more times.
5. You will get zucchini jam with transparent pieces. Place them in a sieve and let as much syrup drain out as possible. The more of it goes, the better.
6. Now the zucchini slices need to be laid out on a baking sheet or on a special drying tray. And leave to dry: 5-6 hours at 50 degrees.
7. Roll the dried pieces in powdered sugar and pour into a glass container with a lid for storage. You can also keep candied zucchini in a thick paper bag.
You can not only buy candied fruits in the store, but also make them yourself at home from cheap seasonal berries, vegetables, and fruits. Few people know that there is a recipe for making them from zucchini in the dryer. This is how housewives stock up on vegetables for the winter, fully preserving its nutritional value.
Syrup for zucchini is prepared in a special way, since this vegetable is neutral. If cooked, it will be sweet, but without a distinct taste. To give the candied fruits a flavor note, in addition to sugar, other components are added to the syrup, which add sourness and tint:
- dogwood;
- lemon;
- orange;
- blackberry;
- raspberries;
- Red currants;
- gooseberry;
- chokeberry;
- ginger;
- cinnamon;
- other.
Remove the skin from the zucchini and cut into cubes. Blanch, that is, hold in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then immediately transfer to cold water. This will help create a thin, dense crust on the candied fruits, and leave them juicy and soft inside.
This way, during further processing, the pieces will not become overcooked and will retain their shape. Then pour the vegetable cubes into boiling syrup, boil for 5 minutes and turn off. Do two approaches like this within half an hour, and the candied fruits will be ready. Transfer to a sieve and allow excess liquid to drain.
Young zucchini with delicate skin do not need to be peeled. If the zucchini is a little old, divide it lengthwise into 4 parts, remove the seeds and then cut into thin slices. At the end of the day, these candied fruits will look like lemon slices. And if you add citrus juice and peel to the syrup during cooking, then the taste will be indistinguishable.
The core of ripe fruits is first removed Vegetable recipes
Candied zucchini is dried using various means. This is a stove, gas oven, electric dryer. Candied fruits are dried in the old fashioned way - in the air in the shade. It all depends on the preferences of the housewife, who is preparing vegetables for the winter.
In the oven
Next, transfer the candied fruits to a baking sheet covered with parchment paper (Teflon sheet) and place in the oven. Excess moisture will evaporate over several hours. The zucchini should be distributed in a thin layer so that they do not interfere with each other. The fire should not be very strong, about +60 - +70 C. From time to time it is necessary to look inside and stir the contents.
During the preparation of candied zucchini, you need to stir constantly Drying candied fruits usually takes at least two hours. The time may be different each time, it depends on the zucchini. After two hours, open the oven and try the consistency and taste of the candied fruits. If they are still damp, continue the process. When the candied fruits do not release moisture when you press them with your finger and are quite elastic, then you can finish cooking.
Attention! If the oven is gas and you can’t set a low temperature, dry it at minimum settings without closing the door tightly.
If there is a ventilation function, be sure to turn it on as well. This will distribute the effect of hot air on the vegetables more evenly.
In the dryer
A very common way now to prepare fruits and vegetables for the winter is to dry them using modern dryers, for example, WALTERA 1000 Lux. Thanks to this device, products retain most of their beneficial properties during such processing. And then they can be stored for a very long time, almost the whole year, until the new harvest. There are two types of electric dryers:
- Infrared radiation is absorbed by moisture, which evaporates intensively at low temperatures from +40 to +60 C. More expensive, but they allow you to almost completely preserve the properties of the original product.
- Convection, equipped with a heating element that heats the air, and in many models, a fan that helps blow the vegetables and remove evaporating moisture from their surface.
The dryer allows you to prepare candied fruits without any hassle Place the sliced zucchini slices (cubes) on lattice dryer trays, select the temperature mode (+60 - +70 C) and drying time (6-8 hours). If the lower layers are too dry and the upper ones are still wet, periodically swap them.
On air
Candied fruits can be dried naturally, at room temperature. The air should not be humid, otherwise the product will be spoiled or of poor quality. A good place for drying candied fruits would be a balcony or veranda with a roof. However, hygiene standards are not sufficiently observed in this process. Vegetables are poorly protected from dust and insects.
You can dry candied fruits in air only if there are no sources of contamination. In the microwave
Electromagnetic radiation almost instantly penetrates 2 cm deep into vegetables, sets water molecules in motion and causes them to evaporate. The speed of the process allows drying to be carried out at a very fast pace while retaining most of the natural benefits of the product.
This is one of the fastest ways to prepare candied fruits How to store and use correctly
Candied fruits should be stored in a well-ventilated area with normal humidity. If the product becomes damp, it may develop mold, making it unsafe for health. Or the surface of the candied fruit will become wet, sticky, and this will lead to a loss of appearance, taste and nutritional properties.
It is better to place candied fruits in a wooden or paper box covered with parchment. Close tightly and eat over time. You can place candied fruits in a clean (sterilized) and dry jar, sealed tightly, and store in the refrigerator.
Candied fruits are stored in an airtight jar or box Candied zucchini replaces candy for children and people on a low-calorie diet due to obesity or other diseases. They serve as a filling for sweet pastries, they are added to creams, ice cream, cottage cheese, and various desserts.
Conclusion
During the ripening season, zucchini is a very cheap and accessible product. Many housewives prepare them for the winter in the form of candied fruits. In winter, candied pieces of vegetables will not only be a good addition to a cup of hot tea, but also a rich source of vitamins and other nutrients.
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