Compote with mint and lemon for winter

Step-by-step cooking

1. Step 1:

   

   Prepare the necessary ingredients for the compote. Many people do not like the bitterness that appears in the compote on the second day. Someone has a slight bitterness, characteristic of citrus fruits, which are used together with the peel, turns into real bitterness. The bitterness of the compote is given by a white layer between the pulp itself and the zest. The thinner this layer is, the less bitterness there will be. Therefore, choose fruits with a thin skin.

2. Step 2:

   

   Wash the lemon thoroughly beforehand and rub it with a brush, because we will use the fruit together with the peel. Cut half a lemon into slices or thin slices. My photo shows that somewhere the white layer on the lemon is very thin, and somewhere a little thicker. There are fruits where this layer is 2 times thicker - these compotes are usually very bitter. My compote was not bitter at all thanks to the correctly selected fruits.

3. Step 3:

   

   Wash the mint, dry it. Peel the leaves from the twigs and slightly mash them with your hands so that the leaves let the juice. So the drink will turn out more fragrant.

4. Step 4:

   

   Boil 1 liter of water in a saucepan. Add sugar. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Boil the base for another 2 minutes.

5. Step 5:

   

   Add lemon and mint to the compote. Boil for another minute and remove the pan from the heat.

6. Step 6:

   

   Sterilize the jars and lids to them in advance by steam or calcine in the oven. It is important that the jars remain hot or at least warm and do not have time to cool down completely so that the glass does not crack from the temperature difference. For 1 liter of compote, you can take 1 liter jar or 2 500 ml jars.

8. Step 7:

   

   Pour the hot compote into jars. Add lemon slices and mint leaves from the pan to the jars.

9. Step 8:

   

   Close the jars with screw-on lids or roll up the tin lids with a key.

10. Step 9:

    

    Turn the jars upside down.

11. Step 10:

    

    Wrap up and leave to cool completely. Turn the jars with the cooled lemon compote back upside down.

12. Step 11:

    

    Store the compote in a dark, cool place. Keep open jars of compote in the refrigerator. Enjoy your meal!