An Airy Dessert

The zefir is a bit of a trickster. Outwardly, it may look like a crispy meringue, but it is actually a softy, with the consistency of a marshmallow. And its roots are neither in France (birthplace of the meringue), nor Greece (from whence the name Zephyr, the Greek god of the western wind), but in the Russian town of Kolomna.

Indeed, the zefir is a Russian treat through and through. Some might even call it the Russian National Dessert, for it is based on the 600-year-old pastille (пастила), which Russian Life readers will recall was invented in Kolomna (see July/August 2011 issue). Traditional pastilles are made from a creamed puree of apples (usually sour varieties), combined with whipped egg whites and added berries and nuts to create different flavors.

The first pastille factory was built in Kolomna in the eighteenth century. Yet the treats date back much further. They were mentioned in the sixteenth-century Domostroy (as постела), and in an epistle from Ivan the Terrible to Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, in which they were called “a delicacy made from apple juice.”

Food expert William Pokhlyobkin actually dates the pastille to the fourteenth century. And although other countries had their own variety of such treats (e.g. pâte de fruits in France), boxes of pastilles were exported from Kolomna to Europe, where they came to be regarded as an original Russian treat.

The zefir branches off from the pastille in that the whipped fruit, egg and sugar has added to it some type of gelling agent, like agar or pectin. And whereas the pastille batter is cooked in an low-heat oven for several hours then cut into pieces, the whipped zefir batter can be dried at room temperature. For an added touch, finished zefirs are sometimes dipped in chocolate.

Dipped or undipped, this recipe for zefir, which substitutes raspberries for apples to create a more colorful result, is sure to be a crowd pleaser, and is rather easy to make. Put a plate of these out for Russian Christmas and they will fly away like the wind for which they are named.

Домашний малиновый зефир

Homemade Raspberry Zefir

Puree

2 cups raspberries

2 cups sugar

1 egg white

Syrup

3 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup water

3 Tbsp pectin or agar-agar

First make the puree. Pressing raspberries (fresh or frozen, defrosted) through a sieve or strainer to remove the seeds (you can leave them in if they won’t bother you; they will be hardly noticeable). Then heat the fruit slowly over a low flame to warm it, pureeing with a hand puree machine, or mashing up by hand. Then add the sugar, mixing thoroughly until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to stand for 30 minutes.

Ready a large confectionery bag with a star tip. (If you lack a bag, you can spoon the final mixture out with a couple of tablespoons.)

Now make the syrup. Dissolve the pectin/agar in the water as it heats up, then slowly add the sugar and heat to boiling. Continue to stir the boiling mixture for a few minutes, then remove from heat and allow to cool slightly while you complete the next step.

Add the egg white to the raspberry puree and beat in a large stand-mixer at medium to medium-high speed (can also be done in a bowl with portable mixer).

While continuing to beat the puree, pour in the warm syrup in a very slow, fine stream. Then continue beating for 2-3 minutes, until the batter cools and starts to thicken, so that peaks form and hold in the mixture.

Scoop the batter into the prepared confectionery bag, then squeeze it out onto wax paper or confectioner’s paper spread on baking sheets, making classic meringue-style shapes (see photo) about 2 inches in diameter.

Place the trays in a 200º F oven for about two hours to dry. (You may also allow them to set at room temperature for 24 hours; we had better luck, however, with oven drying.) The outsides should have a dry outer crust, like a marshmallow.

After they have cooled, carefully remove the zefirs from the paper and press together in pairs on their bottom sides. If you like, you can sprinkle the final product with powdered sugar, but that would probably be overkill, since each of the zefir pairs already has about 200 calories.

Makes approximately two-dozen.