Ever since arriving in Indonesia we have been in need of snacks to eat throughout the day. The local grocery store sells many varieties of chips, cookies, and other traditional snacks, but not very many options for healthy, filling treats. Since we live in the land of eternal sunshine, finding recipes that use that free resource is exciting to me. I had heard about making homemade fruit leather and have been wanting to try it for some time, so last weekend I finally put the effort in and made my own.
After making what essentially was applesauce, I took my tray of would be fruit leather and set it outside on our clothes drying rack. I made a net out of our mesh curtains to drape around it so the bugs would not get to it. I then went out every few hours to move the rack into a more sun laden position. The leather was left out in one full days worth of sun but was still a bit sticky so it could have used a little more. Overall it was very a tasty treat and very similar to the real fruit leather sold in stores. It is something I would try again.
Though it is easy to make it would probably be best to do if you have an abundance of fruit that needs to be dealt with. I used five apples to get one medium piece of fruit leather and some leftover applesauce.
The Ingredients:
* About 4 cups of fresh fruit
* Water : 1/2 cup for every 4 cups of fruit
* Lemon juice (added 1 tsp. at a time as needed)
* Sugar (added 1 Tbsp at a time as needed)
* Spices (optional)
Method
1. Prepare the fruit.
Rinse, peel, and chop the fruit. I used about 3 large and 2 small Fuji apples to make my leather. I also left half of the peels on to give it added health benefits.
2. Cook the fruit.
Fruit leather is pretty much just sauce on a tray that will dry out. Put your fruit and your water into a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and cool on low for 10-15 minutes or until the fruit is cooked through and soft. At this point you can either use a potato masher and mash it all up or throw it in the blender like I did. Taste the fruit and decide if there needs to be any sugar, lemon juice or spices added. I added a lot of cinnamon to mine. Continue to cook the mash/puree for another 5-10 minutes until the added sugar is dissolved and the puree has thickened.
3. Run through a blender/food processer. Blend it until it is a very smooth puree. Decide if more sugar/lemon/spices need to be added.
4. Put it on a tray. Line a baking sheet with microwave safe plastic wrap and pour the puree onto it. Spread it out with a spoon until it is 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.
5. Dry it. Make sure the plastic wrap is not touching the top of the puree or it will not dry.
In the oven:
Bake on a low heat of 140°F for 8-12 hours or until it is no longer sticky.
In the sun:
Place in a very sunny spot with something covering the tray, but not touching the puree. Making a tent out of cheesecloth or some other material that the sun can get through, but the bugs cannot. In a dehydrator.
6. Store.
When the fruit leather is dry you can roll it up in the plastic wrap and store it in an airtight container or in the refrigerator or freezer.
How to Make Fruit Leather [Simply Recipes]
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Your fruit leather looks beautiful! I love the fact that you used the sun to do the drying. Now that I think about it I don’t know why we didn’t do that, given how much sun there is in Sacramento in the summertime, maybe fear of ants? I was under the impression that most of Indonesia is pretty humid, but this wasn’t an issue for you?
Eilse, thanks for the comment. Sorry to disappoint, but the photo at the top of the post isn’t mine. I forgot to take a picture of my fruit leather so we had to use a photo from Flicker. I didn’t have too much of a problem with the humidity, probably because the sun is just so hot here. It took a long time drying it in the sun, but it was was free! Thanks for posting the great recipe on your site.
[...] Make some fruit leather. [...]