Apricot Leather

Apricot experiment #2: Fruit leather
I'm still working my way through that five-gallon bucket of apricots before the next batch is ready to be picked. I remember as a kid my mom making fruit leather, long before Fruit Roll-ups were ever available in a store. I always wondered when Fruit Roll-ups did come on the market at who stole my mom's recipe.

So for this happy childhood memory, I thought I would give it a try. I made the fruit slurry as I had with the jam. Two or three pounds of apricots washed, pitted, and put in a large pot. This time I added a bit more water, maybe 1/2 cup. I simmered the fruit in a covered pot of medium low heat for about an hour until very soft and falling apart at the touch of a spoon. I then added 1/2 cup of sugar and simmered for another 30-45 minutes. I took the pot off the heat and let it cool until it was cool enough to put in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, I blended the fruit in the blender until smooth. At this point it would make an excellent syrup for waffles, but of course, that wasn't my goal here.

Apricot Leather
INGREDIENTS


1 batch apricot slurry as described above


1) Preheat oven to the lowest setting possible, 150 degrees or less. My oven's lowest setting is 200, so I kept having to try to guess at what spot on the knob was lower but not off.

2) Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Pour the slurry into the center of the plastic wrap and spread it out evenly to all corners.


3) Place in oven for 8 to 10 hours, this will dehydrate the mixture. I assume if you have a handy-dandy dehydrating machine, you could use it too.

4) When the slurry is dried but still kind of "rubbery" all the way to the center, remove from oven and let cool.


5) Spray parchment paper with cooking spray. I would think if you have wax paper, you could use this too and possibly avoid using the cooking spray.


6) Place the cooled fruit leather in the center of the prepared parchment paper. Using kitchen scissors, cut into desired serving sizes. My sheet pan made about 10 servings.


7) Roll each section in the parchment paper and take shut. Store in a plastic bag.