photos by gluttonforlife

Fruit leather! You can make it with practically any fruit you have on hand. Chewy, lightly sweet and loaded with delicious fruit flavor, it’s ideal to stash at the office, pack in lunch boxes or take along on a hike. Better than what you can buy—because you’ve made it yourself with organic fruit, honey and spices—it virtually makes itself. You just cut up fruit, cook it down to a puree, pass it through a sieve, sweeten it a little and spread it out on baking sheets to dry in a very low oven. I made the mistake of leaving mine in overnight, so I couldn’t monitor its progress and the edges got a little too dry, but even so they are like wonderful shards of stained glass that crunch and dissolve in the mouth.

i used italian plums and sweet macoun apples

The recipe I used came from a fantastic book that I highly recommend to anyone interested in jams, preserves, pickles, chutneys and the like. It’s The River Cottage Preserves Handbook by Pam Corbin. More on the River Cottage soon…

i added cinnamon and cardamom to the mix as it cooked down

roll it up in waxed paper and store in a big jar or ziploc bag

PLUM & APPLE LEATHER

adapted from The River Cottage Preserves Handbook by Pam Corbin

makes 2 10″x12″ sheets

1 pound, 2 ounces ripe Italian plums

1 pound, 2 ounces peeled, cored and chopped cooking apples

juice of 1 lemon

7 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Preheat the oven to a very low setting, about 140 degrees. (GFL: Mine only goes down to 170, so I prop the door open with the handle of a wooden spoon.) Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the fruit, lemon juice and spices in a heavy pot. Cook slowly and gently until very soft, stirring to prevent sticking, about 20 minutes or more. Press the mixture through a fine sieve or food mill into a bowl; you should have about 1 1/2 pounds of fruit puree. Add the honey and mix well.

Divide the puree between two baking sheets. Spread it out lightly with the back of a spoon or rubber spatula until the puree covers each sheet in a thin, even layer that stops about an inch from the edge. (GFL: I found the easiest way to do this was to pick up the baking sheet and gently angle it this way and that, using gravity to spread it evenly over the whole surface.)

Put the baking sheets in the oven until the fruit puree is completely dry and peels easily off the parchment; this could take anywhere from 4 to 12 hours, so check frequently to monitor the texture. Roll up the leather in parchment or waxed paper and store in an airtight container. Use within 5 months.