The name "Belevskaya pastila" was not invented as a marketing ploy. It became established by itself, because in Belev this dessert began to be made on an industrial scale. Antonovka trees have been harvested abundantly in the vicinity of the city for centuries. Local housewives knew dozens of ways to preserve apples for the winter. One of them is to make marshmallows. However, entrepreneurial initiative also played an important role. At the end of the 19th century, merchant Ambrose Prokhorov developed home production to an industrial scale.
The history of Belevskaya pastille is connected with merchant's wit and hard work. In 1858, Ambrose Pavlovich Prokhorov laid out a large garden, and later his father, Pavel Ambrosievich, supported his son and in 1882 gave him two industrial buildings on the banks of the river Vyrka.
Ambrose Prokhorov designed the marshmallow dryer himself. The heat from the stove went through the air ducts, allowing moisture to be carefully evaporated and preserve the airy structure of the dessert. In 1884, a drying plant appeared. Already in 1888, after several years of debugging the process, production was fully operational. It employed 15 hired workers, and the company was active for three months a year, from August to October, at the peak of the apple harvest.
The "Prokhorovskaya" pastille quickly gained recognition. In 1890, she won the first prize at the horticulture exhibition in St. Petersburg.‑St. Petersburg. Soon, products began to be delivered to the yard, Prokhorov's stores opened in Moscow and St. Petersburg.‑St. Petersburg, Kiev, Tbilisi. The brand's special recognition was given by branded boxes with a pattern, which was executed by Ambrose Pavlovich himself.
The scale of the enterprise grew. By 1900, the factory employed 90 permanent workers. The annual turnover reached 21,000 rubles in silver. To consolidate his experience and transfer his knowledge, in 1899 Prokhorov published the book "Cooking Belevskaya pure apple paste". Here he explained in detail the technology and the exact proportions. In 1898, the entrepreneur expanded the raw material base by buying an estate with an orchard. In 1900, he opened a new drying plant in the village of Rovno.
The process of making marshmallows is not complicated, but it takes time. Apples are baked, sometimes on birch logs, mashed, whipped to a white foam for a long time and laid out in thin layers to dry in the oven.
Over time, the production technology has hardly changed.
In 1918, production was suspended at the Prokhorov plant, and the company was transferred to the management of the executive committee. The war and post-war years were also a challenge. In 1941, the drying plant was destroyed, and production moved several times: first to Proletarskaya Square, then, from 1960, to the territory of the former State-owned Wine Warehouse, where the Belevsky Cannery operated.
By the early 1990s‑ factory production had stopped. But the tradition did not disappear: local craftsmen and housewives continued to make marshmallows according to the old rules, in small quantities. This experience helped to save the technology. Thanks to him, in 2011 the companies Belevsky Sweets, Belevskaya Pastille Manufactory and Old Traditions were able to bring Belevskaya pastille back to the market.
The basis of the assortment remains unchanged — it is a classic apple pastille, which was made under Prokhorov. However, today the manufacturer is experimenting and adding blueberries, cranberries, lingonberries, black currants, cherries and raspberries to antonovka. All ingredients are natural, and the recipe, as before, contains no artificial flavors or flavors.
There are more formats too. In addition to the traditional layer, the pastille is rolled into rolls, cut into convenient slices, and packed in gift tin and wooden boxes.
