Pastila

Ingredients

Apples

• 2 kgsour apples, Antonovka or Bramley

Also

• 200 gsugar
• 2egg whites
• a pinch of salt

To dust

• icing sugar

Optional

• 1 tbsphoney
• a little cinnamon

Equipment

• baking paper
• a wide shallow tray
• a low oven or a dehydrator

Directions

1. Use genuinely sour apples. Sweet dessert apples give a purée that collapses and never whips. Bake the whole apples at 180°C (355°F) for 40 to 50 minutes until completely soft and collapsing.
2. Bake them rather than boiling them. Boiling adds water and the purée then takes twice as long to dry. Scoop the flesh out and press it through a sieve, discarding the skins and cores. Sieve it rather than blending it, which gives a much smoother and lighter purée.
3. Let the purée cool completely. Now whip the cold purée with the sugar for a good 10 minutes until it lightens noticeably in colour. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to firm peaks in a separate bowl. Add the whipped whites to the purée gradually, whisking continuously, keeping back about a fifth for gluing later.
4. Keep whipping until the mixture is thick, pale and holds a firm peak on the whisk. It should be stiff enough that a spoonful sits on the surface without sinking.
5. Spread the mixture into a lined tray in an even layer about 2 cm thick. Now dry it in an oven at its very lowest setting, 60 to 80°C (140 to 175°F), with the door propped ajar.
6. Turn the sheet over halfway through so both sides dry evenly. Cut the dried sheet into rectangles. Return the stack to the low oven for a further 2 to 3 hours to dry the joins.
7. Cool completely, then dust generously with icing sugar and cut into bars. It should be light, chewy and faintly sour, closer to a fruit marshmallow than to a fruit leather.

Technique

• Kolomna pastila is often layered and lighter; Belyov pastila is denser and made in thick stacks.
• A dehydrator does the job well and more evenly than an oven.
• It is naturally fat-free and was historically a Lenten sweet.

Substitutions

• Any sour cooking apple, or quince, which is very high in pectin.
• Honey in place of some of the sugar.

Variations

• Made with berries blended into the apple.
• Without egg white, which gives a denser fruit leather.
• Layered in thick stacks, as in Belyov.

History

Made in Kolomna and Belyov since the sixteenth century from sour apples, honey and egg white.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pastila?

Pastila is a dessert from Russia: chewy layers of whipped baked apple purée, sliced into bars. Made in Kolomna and Belyov since the sixteenth century from sour apples, honey and egg white.

How long does Pastila take to make?

Pastila takes 45 min plus 12 hr drying of preparation and 2 hr of cooking. The recipe makes about 30 pieces. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Pastila?

Yes, within limits. Any sour cooking apple, or quince, which is very high in pectin. Honey in place of some of the sugar.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pastila?

Use genuinely sour apples. Sweet dessert apples give a purée that collapses and never whips. Bake the whole apples at 180°C (355°F) for 40 to 50 minutes until completely soft and collapsing.