Fruit Leather

  

Instructions:

  1. Use a blender or food processor to puree about 1 cup of fruit at a time.
  2. Thicken juicy puree to shorten the drying time. Place pureed fruit in a deep, heavy saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and cool.
  3. To sweeten, use 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup corn syrup, honey or sugar for each 2 cups of fruit. Corn syrup or honey is best for longer storage because they prevent crystals. Sugar is fine for immediate use or short storage. Saccharin-based sweeteners could also be used to reduce tartness without adding calories. Aspartame sweeteners may lose sweetness during drying. Drying concentrates flavors, making the fruit leather taste sweeter than the puree.
  4. For extra flavor, add 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or a dash of nutmeg per quart of puree.
  5. Line dehydrator trays with plastic wrap. Tape plastic to tray on all four sides to keep it from blowing onto the leather.
  6. Pour pureed fruit onto plastic wrap and spread the puree by tilting the tray to about 1/8 inch thick. Leave a 1-inch border to allow for spreading during drying.
  7. Fruit puree may take six to 24 hours to dry. Leather is dry when it's leathery and does not stick together when touching.
  8. Remove from tray and cool briefly. Place leather on clean plastic wrap and roll up, so plastic separates layers of leather.

Dry time: 6-24 hours

Test for dryness: Leather is done when it has a leathery appearance and is pliable enough to roll up in a jelly-roll fashion. Test by separating leather from plastic wrap. If it separates easily it is done.

Source:

So Easy to Preserve, 6th edition, 2020




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