I love it because I can slip it into my bag, eat it without any mess, and have it on hand no matter what else life throws my way. But the real magic of fruit leather is that it extends the life of those short-lived summer beauties, helping stretch the harvest over the year. Refrigerate to keep it on hand for months; freeze some to have it all year long.
Stay thin when spreading this, or you'll be running your oven for days before it's all dry.
Method
Clean and prep the fruit:
Rinse the fruit. If you're working with stone fruit, take out the pits. Chop the fruit.
If you're working with apples or pears, peel and core them, then chop. If working with grapes, de-stem them.
Taste the fruit before proceeding. Note how sweet the fruit is. If very sweet (ripe Concord grapes, for example) you won't need to add any sugar. If still a little tart, you may need to add some sugar in the next step.
Boil the fruit with water, then mash:
Place the fruit in a large saucepan. Add 1/2 cup of water for every 4 cups of chopped fruit.
Bring to a simmer, cover, and let cook on a low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the fruit is cooked through. Uncover and stir.
Use a potato masher to mash up the fruit in the pan.
Add sugar and spices, if desired:
Taste the fruit and determine how much sugar, lemon juice, or spices to add.
If needed, add the sugar in small amounts (1 tablespoon at a time), to your desired level of sweetness.
Add lemon juice 1 teaspoon at a time to help brighten the flavor of the fruit. Add a pinch or two of cinnamon, nutmeg, or other spices to augment the flavor, if you'd like.
Continue to simmer and stir until any added sugar is completely dissolved and the fruit purée has thickened, another 5 or 10 (or more) minutes.
Simple Tip!
If you are working with grapes, strain the juice out of the mashed grapes to make grape juice. Force what is left behind through a food mill to make the purée for the next step.
Purée the cooked fruit:
Put the mashed fruit through a food mill or chinoise. Alternatively, purée the fruit thoroughly in a blender or food processor. The purée should be very smooth.
Taste again and adjust the sugar/lemon/spices, if necessary.
Pour the purée onto a lined baking sheet:
Line a rimmed baking sheet with a sturdy, heat-proof plastic wrap (the kind that is microwave safe). Pour out the purée onto the lined baking sheet to about an 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness.
Slowly dry out in the oven:
Heat the oven to 140°F.
Place the baking sheet in the oven. Try to keep any plastic wrap from touching the sides of the oven or the oven racks. Also, try to make sure the plastic wrap hasn't folded back over on top of the purée. If this happens, the purée won't dry out.
If you have a convection setting, use it. It will speed up the drying process. Let dry in the oven for as long as it takes for the purée to form fruit leather. We usually keep it in the oven overnight, about 8 to 12 hours.
The fruit leather is ready when it is no longer sticky to the touch.
Roll up in its plastic wrap to store:
When the fruit leather is ready, you can easily peel it up from the plastic wrap.
To store it, roll it in its plastic wrap, put it in an airtight container, and store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Fruits and Other Add-ins
Nearly any fruit can be made into fruit leather. You just need to be able to make it into a smooth purée to get the best results. Here are some suggestions to get you started:
Berries - like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries
Stone fruits - e.g. apricots, plum, peaches
Tropical fruits - like mangos and papaya
Other fruits - like apples, pears, kiwi, grapes
Sweetening Fruit Leather
The nice thing about fruit leather is that you don't need to add sugar or lemon to preserve the fruit. The process of removing the moisture is what preserves the fruit. You can add sugar to balance out the flavor if needed, but you can also use other sweeteners (honey, agave, maple syrup, and the like).
We suggest adding lemon not only to brighten the flavor, but the citric acid helps preserve the color of some fruits.
How Long Does Fruit Leather Last?
You can easily store fruit leather, rolled up and placed in a large lidded jar or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 1 month. For longer storage (up to 6 months), refrigerate your fruit leather. For even longer storage (up to 1 year), you can freeze your homemade treats.
Alternatives to Plastic Wrap
If you don't want to use plastic wrap, you can line your baking tray with parchment or a silicone mat.
The quality of the plastic wrap itself has a lot to do with safely cooking with it.
Be sure not to use wax paper, since wax melts when heated.
Fruit Leather in a Dehydrator
Got a dehydrator? Lucky you! Follow the recipe up to Step 4. Then pour out onto the fruit leather tray of your dehydrator (if your machine came with one). You can also cut out parchment paper to size, and line the trays of your dehydrator.
Set your dehydrator to 140°F (60°C) and let it do its magic for at least 6 or up to 12 hours. The actual time will depend on the type of fruit you're using and the thickness of your leather. But we've found that 8 to 10 hours is the sweet range for making fruit leather in our dehydrator.
Check your fruit occasionally. The fruit leather is done when it's dried and not sticky to the touch.
