Make your own fruit leather — harnessing old tech and new

It is interesting — and time-consuming — to read an ingredient list, even on a “natural” food product. Here is what’s in a Fruit Roll-Up: Corn syrup, dried corn syrup, sugar, pear puree concentrate, palm oil, citric acid, sodium citrate, fruit pectin, malic acid, mono- and diglycerides, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), natural flavors and artificial colorings. 

Here is the ingredient list for my homemade fruit leather:

Fruit.

My mother taught me how to make fruit leather, and I have gone above and beyond what she did. She would be pleased. I make fruit leather out of plums, figs, peaches, nectarines, apples, berries, tomatoes and some things I will think of after you read this. Combinations are often better than “mono” fruit leathers. If you have too much fruit, fruit leather is a great way to use the extra so you can enjoy your summer bounty in the middle of the winter.

The basic recipe is simple, and technology has made the process easier and provides a better product, too. Win win. Pick the fruit. Take out the pits (for peaches, I also peel off the skins). Blend the fruit, put it into a pot and bring it to a boil — or almost boil. Then pour the puree onto non-stick cookie sheets and set it out in the sun.

What? Using the sun to dry things? That is how fruit, salmon, clothes and hair were dried for, give or take, millions of years before plastic electric fruit dryers became popular. The ultraviolet rays that are part of sunshine and give you a sunburn also kill bacteria and mold. Sun drying is more sanitary than machine drying.

I find very few flies on the leather — none, really — but if you want to put a screen over your leather, that is fine. And screens do keep leaves and other plant material off the leather.

The new technology that I have adopted is the silicone baking sheet. The silicone is non-stick and eliminates the need to grease cookie sheets with something that can go rancid. (You would love the silicone sheets, mom.)

Most fruits (although figs are an exception) dry better if they’re brought to a boil before being poured onto sheets. I often put the fruit leather on the roof, or onto the dashboard of the car. Any hot place is good. If the fruit leather is not dry in one day (it should be if you start in the morning), either put it in a commercial fruit dryer or into the oven on low overnight.

Once the leather is dry, I roll it up on waxed paper and store it in a plastic bag. Peach leather stores better in the freezer. Apple leather is often brittle. But as you start making your own fruit leather, you will learn what works for you — and your kids, grandkids and neighbors.

I suppose if you miss the high fructose corn syrup, malic acid, mono and diglycerides, you could add them to your fruit before you dry it. But it won’t be as good, or as good for you.