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Viburnum is a frequent guest in our gardens. This shrub decorates garden plots with abundant flowers, lush greenery and pleases with, albeit not very tasty, but very healthy berries. The bright red berries of viburnum have long been valued for their medicinal properties. They are used in cooking and are safely prepared for the winter, because it is during the cold season that viburnum can be more useful than ever. We will talk in detail further in the section about the benefits, possible contraindications and how viburnum can be harvested for the winter.
Viburnum: benefits and contraindications
Red viburnum is praised by poets in their works, despite its special aroma and very specific taste. But the popularity of viburnum is justified not by its taste or aesthetic qualities, but by its properties. Viburnum contains a huge amount of various vitamins and microelements that have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the entire human body. In folk medicine, the following properties of these berries are especially noted:
- A huge amount of vitamin C has an immunostimulating effect on the human body, which is especially important for accelerating recovery.
- Coumarin in combination with vitamin K has a pronounced hemostatic effect.
- Berries calm the nervous system and normalize blood pressure.
- Tannins and phenolcarboxylic acids of the fresh product normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Taking viburnum is effective in the fight against atherosclerosis, since it does not allow the formation of cholesterol plaques.
Based on the above indications, we can identify those cases when viburnum cannot be eaten:
- woman's pregnancy;
- increased stomach acidity;
- low blood pressure;
- increased blood clotting.
Useful viburnum is collected from the bush with the onset of the first frosts, although its ripening begins already in September. Low temperatures deprive the berries of astringency and bitterness, making the taste sweet and sour. Having collected viburnum, you should take care of its winter storage, because its immunostimulating properties will probably become extremely necessary during the period of flu and colds.
Simple storage methods
You can prepare many different delicacies from viburnum: jam, jam, juice, tincture, syrup, preserves, etc. Such preparations require time and certain knowledge. Some housewives prepare viburnum using exclusively simple methods using freezing or drying.
The freezing method is good if the household has a spacious freezer. It is recommended to prepare the berries as follows:
- separate the viburnum from the branches and rinse;
- scatter the berries onto a clean cloth or paper towel to drain the water;
- place the fresh product in a thin layer on a small baking sheet;
- place the berries in the freezer;
- After complete freezing, pour the viburnum into a bag and store it in the freezer.
This method is perhaps the simplest. Freezing viburnum does not require much time or special knowledge, while the berry retains all its beneficial properties. The product can be used to prepare compotes and fruit drinks.
If the volume of the freezer is limited, but you still want to preserve viburnum, you can resort to the drying method. It is recommended to dry the berries as follows:
- Without picking the fruits from the branches, the berries are dried in room conditions with good ventilation for a week.
- Dry the bunches in the oven at a temperature of +45-+55.
- Pick the fruits from the branches and place them in a fabric bag.
- Store the workpiece in a dry place with good ventilation.
Dried viburnum berries can be used to make tea, compote, decoction, infusion, tincture. For example, there is a good recipe for an infusion that will help get rid of coughs and colds. To prepare the infusion, you only need to brew 10 g of dried berries in a glass of boiling water. Within a few minutes the product can be taken as a medicine. The daily norm for an adult is 1 tbsp. this remedy.
Recipes for delicious winter preparations
If the house has a cellar or a spacious pantry, then you can take care of preparing various canned viburnum delicacies. So, the recipes proposed below will allow you to prepare a healthy product for every taste.
Fresh viburnum in sugar
Sugar by nature is a natural preservative that can preserve any product for a long time.Viburnum can also be preserved with added sugar. This will require 700-800 g of sweet sand per 1 kg of fresh berries.
The uniqueness of the recipe is that you don’t have to cook the berries. The entire cooking process consists of several simple steps:
- Pick red viburnum berries from the branches and rinse thoroughly under running water.
- Sterilize small jars.
- Sprinkle a little sugar at the bottom of the containers.
- Place a layer of berries on top of the sugar and sprinkle sugar again.
- There should be a thick layer of sugar under the lid itself.
- Cover the jars with metal lids and store in the cellar.
This simple preparation process will allow even a novice housewife to harvest a harvest of healthy berries for the whole winter. You can use viburnum in sugar for cooking compotes, preparing filling for pies, or as a decoration for various desserts.
Viburnum berries in syrup
The following recipe allows you to prepare two delicious products from viburnum at once: the canned berries themselves and the sweet syrup from the juice. The syrup is later used as a base for fruit drinks, and the berries are added to pies and desserts.
Making winter preparations from viburnum is quite simple. For this you will need the berries themselves and sugar. For 1 kg of fresh product you will need 400-500 g of granulated sugar. Syrup with such a sugar content will be concentrated and must be diluted with water before use.
