Name: How to Make a Simple Fruit Compote
Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 450 g berries or stone fruit (or currants, fresh or frozen ); 1 tbsp sugar (or to taste, alternatives include honey and maple syrup )

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This simple 2-ingredient fruit compote is a delicious way to enjoy summer fruit. It’s incredibly quick and easy to make and can be served in many different ways.

Fruit compote is basically fruit cooked with some form of sugar (such as granulated or honey) which produces a syrupy fruit mixture (‘mixture’ in French is ‘compȏte’). It cooks quite quickly, enough for the fruit to release lots of juice while still holding their shape.

Fruit compote has been around for centuries. It’s easy and cheap to make using widely available ingredients and it’s a simple way of turning summer bounty into something delicious.

Fruit compote ingredients

The list of ingredients is quite basic. All you really need is fruit and sugar. Use any combination of berries (I used raspberries and blueberries), currants or stone fruit. You can make a single fruit or multi fruit compote. For a single fruit compote I would recommend using a naturally sweet fruit, such as blueberry or strawberry but not red currants as they are quite sour and would have to be cooked with quite a lot of sugar.

The amount of sugar you will need ultimately depends on the type of fruit you use as well as personal preference.

Recipe instructions

1.If using fresh fruit rinse the fruit and remove the pits (if applicable) then place the fruit in a large pan/saucepan. If using large fruit, such as peaches, remove the pits and chop into chunks before cooking. Add the sugar and cook over a medium heat for about 6 minutes (add 2 more minutes is using frozen fruit) stirring often. The fruit will soften and release lots of juice. Bring to the boil and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir gently so the fruit keeps its shape.

Add more sugar to taste at any point during cooking if needed.

2. Remove from the heat and serve immediately or wait for the sauce to cool before serving. See Serving Suggestions below.

How to thicken fruit compote

You can thicken your fruit compote and turn it into a fruit pie filling by simply dissolving 1 tablespoon of corn starch in 1.5 tablespoons of cold water and adding it into the compote as it’s cooking. Alternatively thicken the mixture after it’s been cooked. Bring to the boil and cook for about 2 minutes until the mixture has thickened stirring often. You may want to add more sugar into this mixture.

Another way of creating a thick fruit sauce is by adding dried fruit into the mixture. I used this method in my blackberry coffee cake recipe which needed a layer of fruit. I cooked fresh blackberries along with finely chopped dried prunes and a little sugar and the result was a thick, jam like mixture perfect to use in a cake.

What is kompot juice

‘Kompot’ in Polish stands for fruit juice and is a kind of East European version of the French fruit compote dessert. Growing up in Poland I was used to kompot being on the table at meal times throughout the summer when fruit was cheap and easily available. Kompot was cooked using any fruit that happened to be on hand which often included strawberries, cherries and rhubarb. The fruit was cooked with sugar and lots of water.

At Christmas we would drink dried fruit compote which usually contained more spice than everyday fresh fruit compote.

Serving suggestions

What I really love about fruit compote is that can be enjoyed for breakfast, snack or dessert. Starting with breakfast you can pour it over pancakes, waffles, hot porridge or stir it into overnight oats.

Turn it into a healthy snack by stirring into yogurt and making your own delicious flavoured yogurt. You can also add it into yogurt parfait.

Enjoy it as dessert alongside custard (German style), pour over ice cream or serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

You could also turn your fruit compote into a coulis which is a thin fruit sauce made from cooked and strained fruit. This mixture can be used to pour over desserts, add to frozen treats (such as ice pops) or flavour iced teas and other beverages. I also used it to add a fruity twist to my chocolate sauce recipe.

How to flavour fruit compote

You can add more flavour into your compote in the form of spices, herbs and other ingredients. Popular choices include cinnamon or pumpkin spice, finely chopped basil or mint, grated ginger as well as orange or lemon zest. Simply stir these into the fruit mixture as it cooks.

Top tips

Use fresh or frozen fruit. Frozen fruit will need to be cooked a little longer (about 2 minutes more).
Your fruit compote will thicken as it cools – add a splash of water, orange or apple juice to loosen the mixture if you like.
The amount of sugar needed depends on the kind of fruit you use as well as personal preference. So adjust the amount to your liking.
You can use a potato masher to break up larger pieces of fruit after the compote has cooked.
Keep in a jar, refrigerated, for up to a week. Cool completely before refrigerating.
Serve warm or chilled.

Keep in touch!

Do you have a favourite way of serving fruit compote? Let me know what it is in the comments below, thanks!

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