21 Best Homemade Viburnum Recipes for Winter

Everyone knows that viburnum is a healthy berry, rich in vitamins and minerals. To reap the benefits of these red fruits throughout the cold season, it's recommended to freeze, dry, or make jam. There are numerous recipes for preserving viburnum for the winter, the best of which don't involve boiling, ensuring the nutritious properties are fully preserved.

Benefits of harvesting viburnum for the winter

Despite its health benefits, viburnum isn't everyone's favorite due to its distinctive flavor. Even fresh berries can be stored for quite a long time under the right conditions, but to enhance their flavor, it's best to use them for sweet desserts for the winter.

Properly prepared viburnum is delicious, sweet, and used for culinary purposes. It's eaten with tea, added to baked goods, sauces, compotes, and kissels.

In winter, this vitamin-rich berry strengthens the immune system and is an excellent preventative for vitamin deficiency and colds.

The fruits contain more ascorbic acid than citrus fruits.

Selecting and preparing berries

For harvesting, pick fresh, well-ripened fruits—not overripe, but not underripe either. Discard any crushed or rotten berries.

The remaining fruits are washed and dried. The pits and stems are removed. For sealing, the jars and lids are sterilized using any convenient method.

Viburnum cooking methods and delicious recipes

Viburnum is prepared at home by freezing or drying.

Freezing

Place the berries in a deep bowl and cover with water. Stir, then drain. Repeat this process until the water is no longer tinted by the berry juice. Rinse the berries, dry them, spread them in a thin layer in a wide container, and place them in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer them to a plastic bag for permanent storage.

Drying

Washed berry clusters are placed on a baking sheet and placed in an oven preheated to 60°C. Dry with the door slightly ajar until the berries shrivel.

Viburnum can be dried without heat treatment. Place the berries on a tray in a shaded area. Stir occasionally to ensure even drying.

Drying using the second method takes a long time, but allows you to preserve the beneficial substances in the fruits.

Viburnum syrup

For preparation take:

• 2 l of viburnum juice;
• 4 kg of sugar;
• 4 teaspoons of citric acid.

Combine the juice with sugar and add the acid. After boiling, simmer for 10 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly.

Berry compote

Fresh or frozen viburnum and sweetener are taken in a 1:2 ratio. Cook like regular compote.

The drink quenches thirst and helps cope with the symptoms of colds.

Paste

Boil the viburnum for 5 minutes over medium heat. Strain and add fresh water. Cook until the berries are soft. Pour the mixture into a blender and puree. Sprinkle the resulting mixture with sugar and cook over low heat until creamy, stirring occasionally. Spread the finished product in a thin, even layer on parchment paper lined with baking paper. Bake in the oven at 60°C until done.

Preparing healing oil

Take equal parts of viburnum berries with seeds and honey. Mix thoroughly. Let it steep for two weeks.

The product is not only taken internally to strengthen the immune system, but also used as a component of masks for skin and hair care.

Soaked viburnum for the winter

The washed and oven-dried berries are covered with water and sweetened. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Cover the jar with cheesecloth and place in a cool place for two weeks, stirring occasionally during this time.

Juice without cooking

Making this healthy, vitamin-rich drink is simple. Juice fresh fruit, add sugar, and stir. Leave it on the counter for a few hours to dissolve the sugar granules.

Healthy marmalade

To prepare this delicacy, take:

• 0.5 kg viburnum;
• 0.5 kg apples;
• 1 kg of sugar.

The berries are lightly dried in the oven. The apples are baked, then peeled, and the core and seeds are removed. The apple pulp is mashed into a paste, poured into a saucepan, and the viburnum and sweetener are added. The mixture is simmered, stirring constantly, over low heat until it thickens.

Viburnum jam

Make a thick sugar syrup. Add fresh berries and simmer for half an hour over low heat, stirring regularly.

Seedless jam

Viburnum berries and granulated sugar are taken in equal proportions. Juice is squeezed from the berries. Sugar is added and the berries are simmered over low heat for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Five-Minute Jam Recipe

For preparation take:

• 1.5 kg viburnum;
• 1.5 kg granulated sugar;
• 0.5 l of water;
• 15 g vanillin.

Add vanilla and regular sweetener to boiling water. After 5 minutes, add viburnum. Cook, stirring regularly, for 5 minutes. Let steep for 5 hours. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Vinegar

For one liter of water take:

• 250 g viburnum;
• 100 g granulated sugar.

The fruits are crushed, covered with water, sweetened, and stirred. Stored in a dry, shaded place for 60 days, they are then strained.

Viburnum and rowanberry jam with sugar

It is prepared like classic jam, only rowan berries are added to the viburnum in equal proportions.

Viburnum in honey

Pour honey into a glass jar. Then slowly add viburnum juice, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches a smooth consistency.

Viburnum jelly

To prepare a healthy treat for the winter, mix berry puree with granulated sugar in equal parts. Place the mixture over the stove and wait until it begins to boil, just before bubbles appear. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring regularly, until the mixture thickens.

Sauce

This spicy and sour sauce is a great option for meat dishes. To prepare it, take:

• 200 g viburnum;
• 2 tablespoons of sugar;
• a large pinch of salt;
• a teaspoon of vinegar;
• a clove of garlic;
• carnation bud;
• peppercorn;
• a pinch of coriander.

Squeeze out the viburnum juice. Mix with the remaining ingredients. Cook over low heat.

Viburnum fruit drink

The red berries are mashed to obtain 0.5 liters of juice. The pulp is poured with water and boiled for 5 minutes. Discard the boiled pulp, and 700 g of granulated sugar are added to the infusion and stirred. Viburnum juice is added. The mixture is infused for 3 hours in a cool place.

Viburnum and apple jam

To give classic jam a pleasant sourness and fruity aroma, apple pulp is added.

Viburnum jam with lemon

Jam acquires a refreshing sweet-citrus taste if you add lemon pulp, zest, and vanillin to it.

Tincture

The fruits are crushed and steeped in alcohol diluted with water. The infusion is left to steep for 20 days in a warm, shaded place. The finished infusion is filtered.

Features of storing winter preparations

Dried viburnum is stored in glass jars or cloth bags in a dry, ventilated area.

Preparations in sterilized jars are stored in a cool place.