I continue the topic of Belarusian products, which I opened with this article Belarusian milk products
Today I want to talk about interesting sweets that are popular in Belarus. All these sweets can be bought in supermarkets or specialized brand stores. In the latter, they are not sold in packages, but by weight.
Zephyr (зефир)
Zephyr is a sweet confectionery product. It is prepared from sugar, fruit (most often apple) puree, egg whites and pectin or agar-agar.
Zephyr is a popular sweet for tea or coffee not only in Belarus, but also in Russia and Ukraine. Many varieties of this delicacy are sold in stores. In addition to the classic white zephyr, there are zephyr with different fruit flavors. There are zephyr covered with milk or white chocolate. You can also buy zephyr with marmalade filling.
A good zephyr has the following qualities: it is dense, resilient and, when broken, slightly moist without grains of sugar. With strong pressure, the zephyr should take its previous shape, and not break. The most delicious zephyr is, of course, homemade. But it is not so easy to cook, so store-bought it are popular.
I love it when zephyr are very elastic. There is an interesting way to make it like this – you need to put it in the freezer for several hours. After it, it does not become hard, but only more elastic and resilient.
Pastila protein (Пастила)
Protein pastila is a sweet bar. In such a pastila, the composition is similar to the composition of zephyr. The main difference from zephyr in manufacturing technology. Accordingly, the finished product has its own individual characteristics in shape, structure and taste. The pastila is drier and more airy and breaks easily.
Iris toffee (Ирис)
Another interesting sweet is Iris. It is a dense semi-solid mass in the form of a rectangle. Good quality iris toffee contains only sugar, condensed milk and butter.
Delicious fresh iris toffee can be bought in company stores from factories. I like the iris from the Krasny Mozyryanin (“Красный Мозырянин”) factory the most.
Cranberries in glaze
Cranberry is a very useful wild berry. In Belarus, you can try interesting dragees with this berry. They are small balls with whole cranberries in powdered sugar. A very interesting combination of sour berries and sweet glaze.
In addition to the classic dragee, there are cranberries with different interesting flavors: cinnamon, cocoa, ginger, cardamom.
You can also try delicious natural marmalade with cranberries.
You can read about interesting milk drinks from Belarus here https://takajaeda.com/en/3820/belarusian-dairy-products-mini-guide/