How to Make Homemade Fruit Leather

Quite a few years ago in a fit of domesticity I learned how to can fruit. Apricots and cherries were my weapons of choice but it wasn't really that cost-effective. We don't get the stuff fresh off the tree here and the shipping costs make it expensive enough that you don't necessarily save that much money by canning your own fruit but that's another post for another day.

The point is, I had about 50 jars of fruit and while we ate some of it, I found that my children weren't that big on canned cherries and apricots. Andrew didn't care for them and they sat in my cupboard gathering dust but too precious to throw out.

By now the fruit was getting old and past its prime but still . . . throwing it out didn't seem the right thing to do.

Instead I pureed it and made it into fruit leather. It really couldn't be easier. Once you have the puree you can either make it in your oven or in a dehydrator (we happen to have a dehydrator left over from a time when Andrew thought he wanted to learn how to dehydrate his meals into lightweight packages for all those backpacking trips he'd be taking).

I spread the puree on a plastic disc made for our dehydrator then turned the machine on. A few hours later . . . fruit leather and the kids loved it.

If you do it in your oven you can spread the puree on aluminum foil over a cookie sheet and let it bake at about 140 degrees for six hours, or until it looks done (don't overbake or it gets crispy). If you're worried about it sticking you can zap the aluminum foil with a shot of cooking spray but it should be fine without it. Once the fruit leather is done, snip it into servings with some scissors and roll it up in plastic wrap. It's very healthy and filling.

I've got a recipe for rhubarb fruit leather that I've been meaning to try though I have to add some sugar. Goodness knows I have enough rhubarb!

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