Compote is one of the easiest dessert recipes you’ll ever come across. It’s also one of the healthiest. This simple dessert recipe, known as compote or “fruit soup,” includes dried apricots, dried plums, raisins and lemon juice. This chilled stewed fruit is naturally sweet and refreshing, a wonderful make-ahead dessert that goes well with almost any meal. Compote is dairy free, gluten free, and filled with healthy fiber. What a treat!
Not long after I started this blog, I wrote about a traditional Shabbat dinner cooked with my friends Etti and Bella Hadar. Etti had a family a memoir written by her late uncle, Dov Shimon Levin. As a soldier in the Jewish Infantry Brigade; he fought the Nazis during World War II. In his memoir, he wrote a detailed account of his life in the Pinsk region of Poland prior to the war. Being a lover of Ashkenazi cuisine, Uncle Dov wrote some amazing descriptions of the foods he enjoyed as a child. Etti and I pieced together a menu from the memoirs and recreated a traditional Polish Shabbat dinner using their family recipes. One of those recipes was for a dish he called marak perot – which is Hebrew for “fruit soup,” more widely known as compote.
Although most people call this dish compote, I love the term fruit soup… because it’s so accurate! The fruit is slowly simmered on the stovetop, just like a soup or stew. Once the fruit becomes tender and the juices thicken, the compote is chilled. It makes for a very refreshing dessert, a light and lovely way to end a heavy meal.
The compote recipe that appears here is from the Levin family memoirs. Once you understand the basic concept, feel free to improvise on the dish. For example, you can add your own favorite dried fruits and spices to change things up. Compote can also be pureed for a sauce-like texture.
Have you ever made compote before? What is your favorite way to prepare it?
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Compote
Ingredients
- 3 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 2 cups dried plums
- 1 cup dried apricots
- 3/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup sugar (you may omit or use your favorite sweetener to taste if desired – sugar helps to thicken the juices)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or more to taste
NOTES
Instructions
- Place apples, dried plums, dried apricots and raisins in a pot and cover 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, stir in sugar unitl dissolved.
- Reduce heat to medium low and cover. Simmer for 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally, until the water becomes a thick syrup and the prunes begin to dissolve. Remove the lid for the last 10-15 minutes of cooking so the liquid reduces.
- Remove fruit from heat and let it slowly return to room temperature. Squeeze the fresh lemon juice in, adding more to taste if desired. The lemon juice brightens up the flavor tremendously.Put the fruit in the refrigerator until it is fully chilled, at least 2 hours. Serve by ¾ cup portions in glass compote dishes.
Roy Dallal says
My grandparents both holocaust survivors would make this dish for us. brings back so many warm and wonderful memories. God bless their soles. Thank you for sharing!!!!
Henry van der Sluis says
I was looking for a recipe my Dutch mother would make when we were kids that would be eaten with the Turkey instead of cranberries (which my parents weren ‘t familiar with in those days -1950’s and 60’s).
This looked very much like it and we called it Tutti Frutti (Just like Nori-one of your other commenters)
It’s on the stove now and brings back memories! I’m sure it will be delicious and am glad of the instructions as it would have been trial and error otherwise to recreate.
Thank you Tori
Leslie Satz says
I pulled the “short straw” and was tasked with making compote for the family Seder. Tried your recipe with a few changes: skipped the sugar b/o my Paleo son, and added the juice of 1/2 fresh orange and substituted pears for apples. Also added 2 cardamon pod, 1/2 inch ginger root that I made slices into, but didn’t cut through, and a cinnamon stick while simmering. Later picked those 3 things back out before serving. The BEST! Folks asked for leftovers. Thanks for a great recipe.
Paula says
That sounds delicious, I love spiced fruit.
AnnieB says
I’m trying to equal my mother’s recipe, this comes closest though she didn’t add sugar because we ate it as a savory side dish to dinner. Mother was Litvak in her cooking, and used half the sugar of her Galitziana sister-in-law! But we always used golden raisins; if she didn’t have those she didn’t make it at all!
laura hall says
this is a great recipe!!!!!! it comes out looking just like your pictures. i could eat stewed cow patties if they were done with apricots and prunes.
people who say nietch to prunes should withhold judgment until they have tried them soaked in amaranth and dipped in tempered dark chocolate.
Sherry Oakes says
Compote, aka stewed fruit, was a staple in my house growing up. Now, my lapsed catholic husband loves it! BTW, my mother told me that as a girl, she and her friends used the prune juice (floimen yoich?) to set their hair. Better than beer!
Bill says
My Litvak Grandma called it Compote, and I made it when my wife brought a box of prunes back from America. Memories–all good! Thanks.
Shlomit Manson says
Hi Tori,
Compote, excellent recipe. My mother used dried apple slices since fresh apples were a luxury. She also used to add water and at the end of the process poured the liquid into a separate pitcher leaving just enough to cover the fruit. The liquid was one of my favorite cold drinks when I was a kid. I still do it this way. Thank you for the recipe and the memories.
Tori Avey says
Thank you Shlomit! So nice to hear from you. 🙂
Cathy says
My Swedish mom taught me to make “Swedish Fruit Soup” and we love it. So do our guests! We add a little cinnamon and cardamom, and a dollop of whipped cream on top (very Swedish!).
Tori Avey says
Cathy, I have a Swedish background on my mom’s side! I will have to try it that way next time. 🙂
nori says
growing up in the Netherlands we would call this Tutti frutti. I served it with Tory’s brisket, her beet salad and chicken soup and it was a great meal. I rarely uses recipes as is, but it I did this time.
Tori Avey says
So happy to hear that Nori!