National Fruit Compote Day is March 1st—although a compote is de facto made of fruit, so a simple National Compote Day would suffice.

Compote de fruits, or fruit compote, is mixed, sweetened fruit cooked on the stovetop. Compote de pommes or compote d’abricots is a single stewed fruit (here, apples and apricots, respectively).

The word compote comes from the French word compôte, which means “stewed fruit.”

Compote can be made from fresh or dried fruits or a combination, and can be served warm or chilled. It is a delicious dessert as well as a side dish (wonderful with poultry, ham and roast pork) and a brunch dish.

As a dessert, garnished compote with cream, whipped cream, ice cream (try a parfait) or crème fraîche. Plain stewed fruit is just as delightful (the difference is below3).

We first learned to love compote at the knee of our Nana, who loved to stew seasonal fruits for dessert—stone fruits in the fall, rhubarb and strawberries in the spring, cherries and apples in the summer.

Below:

> Nana’s compote recipe.

> The history of cooked fruit.

> The difference between stewed fruit and compote.

> Ways to use compote.
 
 
Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> 80 more fruit holidays.

> The year’s dessert holidays, January-July (more than 100!).

> The year’s dessert holidays, August-December (more than 80!).

 
 
RECIPE: NANA’S FRUIT COMPOTE

One usually begins with seasonal fruits, but we’re in-between seasons now.

Apples, pears and mangoes are plentiful, and we’re adding some prunes for color interest and flavor variety.

You can mix your cooking liquid as you wish, dividing among fruit juice and wine, for example.

You can also make compote entirely from dried fruits. See the variation below.

Make some compote tonight!
 
Ingredients

 
Optional Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. SLICE the fruits. With most fruits such as apples, pears, and stone fruits, you can retain the nutritious peel. Other fruits, such as mangoes and papayas, need to be peeled before cooking.

2. HEAT 1 cup of the liquid in a large saucepan to a slow boil, along with the flavorings. If you don’t have any of the suggested liquids, you can use sugared water.

3. ADD the sliced fruit and 1/4 cup cane sugar or brown sugar (or half as much honey, agave, or date syrup), and cook on medium heat until the fruit can be pierced with a fork (it’s up to you as to how al dente you like your cooked fruit).

Note: You can use less sugar and adjust the sweetness after cooking.

4. REMOVE the pan from the heat; remove cinnamon stick. Mix in additional any ingredients (dried fruits, nuts, zest, etc.) and serve warm or chilled.

Variation: Dried Fruits. If you’re making compote from dried fruits exclusively, cook in the hot liquid for 10 or 15 minutes; then turn off the heat and let the fruits sit in the liquid for 6 hours or overnight, until they soften.
 
Variation: Microwave. You can also make a quick fruit compote in the microwave. Place the ingredients in a covered microwave-safe dish for 2 minutes or longer, until your desired softness is achieved.
 

[8] Fruit compote can be casual in at breakfast, or fancy for a nice dessert. The difference is simply the topping: mascarpone or whipped cream (Abacus Photo).
 
 
THE HISTORY OF COMPOTE & OTHER COOKED FRUIT

As a recipe, cooked fruit is as old as the invention of clay pots, which were needed to boil water. (The oldest fired clay containers were made in Japan between 10,700 and 8,000 B.C.E.).

The fruits were first cooked with honey. By the 17th century when sugar was more available, wealthier people switched to a sugar syrup.*

Spices and other flavorings were added to the recipe (cinnamon, lemon zest, nutmeg, orange peel, vanilla), along with nuts and coconut. There are as many different recipes for compote as there are cooks.

Dried fruit such as raisins or prunes can be mixed with fresh fruit compote.

Liqueur, brandy or other alcohol can be added (our grandmother was fond of Kirschwasser [cherry liqueur] or Grand Marnier [orange liqueur]).

Check out more optional ingredients in the recipe above.
 
 
What’s The Difference Between Stewed Fruit & Compote?

Fruit compote and stewed fruit are similar, but there are some key differences.

In short, compote is typically sweeter and more syrupy, while stewed fruit is more natural and simple cooked fruit, minimally sweetened.

[1] You can enjoy fruit compote year-round. Here, it’s made with winter fruits (Abacus Photo).

[2] Start the day with compote. Here, a yogurt parfait with berry-pomegranate compote. Here’s the recipe (photo © Pete Rukule | Pom Wonderful).

[3] With cocktails, spoon compote over a baked Brie; here, a ginger-pear compote (photos #3 and #7 © Dairy Farmers Of Wisconsin).

[4] For dinner, spoon blueberry-apple compote atop roast lamb. It’s also delicious with fish, lamb, and pork. Here’s the recipe (B.C. Blueberry Council).

[5] Time for dessert! Spoon compote over ice cream or pudding (photo © Good Eggs).

[6] This cherry-raspberry compote is so much better than cherry topping from a can (photo © Karolina Grabowska | Pexels).

[7] A simple-yet-elegant dessert is a slice of fine cheese (here, Drunken Goat, a semi-soft cheese from Spain also made in the U.S.) with a dish of compote.

 

[9] Top your French toast, pancakes, waffles, or oatmeal with this mixed berry compote. Here’s the recipe (photo © Good Eggs).
 
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*Honeybees are far older than mankind, originating in Asia and migrating to Africa, then to Europe (Europeans brought them to America). See the history of honey. Sugar, also native to Asia, has been produced since ancient times; but due to the expense of extracting it, honey was most often used for sweetening.
 

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[2] Slicing perfectly even julienne carrot strips (photo courtesy Kitchen Expert).

