BEST FRUIT LEATHER RECIPE 🍑 🫐 🍏 🍓 Use your dehydrator to transform backyard or surplus fruit into delicious portable snacks with no unidentifiable ingredients. This is a preserving project that yields top-notch results. Fill your dehydrator and make big batches of fruit leather, I think you will be amazed how much money you will save! ➡ BEST FRUIT LEATHER RECIPE WITH 20 TIPS FOR SUCCESS Find the printable recipe here ~ chocolateboxcottage.tv/videos... ➡🕰 VIDEO OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 0:52 Some thoughts about preserving season 1:12 Supplies 2:20 Ingredients 2:52 Cutting parchment paper backing 3:42 How to thaw fruit 4:07 Make puree 5:57 Taste the puree and adjust the flavor if needed 6:36 How to thicken puree with instant pectin 7:07 Pour puree in a square-ish shape 8:16 Fix mistakes with pouring puree too close to the edge 8:56 Start the dehydrator 9:26 Check the drying progress, rotate the trays 10:28 Late night dehydrator check, evaluate doneness 11:11 Cutting sheets of fruit leather into servings 11:45 Roll fruit leather pieces up like cigars and wrap with masking tape to secure 12:14 Sticky fruit leather 12:55 My sweet kitty, Jasper 13:13 Storing fruit leather 13:38 Cash value of homemade fruit leather and doing a cost comparison 14:48 Recap of recipe in pictures 🌸🏡🌸 Welcome to Chocolate Box Cottage, 🧁 the sweet spot between 🕰 old fashioned values, like gardening and cooking from scratch, and ✨ modern conveniences that make life easier. 🌼 If you’re looking to create your slice of country living with practicality and finesse, you’re in the right place! Find special recipes and simple gardening projects to make your home life more bountiful. 🌼 I’m a functional nutritional therapy practitioner, and have taught basic cooking, gardening, and homemaking skills to families for the last 20 years. Blessings, Michele
I'm sure in a short order you will have saved enough money, to more than pay for your dehydrator - over purchasing commercial - store bought fruit leathers.
I just want to tell you all that if you put your glass jars out in the sun for a week or two, any previous odors will go away. For instance, we buy large jars of jalapenos. After washing, we set it outside and let the sun do its work.
I see the value of a commercial dehydrator. Can set the temp precisely. Too bad the fan isn't circulating the air efficiently. Enjoyed the video. You have a graceful quiet voice that is easy to listen to. Thanks.
And thank you for your very nice comment, as always! I appreciate your encouragement. I have not been doing this long like Mary has, so your encouragement really gives me a lift to keep going. :) Michele
Thank you for this video - and just in time for harvest 2022!! I love the way you cut and store your fruit leather - very neat, organized and beautiful! Thanks again!!
They look like the belong in the 1980s because the design was so perfect they never had to change it. My grandma still has hers from the early 90s and it works flawlessly.
Back in the 1970's my mom cleaned a house (as her job) for a couple from Germany. I am not sure if it was their opinion from personal experience or perhaps their parents, but this couple did not believe in putting their money in the bank. They invested their money in clocks. I went to the house one time with my mother and they had quite a few stunning grandfather and grandmother clocks. It was nice when they were chiming all over the house like in 5 minute intervals. They had one smallish clock - I guess a grandmother clock as it wasn't that tall, but the whole clock was made of porcelain. It was so pretty and I'm sure quite old. I do not know how it was kept for all those decades with out any chips, cracks or breakage, but it had been. It looked new and so pretty with it's designs of painted flowers all over it. I like to see what people invest their money in, and what they like to collect, especially if it is items that are unique or unusual and ones that hold their value. To me a home is more homey with a few pets, and a few clocks that chime - and a few kids or grandkids running around in the back ground.
Thank you! I hope you picked up a few tips you can use. I know you love your freeze dryer, but there's still uses for a good old fashioned dehydrator. 🌻Michele
@@ChocolateBoxCottage As much as I love my freeze dryer, l love the space in my freezer even more..LOL I want my freezer ready for this year's bounty. It is interesting that some things are better in the dehydrator than in the freeze dryer. My hubby just watched your AA bread-making video. He is ready for the bread-making to commence. Thanks again for all of the great videos.
@@debl9317 ahhh thank you. Let the bread making commence. :) I've been thinking about the different uses for the dehydrator vs freeze dryer. Each excels in certain ways, so having both would be nice. I've done without a freeze dryer this long, it's hard to imagine how I would use one, but I bet I'd enjoy it.
Tip #21 - save those little rubber bands you get with produce in the grocery store - then use the rubber band instead of masking tape to secure the roll - it's a freebie! (the tip and the rubber bands!)
Wow. You make me wish I was single and a bit older! 😉 -just tried to do this with loquat. It worked ok on the plastic tray (1 was included with dehydrator) the rest got stuck to my parchment. Maybe it was too thin? I’ll try a little spray and pectin my next attempt. Thanks for your video!
So I just found your channel. I’ve never tried to preserve fruit leather but am wanting to and love the way that you did it. I absolutely love that you add what the cost would have been if the fruit leather was purchased at the store instead of home preserved. I have not seen that done in any of the other videos. I am an accountant so my mind is kind of built to look at cash value. Thank you, I really appreciate your input on that. I will be coming back to watch more videos. Thanks again!
