How to Make Fruit Leather

Perfect when there’s a glut of autumn fruits—use whatever combination of fruit that takes your fancy….

1) Put your fruit into a saucepan and soften it on a medium heat (no need to boil). You may need to add a couple of tablespoons of water to help it along. Don't worry about removing any stones or peel at this stage.

2) After about ten minutes, remove from the heat and pour the fruit into a sieve over a large bowl. (I prefer my fruit leather without tiny pips/peel etc. in it, but if you're not bothered you could skip this stage and just mash  the fruit.)

3) Use a ladle to push the fruit through the sieve. This might take ten minutes to squeeze as much through as possible. Taste it. Add some honey if it needs sweetening.

4) Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Pour the fruit pulp into the tray. Spread it out so that it is no more than the thickness of a pound coin.

5) Now you have a choice. To do it the traditional way, you can either cover it with a muslin and put it outside on a very sunny day, or if you're impatient like me, or it's raining, put it in the oven. The lowest setting on my oven is 50C, so that's what it goes in on. I wedge the oven door open slightly with an oven glove, so that the pulp dehydrates more easily. If you have a dehydrator, it’s  easier still.

6) Depending on the thickness of the pulp it might take around 5 hours to dehydrate. It goes slightly wrinkling and shiny when it's ready. Leave it to cool for a while. Once it's cool you should be able to peel it off the paper fairly easily. If it doesn't want to come off, it might need a bit longer. Cut it into strips (still on the paper) with a pair of scissors. Roll it up. It should keep in the fridge for quite a while or you can freeze it if you want to.

I think it tastes just like the Rowntree's Fruit Gums that I remember from my childhood. It also has the same tooth-sticking qualities….