Pastila

Pastila is a Russian confection made by baking apples, pressing them through a sieve and slowly drying the purée. As the moisture leaves the mixture, the fruit’s aroma and tartness become concentrated. It takes more than one form, from dense versions dried thin and rolled up to light, airy versions whipped with egg white.

Whipping and Drying Apple Purée

Tart apples such as Antonovka are baked until soft, then the skins and seeds are removed and the flesh is made into a purée. When sweetened with sugar or honey and whipped together with egg white, the dense fruit mixture takes in air and becomes light and pale. The pectin in the apples also helps give the mixture its structure. When the mixture is spread out and dried slowly at a low temperature, the moisture leaves it and its aroma and tartness become even more distinct.

In one example of the Belyov style, a little of the mixture is set aside and spread between thin, dried layers, which are stacked and dried once more. That is why stripes are visible in the cut surface. Biting into it, you can taste the lightness of the whipped mixture and the moist texture of the fruit. The texture varies with the proportions and the degree of drying, and some versions are made only with apples and egg white. Belyov producers also offer a pastila for fasting periods that is made without egg white.

In Kolomna, meanwhile, a denser kind has also been handed down, in which fruit is cooked, sweetened, spread on boards and dried. Tastings at the museum today include both rich versions with a pronounced fruit character and lighter ones. Comparing pastila, which is whipped and dried, with zefir, which is piped using a gelling agent, reveals different approaches to giving a fruit foam its shape. Some factory-made pastila also uses gelling agents.

From the Orchard to a Town Confection

Kolomna is known for its apples, and pastila making there spread from household preservation know-how to production by merchants. In Belyov, a town in Tula Oblast, the merchant Prokhorov produced a layered apple confection at a fruit-drying factory in the late 19th century. According to Belyov producers, Prokhorov published a booklet describing the method in 1899, and a copy of its first page and packaging from the period survive in a local museum. Some theories trace the origins of pastila to the 14th century, but it is not possible to determine with certainty when it was first made or by whom.

In Kolomna, the confection has been recreated using old recipes and documents as a guide, and it is served with tea to visitors to the museum and the factory. The practice of preserving apples picked in the orchards so they could be eaten after the harvest season had passed is still passed down today as the town’s confection.

Glossary