Hi and thank you for your great comment! Knowing the dollar value of homemade items lends more dignity to our work at home. It has both tangible and intangible value! I was shocked when I started doing the math on not only fruit leather, but other home preserved items, seeds I save from the garden, herbal tinctures, sourdough bread and more. It really is amazing and encouraging! Have a blessed day, Michele
Well, we just rolled the 4 up in parchment, these are super good, I think were gonna have to go pick a bunch more berries! Thankyou so much for the recipe and all the details. I can see doing this method with all kinds of fruit, and indeed the apple sauce sweetened it perfectly, I love this.
I am making this right now..its going to be awesome. I did sieve out the seeds though, I'm sure its going to be awesome and what a great way to preserve these berries. We have thousands and thousands at our fence, they grow on the city side and come over our fence so weve got tons on both sides. So far, Ive made several jars of jelly and now this. It will be so good and healthy!
I am always unsure when it is done. So it can be a little tacky? It rolls so beautifully. My go to is plum with applesauce. I thought mine wasn’t quite done so I kept drying it. Then it just cracked! I’m so glad you showed on another video that it was good just throwing in a jar for snacks. That is just what I did. Great video. Thank you.
Hi Sheri, judging doneness feels uncertain the first few times. You'll get the knack of it with experience. And crispy fruit leather shards are just as delicious, so no worries. Enjoy your healthy homemade treats. A couple of thoughts for you. Be sure to use an offset frosting spatula to spread the fruit puree in a thin even layer. It makes all the difference - SO much better than a spoon! Evaluate the fruit leather sheets individually; they won't all finish at the same time. They should feel dry and just a bit tacky to the touch as soon as you check them in a warm dehydrator. No squishy patches. Roll them up while warm and pliable. Best wishes on your next batch! Love, Michele
Thanks for all the tid bits of information. I've made fruit leather before many years ago, but you make it sound so much easier than when I last made it! I'm going to make mine with peach, although I don't have many to work with. I also appreciated knowing the estimated worth of the fruit leather! This idea may come in handy IF we have to barter! Thanks, Michele! Annie C
Hi Lyn, I wouldn't necessarily recommend that if you want to store your fruit leather in your pantry or cupboard because butter will go rancid. Michele
Hi Anuradha, I'm glad you found the video helpful. Here is a link to the dehydrator I have. Mine is over 20 years old and works well! ~Michele www.gopjn.com/t/8-12416-273845-206096?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpleasanthillgrain.com%2Fexcalibur-dehydrator-3900b-9-tray-food
No issues with the seeds being in your blend? I would imagine if someone has a less powerful blender they might produce a grainy product. Anyone have any experience either way?
It works really well - just a couple small changes. Here is a link to the recipe that includes directions for your round dehydrator: chocolateboxcottage.tv/videos/best-fruit-leather-recipe/ Blessings, Michele 🌸
They sell silicone mats for some round models on Amazon. I pour my fruit leather into the silicone tray on the perfectly even counter then pull the edge down over the counter a bit to slide the liquid to the edge, rotatingperiodically. I get perfectly even and spread results.
Veggies are drier and lower in pectin, so they make a crumbly leather in some cases. Adding some applesauce, such as combining pumpkin puree and applesauce, can work well.
Another great video. Thank you for sharing. right now, I have a lot of apples to do something with. Unfortunately, there is no other fruit. Do you think it will work with just apples?
Thank you, Susan! Oh yes, apple fruit leather is quite yummy. You will want to taste the pureed apples and decide if it needs a little lemon juice to perk up the flavor. As the fruit dries, it generally tastes sweeter and apples are sweet so you won't likely need to add honey or anything like that. You can even leave the peels on some of the apples for pectin. I wouldn't leave it on all of them, but a few out of a batch is fine.
@ChocolateBoxCottage Thank you, Michele. I cored, peeled, and sliced 26 lbs of apples for the freezer. That isn't counting the apples for the dehydrator 8 trays.
About half applesauce and half whatever fruit you want to use is a good ratio. It doesn't need to be precise, but fruit that is more watery needs more applesauce than fruit that is thicker. ~Michele
Hi, I don't know about Bright Kitchen and didn't find it when I Googled the name so I'm not sure what you're referring to but I can try to help you anyway. What fruit did you puree for leather? How thick did you spread it on the trays?
Hello @@ChocolateBoxCottage I pureed one whole papaya added some lemon juice, poured on the "Bright Kitchen" green mat. After 10 hours It shrank a lot. The texture and taste was good (next day). My other experiment was pureed papaya, poured on parchment paper which was on the circle Nesco tray. It did not shrink but dehydrated to thin sheet of papaya.
I did this with bleached parchment paper. Couldn't get the paper off the fruit leather so I bought unbleached parchment paper, same thing! How do you get the paper off the back??
Hi Jamie, leave the fruit leather on the parchment paper. Cut in the sheet in serving size pieces and roll it up to store while still on the paper. It peels right off when you go to eat it.
I used to fight with the curly parchment paper too, until I figured out that if you first scrunch it up into a ball and then flatten it out again, it behaves perfectly well and doesn't curl up any more.
Yes, but I wouldn't use just berries on their own because they're so juicy. Try a mix of something tart + something sweet. You can use a small percentage, say 10% of slightly underripe fruit to increase the amount of pectin and make it reach that nice fruit smoothie texture of puree you're aiming for. Or try the instant pectin found in the canning aisle: 1/2 -1 tsp per 2 cups puree. Here's a link to the printable recipe: chocolateboxcottage.tv/videos/best-fruit-leather-recipe/ PS. Nice to see you over here! Thanks for watching. Blessings, Michele
It depends what fruit you are using and the ripeness. If you want to make blackberry fruit leather without applesauce, for example, it will turn out crispy instead of flexible.
