Fruit Leathers

Fruit leathers are the BEST!!
My friend asked me how I make them, so I thought I'd share with you too.

Most kinds of fruit can be made into fruit leathers (or roll ups as the kids call them). You can use just one kind of fruit blended up and dried, or a mixture of seasonal fruit blended together. I tend to do a big blend as it's a practical way of using up ripe fruit and incorporating other produce too.

You really can just about put anything in them, like:
paw paw, stone fruits, pineapple, pears, mangoes, oranges, bananas, strawbs, chokos, persimmons, rhubarb.......the list is endless really!
In the past I've experimented with adding herbs like lemon balm, ginger, finely sliced kaffir lime leaves, cinnamon, licorice root and citrus rind.

So the first step is to blend all the fruit/leaves etc to a pulp (like above)
Then I place down some baking paper onto the shelves of the dehydrator and spread it out evenly. My kids like them not too thick, but you can experiment for yourself. Just remember the thicker it is the longer it will take to dry/dehydrate.

If you don't have a dehydrator, you can use your oven instead. (Remember though an oven does not dry food but slow cooks it. Food will eventually become dry in an oven if left in long enough, but be careful it doesn't become brittle or charred.)
Simply do the same as above and set your oven to a very low temp,  then place your oven tray at the top of the oven with the door left ajar. This method does take longer, so I suggest doing it in the morning.

The batch above consisted of figs, mango, pear and fresh aloe gel  (peel the aloe leaf and wash off the yellowy sap, as this can be very bitter, just leaving you with the filleted inside gel)

Once your happy with how dry they are you simply cut into strips and place in an air tight container. The dyer the better for longevity, but they don't tend to last long enough in this house for that to be a problem!! If you wanted them to appear like 'roll ups' you just need to roll them whist slightly warm and they will stay like this in their container.

They are perfect for lunch boxes, picnics, bush walks or any place you like to go really.
ENJOY!

How do you use up your ripe fruits? Do you have a favourite flavour combination?