Blackberry And Apple Leather Recipes

BLACKBERRY APPLE FRUIT LEATHER

Steps:

• Over a large bowl or pan, add both ingredients to a food mill. Run the applesauce and berries through the food mill, until only the blackberry seeds remain.
• If you don't mind seeds in your fruit leather, simply add both ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat on medium for about 3 minutes until blackberries are well blended into the sauce.
• Spread the mixed puree on the fruit leather trays for your dehydrator. (This recipe nicely fills three trays on my Nesco FD-61). For a good result, it's important to spread the puree evenly, with no thin or thick spots. Spreading it perfectly flat and even is the trick to perfect fruit leather!
• Dehydrate at 135 degrees for about 6-7 hours. Fruit leather will be done when it's fairly dry to the touch and feels like soft leather. It will be a bit glossy, and shouldn't leave any indent when you touch it.
• Allow to cool, then peel off dehydrator trays. You can easily tear it by hand, or for tidier strips, use scissors or kitchen shears to cut to the desired size.
• For OVEN drying, spread puree evenly onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Dry at 140 or the lowest temperature your oven allows. Timing will be less consistent than in a dehydrator, so start checking on it after a few hours, then keep checking every half hour til it's done. You'll be looking for the same signs of "done-ness" as with the dehydrator method.
• Store in air-tight container at room temperature for up to 1 month, or store tightly-sealed in the freezer for longer storage.

BERRY STUDDED APPLE FRUIT LEATHER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 170 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment, making sure there is an overhang. Spray the parchment with cooking spray.
• Place the apples, juice, cinnamon and a pinch of salt into a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples have softened, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside. Pulse the apple mixture in a food processor until smooth and free of any large pieces. Using a ladle, pass the apple puree through a fine-mesh strainer. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, place the blueberries, sugar, lemon zest and 1/4 cup water into a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries soften and burst, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and crush the berries into a coarse puree using a potato masher. Set aside.
• Using an offset spatula, spread the apple puree evenly over the prepared baking sheet. Tap the baking sheet once or twice on the countertop to settle any air bubbles. Using a small spoon, spread the blueberry mixture in thin diagonal lines across the apple puree. Tap the baking sheet again to remove any remaining air bubbles.
• Bake, until the surface is smooth and no longer sticky, 3 to 4 hours, then let cool 20 minutes. Remove the parchment from the baking sheet and flip over to peel the paper away from the fruit leather. Slice the fruit leather into 16 long strips, 1-inch wide. Roll each strip in wax paper and store in an airtight container.

APPLE BLACKBERRY PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat; stir in flour to make a smooth paste. Whisk water, white sugar, brown sugar, and lemon juice into butter mixture. Bring to a simmer and whisk constantly until mixture is thick, about 3 minutes. Stir 6 blackberry halves into sauce, reduce heat to low, and continue cooking while you complete remaining steps. Stir sauce occasionally.
• Line a 9-inch pie dish with a crust. Place apples and remaining blackberries into crust. Cut remaining crust into strips about 1 inch wide. Weave pie crust strips into a lattice crust on top of the pie; pinch ends of strips to edge of bottom crust to seal. Spoon hot blackberry sauce over pie, letting it soak through the openings in the top crust. Place pie onto a baking sheet to catch drips.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and continue baking until crust is golden brown and sauce is bubbling, 35 to 45 more minutes.

FRUIT LEATHER

Steps:

