Backpacking  Fruit Leather

makes 4- 6X8 inch rolls

Making your own fruit leather saves money and has the added advantage of creating a product to suit your own taste buds.  You can use natural sweeteners or artificial (if you must), add spices, flavorings and/or nuts and seeds.  Fresh, frozen or canned fruit may be used.

Fresh Fruit Leather

• ripe or slightly overripe fruit

1. wash fruit or berries
2. peel, remove seeds and stem
3. cut into into cubes
4. 4 cups fruit
5. 4 tsp lemon juice
6. add sweetener (optional) to your taste: corn syrup, honey,sugar or artificial sweetener( aspartame is not recommended).  Honey and corn syrup store longer than sugar.  1/2 to 1 cup of the sweetener seems about right.  Artificial sweeteners: see package directions for equivalent.
7. *optional ingredients would be added now
8. Puree until smooth

Frozen or Canned Variation

1. drain fruit
2. follow steps 3-8

Note: Applesauce can be added if not enough fruit is available

Oven Drying

1. line  pans with plastic wrap, smoothing out wrinkles
2. spread puree about 1/8 inch thick
3. place in 140° F. oven
4. test for doneness by touching center, no indentation should be evident
5. depending on size 12-18 hours

Dehydrator

1. line trays with plastic wrap as above, or if available use specially designed plastic sheets
2. spread puree 1/8 inch thick
3. place in dehydrator
4. test for doneness as above
5. depending on size and dehydrator 5-8 hours

My personal preference is the Excalibur, but here is a link featuring many brands of dehydrators

Sun Drying

1. line trays, as above
2. spread puree, as above
3. place outside in sun
4. cover with screening (no see um type)  or cheesecloth. Use something so it is elevated above surface of leather
5. Bring in  at night
6. takes 1-2 days

Roll up, wrap tightly in plastic wrap.  Will keep up to 1 month at room temperature, 1 year in freezer.

Optional Ingredients

• allspice, ginger, mace, nutmeg, cardamon, clove, mint  Generally 1/8- 1/2 tsp is sufficient

• lemon, lime, or orange peel: lemon, orange vanilla or almond extract.  Again 1/8-1/4 tsp
• coconut, dates, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, chopped nuts (any you desire)

Reminder: You cannot make a mistake: at worse you may find your creation is not suitable for backpacking or does not live up to your  flavor expectations.  Just throw it into a pie or cake you are making.  See, no fuss, no muss, no failure.  Experiment:  Every time you do something you only get better at it.  Were you an expert backpacker first try?

Tags: backpacking food, backpacking recipe, backpacking recipes, fruit leather, vegetarian backpacking recipes