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Pastila
Baked apple sheets
Pastila (Пастила): layered baked apple and egg-white sheets from Kolomna and Belyov
Long before chocolate reached Russia, the merchants of Kolomna near Moscow and Belyov in the Tula region were drying whipped apple into thin, cloud-soft sheets in their stove ovens and selling them in tins at winter fairs. Today pastila is again a souvenir and a tea-table treat: whipped baked-apple purée is spread thin, dried slowly until leathery yet tender, then stacked in layers and cut into bars. It is fat-free and naturally gluten-free. The common mistake is too hot an oven, which browns and cracks the sheets. Chef's tip: dry it with the oven door wedged open with a wooden spoon; it needs gentle warmth and escaping steam, not baking.
- Total time
- 480 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
- 3 ⅓ lb sour apples (Bramley or Antonovka)halved and cored
- 6 ½ oz sugar
- 2 tbsp icing sugarfor dusting
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Bake 3 ⅓ lb sour apples (Bramley or Antonovka) at 400°F (350°F fan) for 30–40 minutes until collapsing. Scrape the flesh from the skins and sieve it. Cook the purée in a wide pan over a low heat, stirring, for 10–15 minutes until thick enough to hold a trail; you want about 600 g. Cool.
40 minStep 3: Set aside about 4 tbsp of the mixture in the fridge for gluing. Spread the rest 1 cm thick over two baking trays lined with baking paper.
5 minStep 4: Dry at 80–194°F (158°F fan) with the door wedged open for 6–7 hours until the surface is dry and no longer sticky to the touch but still springy.
420 minStep 5: Peel the sheets off the paper while still warm, cut into equal rectangles, spread thinly with the saved mixture and stack 3–4 layers high.
5 minStep 6: Dry the stacks for 1 more hour in the low oven, then cool, trim, cut into bars and dust with 2 tbsp icing sugar. Keeps 2 weeks in a tin.
60 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 90 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 22 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pastila take?
- About 480 minutes in total: 60 minutes to prepare and 420 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of sour apples (bramley or antonovka)?
- Pears, same amount.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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