Strawberry Fruit Leather Food

STRAWBERRY FRUIT LEATHER

Steps:

• Combine pureed berries and applesauce with lemon juice and sugar.
• Line a 10x15 in jelly roll pan with plastic wrap. Pour fruit into pan and spread evenly.
• Bake about 5 hours at 200F or until leather pulls away from wrap. Flip leather onto counter, peel away plastic and remove any mixture that has not "set." Cut into slices and wrap each in plastic.

STRAWBERRY FRUIT LEATHER

Steps:

• Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 175 degrees F. Line a 17-by-12-inch baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
• Put the strawberries, honey and lemon juice in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the puree into a saucepan, bring it to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes.
• Pour the puree onto the prepared baking sheet and spread it out almost to the edges, ensuring it's thin and even. Pay particular attention to ensure the middle is thin. Bake until the puree is set, about 5 hours. Let cool completely.
• Lay a sheet of parchment on top of the fruit leather. Invert the leather and gently peel off the mat. Cut the leather into 7 strips. Gently roll up each strip starting from the short end, then tie with twine. Store in an airtight container or package in cellophane bags.

STRAWBERRY FRUIT LEATHER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 170 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat sheet, set aside.
• Place strawberries and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 3-4 minutes until berries being to soften. Puree berries using an immersion blender or food processor. Return puree to saucepan, stir in sugar and honey. Cook for an additional 10 minutes or until thick and syrupy. Pour the hot fruit mixture on to prepared pan and spread out into an even layer. Place in the oven to dry for 3 hours. Turn off the oven and allow to sit overnight to dry completely. Cut into 1-inch strips with a pizza cutter and peel away from paper or Silpat sheet. Roll up strips and store in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks.

FRUIT LEATHER

Steps:

• Tip the strawberries and apple into a saucepan. Put the pan over a low heat, you don't need to add any water. If you've used frozen fruit, juice will run out as they thaw. Heat gently, keeping an eye on the pan until the strawberries start to break down, you can put a lid on the pan if you like, this keeps the steam in and helps the fruit break down. Cook until the strawberries have softened and given up their juice and the apple is soft.
• Take the pan off the heat. Purée the contents with a stick blender or in a food processor. Squeeze the purée through a sieve into a clean pan, pushing as much pulp through as possible.
• Put the pan back on a low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the purée thickens enough to leave a clear patch on the base of the pan when you pull a spoon through it. The more moisture you drive off now, the shorter your drying time will be.
• Heat the oven to as low as it will go. Pour the purée onto a lined baking sheet (we use a reusable silicone tray liner) and spread it out to a thin layer, the purée should be thick enough to look opaque.
• Put the tray in the oven and dry until the surface is no longer tacky when you touch it, but the leather is still flexible - don't overcook it or it will turn brittle. This will take several hours depending on the oven temperature. If it is very hot and sunny you can air-dry the leather, or use a dehydrator.
• Leave the leather to cool to warm and then peel it carefully off the tray. Trim off the raggedy edges. Roll the leather up, then cut the roll into sections, using scissors is easiest. Each of these will unroll to make a strip. Keep the strips individually wrapped and airtight. The offcuts can be chopped up and used in baking, or snacked on.

STRAWBERRY LEATHER

Steps:

• Purée strawberries with sugar in a blender until smooth, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large heavy saucepan.
• Bring purée to a boil, then simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally (more frequently toward end), until thick enough to mound slightly and reduced to 1 to 11/4 cups, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 200°F with rack in middle. Line a large baking sheet with nonstick liner.
• Pour hot purée onto liner and spread thinly (as evenly as possible) into a 15- by 10-inch rectangle using spatula. Dry purée in oven until it feels drier (it shouldn't stick to your fingers) but is still slightly tacky, 2 to 3 hours.
• Cool on liner on a rack until completely dry, at least 3 hours and up to 24.
• Place a sheet of parchment paper over leather, then peel leather off liner and roll up in parchment.