Fruit Leathers Recipe
We previously shared this recipe but with the glut of fruit currently in the garden we thought we’d share it with you again.
Fruit leathers are pureed fruit, spread out and slowly dried, then rolled up to store. A handy way to use up a glut of late summer/ autumn fruit, these fruity jewels will last for 6 weeks in a tin (if you can keep them that long!).
We used a mixture of plums, cooking and eating apples, blackberries with a couple of cinnamon sticks, star anise, and a vanilla pod thrown in. You could use ginger, cloves, or any other spices that take your fancy.
Firstly, wash the fruit and chop into large chunks, discarding any bruised bits. For every four cups of fruit, add one cup of water. Add your chosen spices and simmer until the fruit is soft. Rub the fruit through a sieve with a wooden spoon. Return the pulp to the pan and decide if it needs sweetening. If so, add a little honey at a time and keep tasting. Make it as sweet or sour as you wish.
Pour the mixture onto baking trays lined with silicone paper and spread out to no more than 1cm thick.
Place in an oven set below 60°C, preferably with the door open. Drying will take 4 to 8 hours. The leather is ready when it no longer feels sticky and peels away from the paper.
Dust with icing sugar and store in a tin (not an air tight container).
Decorate the top of a sponge cake with creme fraiche and cream half and half, scattered with snipped fruit leather pieces, fresh raspberries and other berries over the top and dusted with icing sugar.
