SweetloreEncyclopedia of World Sweets (534）
Zefir
Zefir
Holding a Fruit Foam in Shape
Sugar Confections ／ Russia and parts of Eastern Europe
Two hemispheres with flower-like ridges are joined at their flat sides. Zefir is a soft confection popular in Russia and the former Soviet region, made by whipping apples or other fruit with egg white. In the mouth, the foam melts away, and the tartness of the fruit lingers after the sweetness.
Holding a Fruit Foam in Shape
Apple purée is combined with sugar and egg white and whipped to incorporate air. A sugar syrup made with agar, pectin or a similar ingredient is then added, creating a mixture that can hold its shape, and it is piped out. The egg white creates the foam, and the gelling agent sets as it cools, supporting the shape of the mixture. The tartness and aroma of the apple come through amid the sweetness of the sugar.
In one example from a patent for the production method, reconstituted dried egg white is added little by little to concentrated apple purée and whipped, and then a sugar syrup containing agar is combined with it. After piping, the pieces are left to rest, and their surfaces are dried before packaging. Proportions and equipment differ from product to product, but the aim is to achieve both enough body for the piped ridges to remain and a lightness when bitten. Besides white and pink versions dusted with powdered sugar, there are also chocolate-coated ones.
Pastila, a closely related confection, can also be made by whipping apples with egg white and drying the mixture. Zefir is distinguished by a method in which a gelling agent sets its shape and the mixture is piped out. However, because some factory-made pastila also uses gelling agents, the two cannot be clearly separated by ingredients alone.
The Name, and the Path from Home to Factory
The name zefir is linked to a word meaning the west wind. A 19th-century cookbook contains a recipe for “apple zefir” in which baked tart apples are pressed through a sieve, whipped with sugar and egg white, put into paper molds, and placed in an oven with gentle heat. This is not the same method as today’s agar-based products, but it shows the long tradition of turning apple foam into a confection.
In the mid-20th century, production using piping machines was introduced. At a confectionery factory in Ozyory, Moscow Oblast, zefir is made not only with apples but also with mango and orange. The white foam confection, now taking on fruit aromas and chocolate coatings, lines the shelves of factories and confectionery shops.
Glossary
- Purée
- Food that has been cooked or otherwise prepared and mashed until smooth.
- Pectin
- A polysaccharide found in fruit and other foods that sets a mixture when conditions are right.
- Gelling agent
- An ingredient used to set liquids containing water and help them hold their shape.
