Instant Pot Ukrainian Compote – Stewed fruit

With all of the hectic activity around the holidays, it’s nice to have something that’s super easy.  On Christmas Eve, a fruit compote (or stewed fruit) made with dried fruit is a traditional end to the meal.  The Instant Pot makes the dish amazingly easy and much less time consuming than soaking the fruit overnight.

I use prunes, dried apricots, dried apple rings and raisins.  But, you can use any combination of dried fruits.

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This one is really easy – so easy I’m making it when it’s not even Christmas.  Most traditional recipes recommend soaking dried fruit overnight and then cooking for more than an hour on the stove – without stirring.  This makes for a perfect recipe for the Instant Pot.

Start by preheating your oven to about 300°F to toast blanched almonds.

Arrange dried fruit in the bottom of the Instant Pot.  You can also mix it up instead of having sections.  Add two cinnamon sticks.

Add four cups of water.  For extra citrus flavour, I add a quarter cup of frozen orange juice concentrate.

Set the Instant Pot to Manual High Pressure for just four minutes.  Then, wait 10 minutes before releasing the pressure.

When you open the pot after releasing the pressure, you even see the dried fruit deflate a little bit.  Remove the cinnamon sticks and discard them.

Transfer the fruit to a container to cool off in the refrigerator.  Remove the almonds from the oven when they’re lightly browned.

This can be made in advance to this point – even a few days ahead of serving it.

Time saved

• No soaking the fruit overnight – an entire day saved
• Cooking time is cut in half – at least 30 minutes saved

Equipment needed

• Instant Pot
• Kitchen scale
• Cookie sheet

Instant Pot Ukrainian Compote - Stewed fruit

A super easy recipe to make with dried fruit, and a simple end to a big Christmas Eve dinner.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Ukrainian-Canadian

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

  

• 4 ounces or 120 g dried apple rings
• 6 ounces or 170 g apricots
• 4 ounces or 120 g prunes
• 8 ounces or 225 g raisins
• 4 cups water
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• ¼ cup frozen orange juice concentrate optional
• 1 ½ cups slivered almonds
• Sugar to taste optional

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 300°F
• Combine 4 ounces dried apple rings, 6 ounces apricots, 4 ounces prunes and 8 ounces raisins in the Instant Pot
• Add 2 cinnamon sticks, 4 cups of water and ¼ cup frozen orange juice concentrate.
• Close the Instant Pot and set it to Manual with 4 minutes at High Pressure and More
• Meanwhile toast the almonds on a cookie sheet until golden brown - about 10 minutes
• After the cooking ends, wait 10 minutes before releasing the pressure
• Remove the cinnamon sticks and stir the fruit together. Cool the fruit in the refrigerator.
• Serve the fruit cold or warmed. Before serving combine the fruit with the almonds.