If you don’t have a mandoline slicer, it’s time to think seriously about getting one.

A mandoline (man-doe-LEEN) is a kitchen utensil that makes thin, even slices, from juliennes to crinkle-cuts and waffle cuts. Even chefs with top knife skills use one to ensure the perfection of every slice. Very thin slices can be made very quickly with minimal skills.

A vegetable, fruit, meat (think sausage), firm cheese or other food is slid along the surface until it reaches a razor-sharp blade that makes the cut. The process is repeated until the entire potato, carrot, etc. is cut.

Perhaps most importantly, the item that is sliced is held by a safety food holder, to ensure that fingers aren’t julienned along with the potato.

The bigger the holder, the better. The style shown in the photo, that looks somewhat like a brimmed hat, is the best. Mandolines that scare us have a flat plastic plate that fits in one’s palm.

After trying some mandolines so flimsy that we were scared to use them, we’ve settled on the Microplane Adjustable Slider Food Slicer.

The stainless-steel blade effortlessly slices cheese, fruit and vegetables, adjusting from paper-thin slices to 1/4-inch cuts. The handle is ergonomic and the feet are non-slip feet (not so with the feet of some other units—another scary factor).

Get a mandoline and try your skill by whipping up a batch of paper-thin potato chips or sweet potato chips.

MANDOLINE HISTORY

According to Chef Harvey, the first known illustration of what became known as the mandoline was published in 1570 in a cookbook by no less than Pope Pius VI’s cook.

The illustration shows a small board with a central cutting blade and perpendicular blades to cut vegetables into thin sticks.

 
________________

*He did not invent the device. Here’s the scoop.

You can also muddle a kiwi and then add the spirits. Here’s a suggestion from Corzo Tequila:

Ingredients Per Cocktail

• 1-1/2 parts silver tequila
• 1 kiwi, peeled, plus second kiwi for garnish
• 1 teaspoon simple syrup
• Ice

Preparation

1. Muddle kiwi in a cocktail shaker. Add other ingredients and shake well with ice.
2. Strain into a Collins glass. Garnish with a kiwi slice.

If you want the cocktail to be as green as the kiwi, add a sparse drop of food coloring. A little goes a long way.

Find more of our favorite cocktail recipes.

Beyond cocktails, think green garnishes for St. Patrick’s Day: herbs, green veggies, green condiments (gherkins, herb or wasabi mayo, wasabi mustard).

Use green garnishes for St. Patrick’s Day.
Photo courtesy Corzo Tequila.

What’s in store at the Festival? Perhaps
some chocolate cappuccino cups. Photo
courtesy Oregon Chocolate Festival

If you need a weekend getaway, and if chocolate combined with the great outdoors rings a bell, consider the Oregon Chocolate Festival.

The 7th annual Oregon Chocolate Festival will be held this weekend, March 4th through 6th. It will showcase more than 40 of Oregon’s great chocolatiers and specialty food producers. Some 1,500 chocolate lovers are expected.

The festival takes place in Ashland, at the south end of the Rogue Valley, home to some of America’s great food producers, from Lillie Belle Farms to Rogue Creamery. It’s just 15 miles north of the California border.

Ashland, with its small-town charm, is located in the foothills of the Siskiyou and Cascade mountain ranges. So if you have time to stay longer, there’s plenty of opportunity to hike off those chocolate calories.

Head to the festival website for more information.

Despite the predictions of certain experts that cupcakes are on the way out—to be replaced by pie shops—we think that cupcakes will be around for some time. Heck, there wasn’t even enough interest in pies to keep the great show, Pushing Daisies, on the air.

So this tip focuses on how easy it is for you to put stellar cupcakes on the table. You don’t even have to bake. Just focus your talent on decorating cupcakes you’ve acquired. (If you’re having a party, convince someone else to bake the cupcakes for you to decorate and share the kudos).

Then, all you need is a concept. Think of what you can do with:

• Colored sugars are more sophisticated, but sprinkles do the trick.
• Crushed hard candies are an easy option. We love peppermints on chocolate cupcakes, butterscotch on vanilla cupcakes and coffee candy on just about anything.

Simple but elegant: A non-pareil and a
light dusting of cocoa powder. Chocolate from
Guittard. Photo by Corey Lugg | THE NIBBLE.

• Other candy store favorites, from gummies to malted milk balls. Sprinkle malted milk on the icing before planting the malted milk ball.
• Colorful jelly beans and gumdrops can be used for edging or to make a flower design.
• Chocolate in its various incarnations is always a hit. You can shave or grate dark, milk and/or white chocolate; use chocolate curls; or take the easy road with chocolate chips (we use them in multiple flavors and colors, including siblings butterscotch, mint and PB chips). Or, make a statement by adding a piece of chocolate—a Hershey’s Kiss, a non-pareil, a square or broken wedge from a chocolate bar, a miniature PB cup, etc.—to the top of the cupcake.
• Coconut: Shredded or flaked, coconut is delish. You can tint it to any color by shaking it in a sealed plastic bag with a few drops of food color. Spread it on a plate to dry.
• Fresh berries create an elegant touch; dip them in chocolate for an indulgent touch.
• Dusting & More: Even if you’ve got nothing else in the house, dust the cupcakes with cocoa powder, cinnamon and/or confectioners’ sugar, using a fine mesh sieve. See what else is in the pantry: marshmallows? Cookie pieces? Fresh flowers (that haven’t been sprayed with pesticides)? You’ve got it covered.

See more cupcake decorating ideas with beautiful photos.