Fruit Leather

[Jeanied]

Whoopee! Proud new owner of a westfalia dehydrator - would like to report first fruit leather making session. Apple and blackberry - delicious! A slight modification needed (dehydrator cut out to begin with so had to insert a rack in between the lid and the base) and the leather got a bit stuck to the baking parchment so I need to get a silicon paper - but all in all well worth the effort!

[Scottishnewbie]

so c'mon then - recipe, cooking time, etc,etc!!!

[Jeanied]

I posted this on the dehydrator thread but here goes as well as it is worth doing I reckon- I only made half quantities of this (recipe came from the goodfood channel so google it if you want the oven version as well)
500g cooking apple - prepared weight - 500g blackberries, juice of a lemon and 150 g honey. Cooked the fruit and lemon till pulpy in a saucepan on a low heat - 20 mins or so, sieved this to produce a puree and added honey. Spread onto parchment (recommend silicon paper) on the base of the dehydrator - added the dehydrator top - added another rack when the machine cut out - about 6-8 hrs later had a great fruit leather - 10 minutes later - ate the lot!

[Scottishnewbie]

thank you Jeanie - guess what I'll be doing tomorrow then?!?!?

[Jeanied]

I think that any fruit puree could be dehydrated like this - but I figure that you need to try it by a recipe first to get your eye in! Please add any new ideas to this thread because I tell you, we are onto something here! As I was chewing (well, gobbling it up, really) I thought it would be good to turn it out onto some sugar/ sherbet mixture before rolling up the leather - but that would only add even more calories!!!

[Scottishnewbie]

i dried some raspberries the other week and have been having them with my cereal in the morning - lovely.

and also done a few jars of dried mushrooms for casseroles in the winter - equally successful.

i am so glad i got one as it is great.

and the idea to use it in the conservatory to raise the temperature was a brilliant one too!

[Snadger]

I've dried loads of toms this year then put them in jars covered with olive oil.
I have some left which wouldn't fill a jar. I've been using them as 'sweeties'!
Whenever I fancy a sweetie I just munch on a couple of dried toms, much better for you and they don't rot your teeth!

[Rhona]

i make fruit leather in the oven, drying on a low heat. It's excellent travel food for toddlers! Doesn't need keeping cold, doesn't spill, and it's healthy. I've just made a load of pear crisps as well - still got 1/4 of a tree to go...

[Jeanied]

Hi Rhona - how do you stop it being sticky to the touch? Maybe I didn't dehydrate mine quite long enough or do you turn it out onto something to keep it drier?

[Rhona]

Jeanie, I dried it for ages until it was slightly tacky to touch. I then rolled in strips of greaseproof paper in tight coils (little ones love unrolling them). Still a bit sticky, but not too bad.

[Jeanied]

Sounds roughly like mine - do you have any interesting fruit combos? (I'm thinking pear, lime and kiwi for a green one at the moment but it may be yukky).

[Scottishnewbie]

banana and bramble/blackberry
plum and rhubarb
rhubarb and apple

[POTBOY]

i've tried strawberry and banana, and mango and nectarine, i'm going to try strawberry with basil and black pepper next as a sort of maverick fruit leather!

[Jeanied]

I like it Potboy- clearly a divergent thinker!! I'm up for any combo except banana as I'm allergic to them.

[OllieMartin]

Possibly a disgusting idea, but could you do a savoury vegetable leather?
Unfortunetley I don't have much room for fruits after all my veg are in and berries so expensive from the supermarket it doesn't seem worth buying any to do this (perhaps the pear lime and kiwi idea though).

I was thinking:
pureed tomato and basil leather
carrot and orange (with some sugar this could maybe work as a sweet one)
Pea and mint

I've not done one before so no idea if the final product is suitable. I wouldn't be suprised if these ideas were renounced immediately.

Also, do you have to cut the parchment into a circle then, so it fits into the bottom of the dehydrator?