Fruit leather - or fruit roll-up - is a great way to utilize ripe fruits in a form that will last into the off season. This is awesome because it means you can continue enjoying the benefits of fresh fruit and veggies without paying a lot for imported ones when they're out of season - especially if you make the fruit leather raw like this it maintains great nutritional value.
Mum has been making fruit leather for as long as I can remember, she is very careful not to let any of her precious homegrown organic produce go to waste - and fruit leather is one of the best ways to use all fruits/veg - no matter if they are ripe/mushy/have imperfections ... so it's a really sustainable and great option to waste less food. Mum's plum fruit leather is my favourite, she doesn't sweeten it so it's quite tart but I love that! - her plums finished a few months ago though so I won't be showing that in this video.
Something I would really recommend for this is going to a local organic orchard and asking about their 'seconds fruit' -often the fruit that is imperfect will go to waste or at least be sold very cheaply - and this is a great opportunity to buy a bunch for little, chop out the bad bits and turn it into fruit leather!
The fruit leather recipes I'm using
Peach
- 3 cups chopped peaches
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp chia seed
- 1 tsp cinnamon - half this if your not as big a fan of cinnamon as me... it's quite strong this way.
Apple & Blackberry
- 3 cups chopped apples
- 1/2 cup blackberries
- a small handful dates dates or tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp chia seed
Kiwi and spinach
- 3 cups kiwifruit chopped
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
Puree up your ingredients, spread over a greased dehydrator tray or greased parchment paper (not 'waxed paper' as I say, that would melt!) on an oven tray - 1cm thick, and put in the dehydrator for 1-2 days depending on the settings or 6-8hours in a 40C oven - until the surface is smooth, dull and not sticky to touch. Cut the fruit leather up, roll in parchment paper or store as is in an airtight container. should last a couple of months like this - you can freeze it if you want it to last about a year.
You can use any fruit and most veggies. If you use settings that are equivalent to air-drying then this is raw fruit leather and keeps its nutritional value. Some people cook their puree first - this kills bacteria/enzymes which can give it a longer shelf life but it also destroys some nutrients, cooking can also make the flavour stronger.
Chia seeds add to the texture and nutritional value of the fruit leather. I love adding them, even in small quantities to add some omega 3's in there. Here are my favourite chia seed; www.iherb.com/nutiva-organic-c...
I hope you enjoyed this video ♡
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