• Tip the strawberries and apple into a saucepan. Put the pan over a low heat, you don't need to add any water. If you've used frozen fruit, juice will run out as they thaw. Heat gently, keeping an eye on the pan until the strawberries start to break down, you can put a lid on the pan if you like, this keeps the steam in and helps the fruit break down. Cook until the strawberries have softened and given up their juice and the apple is soft.
• Take the pan off the heat. Purée the contents with a stick blender or in a food processor. Squeeze the purée through a sieve into a clean pan, pushing as much pulp through as possible.
• Put the pan back on a low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the purée thickens enough to leave a clear patch on the base of the pan when you pull a spoon through it. The more moisture you drive off now, the shorter your drying time will be.
• Heat the oven to as low as it will go. Pour the purée onto a lined baking sheet (we use a reusable silicone tray liner) and spread it out to a thin layer, the purée should be thick enough to look opaque.
• Put the tray in the oven and dry until the surface is no longer tacky when you touch it, but the leather is still flexible - don't overcook it or it will turn brittle. This will take several hours depending on the oven temperature. If it is very hot and sunny you can air-dry the leather, or use a dehydrator.
• Leave the leather to cool to warm and then peel it carefully off the tray. Trim off the raggedy edges. Roll the leather up, then cut the roll into sections, using scissors is easiest. Each of these will unroll to make a strip. Keep the strips individually wrapped and airtight. The offcuts can be chopped up and used in baking, or snacked on.

APPLE-BLACKBERRY CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan, and dust with granulated sugar. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together melted butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, the milk, and eggs in another bowl. Whisk into flour mixture.
• Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Arrange apple wedges over batter, and sprinkle with blackberries. Gently press fruit into batter. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar and the cinnamon, and sprinkle over fruit. Dot with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Bake until top is dark gold, apples are tender, and a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Let cool. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

BLACKBERRY AND APPLE LOAF

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/fan160C/gas4. Butter and line the bottom of a medium loaf tin (approx 1.7 litre capacity.) Put the flour, butter and sugar in a large bowl and rub together with your fingers so they look like fine buttery crumbs.
• Measure out 5 level tablspoons for the topping and tip into a small bowl adding in the cinnamon and demerara sugar. Put this to one side.
• Coarsely grate the apple (skin too) down to the cores. Beat the eggs and mix in the orange zest and grated apple. Stir the baking powder into the rubbin-in mixture in the large bowl. Quickly and lightly stir in the egg mixture until it drops lightly from the spoon. Don't over-mix.
• Finally, gently fold in just under three-quartes of the blackberries with a metal spoon, being careful not to break them up too much. Spoon the cake mixture into the tin and level off. Scatter the rest of the blackberries over the top. Now sprinkle the topping over and bake for about 1 1.2 hours, checking after about 50 minutes. If too brown, cover with foil. Test with a skewer - push it into the cake mixture, not a blackberry.
• Leave the cake in the tin for at least 30 minutes before turning out. Then leave to cool on a wire rack.

FRUIT LEATHER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 150 degrees F (65 degrees C). Cover a baking sheet with a layer of plastic wrap or parchment paper.
• In the container of a blender, combine the sugar, lemon juice, apple and pear. Cover and puree until smooth. Spread evenly on the prepared pan. Place the pan on the top rack of the oven.
• Bake for 5 to 6 hours, leaving the door to the oven partway open. Fruit is dry when the surface is no longer tacky and you can tear it like leather. Roll up on the plastic wrap and store in an airtight jar.

BLACKBERRY AND APPLE LEATHER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to a very low setting - I use 140°F (approximately). Line two baking sheets, measuring about 10 by 12 inches, with parchment paper.
• Put the blackberries, apples, and lemon juice into a pan. Cook gently until soft and pulpy, about 20 minutes. Press the mixture through a sieve or food mill into a bowl; you should have about 1 1/2 pounds of fruit purée. Add the honey and mix well.
• Divide the purée between the two baking sheets. Spread it out lightly with the back of a spoon until the purée covers each sheet in a thin, even layer.
• Put the baking sheets in the oven for 12 to 18 hours, until the fruit purée is completely dry and easily peels off the parchment. Roll up the leather in parchment or waxed paper and store in an airtight container. Use within 5 months.
• VARIATION
• There is no end to the possible variations here-you can turn any fruit into a leather. All you need to do is create a smooth, thick purée with your chosen fruit before drying it out. Try plums, spicing the purée with a little cinnamon; or peaches, infusing them with a few honeysuckle blossoms as they cook. For a savory leather, use half apples and half tomatoes seasoned with 2 teaspoons of souper mix (p. 199) or celery salt.