Join me in making a Czech apple compote spiced with cloves and cinnamon. It is quick to make and tastes best when served still warm. A perfect recipe for apple season!
➜ About the Recipe
This amazing apple compote is a typical delicacy prepared by Bohemian grannies for their grandchildren. Prepared with just a few simple ingredients, this is a quick and easy recipe that uses peeled apples cut into wedges.
The apples are cooked in water with cinnamon, cloves, lemon, and sugar. The finished compote is served warm in a bowl with the spiced infusion.
The Czech word for this recipe? Jablečný kompot!
TIP: You like apples? Try out Czech apple bread pudding, aka Žemlovka
➜ Ingredients
To make homemade apple compote, we need:
- Apples; whatever apples you have on hand. The summer apples from apple trees in our backyard that we didn't manage to eat were most often processed into compote in our house.
- White sugar; if you want a slightly healthier version of the compote, feel free to replace the sugar with honey or maple syrup.
- Cinnamon; add a cinnamon stick for better effect, but our grandma always used ground cinnamon. Cinnamon has always been a spice that enhances the apple aroma!
- Cloves; the spice that gives the apple compote the right aroma
- Lemon; sliced. Instead of lemon slices, add fresh lemon juice to the compote.
- Water; for pouring over the apples when cooking
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
➜ Instructions
- Remove the skin from the apples using a vegetable peeler and halve them.
- Carefully cut out the cores and cut the apples into roughly equal-sized wedges.
- Place the apples in a medium saucepan, cover with water. Add the sugar, cloves, cinnamon, and lemon.
- Bring to a boil, then lower to medium heat.
- Cover the pot with a lid and cook slowly until the apple slices are soft. This takes about 15 minutes.
- Serve the finished apple compote warm.
➜ Serving
A bowl of apple compote tastes excellent as a refreshing snack, either in the morning or before dinner.
Children especially love this compote and even more so when their beloved granny prepares it for them. Indeed, many of us also have this recipe often associated with memories of our childhood!
➜ Storage
Didn't finish the compote all at once? Once the fruit compote is cooked and cooled to room temperature, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator, where it will keep for 4-5 days.
➜ Useful Tips
- The apples do not need to float in the liquid while boiled. It is enough if they are about half to two-thirds submerged. This way, they will stew, not cook, and have a more intense flavor.
- For even more aroma and scent, add star anise to the compote.
- I recommend removing the cloves before serving. This spice smells lovely, but it would turn bitter on your tongue if you bite into it.
More Czech recipes:
Tried this recipe?
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Czech Apple Compote – Jablečný kompot
Ingredients
- 5 apples
- 5 cloves
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon ground
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (70 g)
- 2 slices lemon
- 2 cups water (480 ml)
Instructions
- Peel the apples and halve them.
- Cut out the cores and cut the apples into roughly equal-sized wedges.
- Place the apples in a saucepan, cover with water. Add the sugar, cloves, cinnamon, and lemon.
- Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low.
- Cover the pot with a lid and cook slowly until the apple slices are soft. This takes about 15 minutes.
- Serve the finished apple compote warm as a snack.
Notes
- Makes 4 portions.
- The apples do not need to float in the liquid while boiled. It is enough if they are about half to two-thirds submerged. This way, they will stew, not cook, and have a more intense flavor.
- For even more aroma and scent, add star anise to the compote.
- I recommend removing the cloves before serving. This spice smells lovely, but it would turn bitter on your tongue if you bite into it.
DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:
Conversion chart
Cheryl
this compote was always on the stove either at Grandma's or my mother's. My mother made fresh crepes and filled them with this compote. Could never eat enough and siblings always fought for the last crepes.
Petra Kupská
Yes, this compote is also often made in our home, probably every house around has at least one apple tree in the garden 🙂 Thank you for sharing your lovely memories, Cheryl!
Lili A
Just made this compote from bunch of old unhappy apples. My daughter loved it! Instant hit! Thank you!
Petra Kupská
Wow, thank you for your nice comment! I am happy that your "unhappy" apples found a use, and especially that your little girl liked the compote! 🙂