Fruit Leather . . .

I picked a basketful of Monty Surprise apples to add to the raspberries that I gathered yesterday. After washing, peeling, coring and cutting up the apples I gently cooked them until they were soft. Out of the big pot I ladled some pulp into another pot and added the raspberries.

When it had cooled a little I used the stick blender to create a smooth pulp and then ladled it onto the silicone sheets, gently smoothing it out with a spatula. Trying to make it as thin as possible, but not so thin that you can see the sheet beneath. I added some blackcurrants to some more of the apple and like the raspberry had some left over, so made a mixed sheet. We harvested fifteen 2 litre ice-cream containers of blackcurrants this year, which I put into the freezer. So I made a bigger batch of leather than with the raspberry. Then like the pears I started dehydrating it at 65° for two hours and then 55° until they were dry. I checked after 5 hours, removing those that were dry and left others until they were fully dry too. There was still some apple left over, I had planned to bottle this for applesauce, however, Bruce liked the idea of having apple crumble with our dinner. I made this for him while the blackcurrant puree cooled.

When the leather was dry and had cooled, I rolled it up in baking paper and attached printed labels. The labels have the name of the fruit and the year. I then placed Sellotape around each section and using kitchen scissors cut on the lines provided. The fruit leather is now ready to be stored away until required. Even when I use my round dehydrator, I roll up the leather using the same method. Just ignore the hole in the middle and roll it up.

Hint . . .  If you over dry the fruit leather, place it back in the dehydrator with a damp paper towel on trays above and below it. Leave it overnight and it will absorb some of the moisture and make your leather pliable again.

Apple Crumble Recipe . . .

100g butter, melted
½ cup brown sugar
¾ cup flour
1½ cups rolled oats
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp mixed spice
 
Put stewed apples (or other fruit) into an ovenproof dish.
Mix everything together and crumble over the apples.
Bake at 180° for 30 minutes or until the crumble is crisp and golden. Serve with custard, cream or ice-cream. Enjoy

#AppleCrumbleRecipe #DehydratedFruitLeather #FruitLeather

4th May 2024