When was the last time you had fruit leather? I hadn't eaten it in years and had never made my own.
But when my parents gave me a huge bag of marionberries from their own backyard, I started to look around for a creative way to use them. Fruit leather sounded perfect.
You may remember me telling you about Gary, my stepdad. He's the one tending these lovely berries.
Making fruit leather is surprisingly easy. Some recipes call for cooking the fruit first; I didn't. I just zizzed them with a little sugar and a few fresh sage leaves in a food processor, spread them on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and baked them forever. Well not forever, but a really long time.
I don't mind the crunch of the seeds in marionberries. If you'd rather have a smooth fruit leather, you can use a sieve or food mill to remove the seeds, as described here and here.
Marionberry Sage Fruit Leather
Ingredients
- 3 cups Marionberries fresh or thawed
- 3 leaves fresh sage
- 2 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 150ºF or the lowest temperature your oven will go.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine berries, sage leaves and sugar in a food processor or powerful blender and process until smooth.
- Pour berry mixture onto prepared baking sheet and spread ⅛-inch thick, as evenly as possible.
- Bake for 6-8 hours, until fruit leather is set (center is no longer tacky).
- Leaving the parchment intact, use kitchen scissors to cut leather into strips if you want to roll them up or into squares or rectangles if you prefer.
I've never made fruit leather before either, but yours are so pretty that I'm inspired to try! I love the idea of using a wild/unusual berry for them. Strawberry fruit leather was my favourite when I was a kid, but I think I might like a more "grown-up" flavour now.
Thank you, Myriam. And I know what you mean - I always had simple flavors like strawberry which I still like, but it is fun to experiment with other berries.
I keep seeing fruit leather mentioned here and there, but never really took the time to read a recipe until now. And sounds so easy! I'm just not sure what to expect in terms of texture or taste as I've never made it before. Is it chewy, does it preserve the same flavor as the fruit?
Hi there, Oana. It really is easy and has a chewy texture that tastes like the fruit, but deeper. If you leave the seeds in it's also crunchy, which I like. But many people strain the seeds for fruit leather, just personal preference. If you make it, I'd love to hear what you think.
What a great idea. Love the combination of the berries with the sage. BTW, have I mentioned how much I love your new site?!
Thanks, Mary!
I just made a bunch of plum fruit leather. We get the plums from a neighbors tree. I simply put them in the food processor and puree them up, then spread it on parchment covered trays from my dehydrator. It takes between 12-18 hours in the dehydrator. I have done the same with apricots. Berries sound wonderful. I am jealous of Gary's berry patch. It looks beautiful!
Thanks, Beth. Plum is a great option for fruit leather - I'll have to try that.
My mom used to make fruit leather all the time when we were little -- lots of apricot especially. Marionberry and sage sounds like a great combination!
I've never had apricot - that sounds so good!