To understand how to prepare viburnum for the winter according to the proposed recipe, you need to familiarize yourself with the following points:
- Sort and wash the berries. Dry them slightly by placing them on a clean paper towel.
- Grind 1/4 of the berries through a meat grinder and squeeze out the juice from the resulting pulp.
- Place whole berries in a saucepan and pour in the resulting juice.
- Add sugar to the container and bring the product to a boil, stirring the viburnum regularly so that the sweet ingredient is completely dissolved.
- Pour the finished hot product into sterilized jars.
- Cover the filled jars with lids and sterilize for 10-15 minutes, then roll up.
- Wrap the finished rolls in a warm blanket and wait until they cool completely.
Viburnum prepared according to this recipe should be stored in a cool cellar. The product can be used to prepare fruit drinks and compotes. For gastrointestinal diseases, liquid sweet syrup is recommended to be consumed daily in the morning on an empty stomach in the amount of 3-4 tsp.
Delicious red viburnum syrup
Viburnum syrup is used for medicinal purposes and for preparing culinary masterpieces. Fruit juice made from this winter preparation is very tasty. The absence of pulp and whole berries simplifies the preparation of this healthy drink.
To prepare the syrup you will need 1 liter of red viburnum juice, 2 kg of granulated sugar and 10 g of lemon. You can get juice by grinding the berries through a sieve. In this case, the seeds and pulp will not end up in the finished product.
Prepare the syrup as follows:
- Pour the juice into a saucepan and mix it with sugar.
- Heat the syrup over low heat and add lemon.
- Remove the foam from the resulting liquid with a slotted spoon.
- Boil the syrup for 10 minutes, then package it in sterilized jars and preserve.
Due to the high sugar and acid content, red viburnum syrup is perfectly stored even at room conditions.In the winter season, a fruit drink made from prepared syrup will help to avoid viral diseases, and in case of illness, it will contribute to a speedy recovery.
Viburnum syrup with honey
The following recipe allows you to prepare a storehouse of vitamins for the winter based on red viburnum and honey. Both products are famous for their beneficial properties, but in combination they demonstrate their healing qualities even more clearly.
You can prepare syrup from viburnum juice and honey, taking the ingredients in equal quantities. Juice from the berries can be obtained by grinding through a sieve. It is preferable to use natural, liquid honey. If the product has become sugary during long-term storage, it can be heated in a water bath. The ingredients must be mixed and transferred to a clean glass jar. The product must be kept in the refrigerator for a week, and then used for food.
Jars of honey-viburnum syrup can be safely called “golden”, since the corresponding color of the product is combined with its amazing benefits. So, the syrup can be drunk for the prevention and treatment of viral diseases and for the healing of internal ulcers and gastritis.
Delicious viburnum jam
The process of making viburnum jam will take quite a lot of time, however, as a result of all efforts, a very tasty, long-lasting product will be obtained. In order to make viburnum jam for the winter, you will need the berries themselves and sugar. The cooking process consists of performing the following manipulations:
- Sort the berries and place them in a container of boiling water.
- When the berries become soft, grind them through a sieve.
- Mix the resulting berry puree with sugar in a 1:1 ratio.
- Cook the jelly base over low heat for 60 minutes.
- Place the hot jelly into jars and preserve.
The proposed recipe for preparing red viburnum for the winter does not retain all the vitamins from the berries, but despite this, it still has a beneficial effect on the human body. Children happily eat this jelly, which is important for caring parents.
Viburnum juice
Viburnum juice can be a real “vitamin bomb”. To make it you need:
- Squeeze the juice from the berries.
- Pour the remaining cake with water and boil for 5 minutes.
- Strain the resulting broth.
- Add pre-squeezed juice and sugar to the broth.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and pour into clean jars and seal them.
You can choose the proportions of the ingredients for this viburnum preparation yourself, but the following combination is universal: add 1 tbsp to the juice of 1 kg of berries. water and the same amount of sugar. At this concentration, the compote will be successfully stored all winter.
Conclusion
In addition to the proposed viburnum preparations, you can prepare tinctures and jam.
A good jam recipe is offered in the video:
Even an inexperienced housewife can use it, since a culinary specialist explains in detail all the stages of preparing winter preparations.
Our ancestors believed that a viburnum bush in the yard was a sign of family well-being. We know that this plant can not only bring peace to the family, but also improve the health of all its members. Viburnum berries are quite easy to pick and cook. Using the above recipes for preparing viburnum for the winter, you can make an excellent delicacy for adults and children, while preserving the healing properties of the berries.
