{"id":8677,"date":"2026-10-27T13:27:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T04:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8677"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:52:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:52:03","slug":"pastila","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/pastila\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastila"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pastila is a Russian confection made by baking apples, pressing them through a sieve and slowly drying the pur\u00e9e. 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.<\/p>\n

Whipping and Drying Apple Pur\u00e9e<\/h2>\n

Tart apples such as Antonovka are baked until soft, then the skins and seeds are removed and the flesh is made into a pur\u00e9e. 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.<\/p>\n

\"Apples
Apples peeled and cored for tufahija. Location unknown. Photo: Miansari66 \/ Source<\/a> \/ CC0 1.0<\/a>. This is not a photo of this confection itself being made. Image as provided by the source; content not altered after retrieval.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"An
An example of the yolk and white of a raw egg. Location unknown. Photo: jefras (Jo\u0103o Est\u0119v\u0103o A. de Freitas) \/ Source<\/a> \/ Released into the public domain by the author<\/a>. Image as provided by the source; content not altered after retrieval.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

\n\"Several\n
Belyov-style pastila with visible layers. Location unknown, 2013. Maksim Sidorov \/ Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Downscaled version provided by the source; content not altered after retrieval. Source<\/a> \u00b7 Terms of use<\/a><\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

From the Orchard to a Town Confection<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Antonovka<\/strong>: A group of tart apple varieties popular in Russia.<\/p>

Pectin<\/strong>: A polysaccharide found in fruit. It gives processed fruit products thickness and cohesion.<\/p>

Pur\u00e9e<\/strong>: Food that has been cooked or otherwise prepared and mashed until smooth.<\/p>

Prokhorov<\/strong>: A merchant who ran a fruit-drying factory in Belyov.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apples are baked, pressed through a sieve and slowly dried. Pastila is a Russian confection that concentrates the fruit’s aroma and tartness. It takes more than one form, from dense versions dried thin and rolled up to light, airy versions whipped with egg white.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7937,"menu_order":448,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Pastila","subtitle":"Turning Apples into Foam and Layers","topics":"Whipping baked apples with egg white \/ Stacking thin layers and drying them at a low temperature \/ Kolomna's orchards and confection making","country":"Russia, Kolomna, Belyov","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["fruit","egg"],"texture":[],"occasion":[],"method":[],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[159],"class_list":["post-8677","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t