With all the amazing fruits and vegetables that are ready for harvest right now, it is a true pleasure to make your own fruit leather. It’s so easy to make and fun experimenting with!
I have chosen to make three different varieties of fruit leathers this time. I used the season’s finest plums, cherries, carrots and apples. Thanks to the slow drying on the low heat, the flavors are concentrated to the most. Adding to that, it’s a clever way to take advantage of fruits, berries and vegetables! Not to mention the wonderful taste of course!
It’s easy to fix the fruit candy, you simply run the fruit to a smooth purée in a mixer and then spread it on a baking sheet and dry.
You can also combine several fruits in different colors and spread the different purees next to each other. In that way you can create even more beautiful color- and flavor combinations. Today I have however chosen to flavor my puree with spices instead.
Storage
You can store the fruit leather in room temperature in an airtight container with a lid for at least two weeks, provided it is completely dry.
I have also tried to roll them up in bite sizes and freeze them. It worked very well as well. Defrost them in room temperature and you will soon have something nice to chew on quickly.
Fruit leather from fruit and vegetables of the season
Plum leather with warm spices
Ingredients
1 kilo of fresh plums, cored
200 grams / about 2 pieces of ripe bananas
2 teaspoons of grounded cinnamon
1 teaspoon of coarsed grinded cardamom
2 teaspoons of agave
Cherry leather with sichuan pepper
Ingredients
1 kilo of fresh cherries, cored
100 grams of medjoul dates, cored
1 teaspoon of grounded Sichuan pepper
Apple and carrot leather
Ingredients
3 carrots, peeled and cut into smaller pieces
4 apples, peeled and cut into smaller pieces
2 teaspoons of agave
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
How do I do it?
1. Apple and carrot leather
Rinse, peel and cut the apples and carrots into smaller pieces. Add everything to a small saucepan, add the agave and lemon juice and let it boil on low heat while stirring until everything is soft, about 10-15 minutes.
Let it cool off and then mix it all till you have a nice, even purée. Proceed to step 2.
1. Plum leather and cherry leather
Rinse and core the fresh fruit in a mixer together with the other ingredients listed in each recipe.
Mix until you get an evenly pure puree. Proceed to step 2.
2. Spread the prepared puree with a spatula on a baking parchment placed on a flat tray . Per batch its enough for about 3 “plates” in a dehydrator oven and for a regular oven approximately 2 plates.
4. Dry the puree until it is completely dry and feels like leather when touching it. The temperature should be 42° C in a dehydrator oven and around 50 degrees in a regular oven. You could choose for a higher temperature but keep in mind that lower temperature, will give a better result but also means it will takes longer to get it dry.
Depending on how thick you spread the different purées, it takes about 12 hours in the dehydrator and about half the time in a regular oven.
If you make the fruit leather in a regular oven, don’t forget to let some moist out every now and then. The easiest way to do so is to put something (like a wooden stick or similar) in between the oven and its door while drying the leather.
If the leather dries slowly, gently loosen the fruit leather from the baking parchment and turn it. Continue drying on the other side.
5. Cut the ready fruit leather into serving pieces while its still warm.
You choose whether you want to roll up the leather or cut it in to smaller pieces.
You can also make nice shapes of the fruit leather and use as decoration on desserts and pastries.
Tip!
The puree dries the quickest around the edges so it may be handy to spread it a bit thicker just there and thinner in the middle. That way you will get an even result without dry edges.
These recipes are free from gluten, lactose and nuts.