Apple Fruit Leather

I make fruit leathers as a healthy treat for myself and my grandson.  My own children used to love the bought ones put in their lunch boxes for school and so I thought that I would start making my own to save money.  Today I made apple fruit leather as we have a glut of foraged apples.  They are really easy to make but can take a while to dehydrate and are time consuming (it can even take a few days).  The end result is less fruit leathers than you would imagine and so I always make a big batch.

There is no exact science to making fruit leathers. They can be made with refined sugar, honey, or any other kind of sweetener and you chose how much you want to put in to taste..  If I use really sweet eating apples I don’t use any sweetener at all, but children seem to prefer a bit of sweetness.  You can also use any kinds of apples that you want.  Ours were foraged and quite crisp.  Cinnamon can also be added but we prefer the leathers without it.  Just a pinch of salt can also enhance the taste but is optional.

The apple fruit leathers can be dehydrated in the oven, in sunshine, or using a dehydrator.

Ingredients

There are no set ingredients as you can make as much or as little as you want, depending how many apples you have.  We used about 15 small or medium apples that we had foraged.  The apples need to be peeled, cored and chopped small.

Sugar or honey to taste (more can be added at the end of stage 1.  It will depend on the kind of apple and how sweet it is.  Some eating apples do not need any at all).

Juice from half a lemon.  This is optional and is not needed for preserving but it can help with the colour.

Cinnamon or other spices (optional)

pinch of salt (optional)

Method.

1.  Put all the ingredients into a pan with a splash of water and cook gently in order to soften the apples.  I leave the lid on and it takes 15 to 20 minutes to do mine.
2. Take the lid off and boil for 10 minutes to help get rid of some of the moisture.
3. Take off the heat and allow the apple mixture to cool.
4. Whiz the apple mixture in the blender until smooth. (my blender is rubbish and so mine could be smoother)
5. Heat the oven to 50C if using this way to dehydrate it.
6. Use silicone mats for best results or line a baking tray with parchment.
7. Put the apple puree ont0 the trays and spread it out evenly, smoothing it as much as you can.
8.  I dried mine in the sunshine in my conservatory with tented muslin on top and it took about 8 hours.  It is south facing and so very warm.  Otherwise it can be dehydrated in the oven for between 5 and 12 hours, or until they feel firm and not tacky to the touch.  It is best in the centre of the oven and so, if I am doing a few trays, I tend to move them around the oven.  Near the end, if using the oven to make a fruit leather, I jam a fork into the door to leave a vent for the moisture to escape for the last hour.  In a dehydrator set at 60C they can take up to 12 hours or less, depending how good the hydrator is.
9. Take the trays out of the oven (if using) and let the apple fruit leather cool.
10. Use sharp scissors to cut up the leathers into strips and then individually roll them up.  I got 6 strips from each tray and made 24 rolls from my 3 trays.  They could be cut thinner to make more.  When making them for a small child I usually cut 9.  I like to wrap a bit of parchment paper around each roll and secure it with string or tape so that they don’t all stick together when storing.
11. I store mine in a glass jar at room temperature and they last about 6 months.  They will last longer in the fridge, but I don’t bother as mine are lucky if they last a couple of months without us eating them.

As you can see, these take a lot of energy to make these and so that is why I tend to make them on a sunny day.  Before I had a conservatory I used to make them on the back shelf  of my car.  Fruit leathers can be made from any fruit, but if you are not peeling the fruit, make sure that you wash it thoroughly.