Favorite Things (Friday) Vol 1 Ed 6

FRUIT LEATHER BABY!

That's right, now that I've become a Bountiful Basket-er, I have a lot of fruit, too much to consume alone! So, instead of letting my dear fruit go bad, I am making delicious, homemade fruit leather! That's right! So, I'll walk you through the simple process. Make sure peel and chop your fruit in semi-bite sized-ish pieces. I like to put my fruit in a large pot and boil in so it gets a little soft and doesn't hurt my blender so much. So, 1/2 a cup of water for every 4 cups of fruit, bring to a simmer, and let simmer with the lid in for around 10-15 minutes. Then mash the fruit up with whatever you can, and taste it. Add sugar as needed and let the mush thicken up a bit more and make sure all the sugar is dissolved!



You can let it cool a bit here if you want, but now you want to puree your fruitness. I use my blender, but if you have a food processor or something else that you prefer, then it will work. Make sure it gets super smooth! Taste the puree and make sure it is to your tasting. You can add lemon juice (just a little) to bring out the taste of the fruit. You can add cinnamon and/or brown sugar to apple, like I did, but I just added regular sugar to the pineapple example.




Now you want to super spray your baking pan with some sort of Pam (or substitute), or you can cover your pan in heat-proof plastic wrap. Anyway, pour your puree into the pan. A trick I have for smoothing it out is to shake the pan left and right and up and down, so you even out all the ridges and stuff. Be soft so you don't spill, just be gentle.

Stick it in the oven at the lowest setting. In my oven it is 'warm', try not to be over 150ish, and then close the oven door. This is when patience takes place. It could take 8-10 hours to dry properly. You know it is done when the middle is no longer gooey, of if you touch the middle and it doesn't leave an indent! It always peels off the pan pretty well for me, and then you just slice it and put it in a plastic bag. I guess you can put it in a freezer or fridge or whatever. As if there will be any left in time for you to do this!

Trust me, it is worth the wait! (YEah, I bit that piece, what of it?)