Apricot leather is one of my daughter’s favorite treats, so whenever I’m in a Middle Eastern store, I always pick up a package for her.
search of an Apricot Fruit Leather recipe for our mutual cousin Wayne, I thought it ‘HYE’ time to make some from scratch.
There are very few ingredients, and it’s really easy to do – it just takes a bit of time.
For the record, two sources tell me that the official name for the fruit leather is ‘pestil’ or ‘basteil’ (spellings can vary greatly within Armenian circles!) – general meaning – ‘fruit pulp’.
it.
dried apricots. Hope you’ll like it.
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| Homemade Apricot Leather |
Leather
40 rolled pieces.
apricots
sugar
sugar
enough water to cover. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, about
30 minutes or until soft. Drain and cool slightly.
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| Cooked apricots |
in a blender or a food processor fitted with a metal “S” blade; add granulated sugar.
Cover and process until smooth. Add lemon juice and process until blended.
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| Processed apricots. |
oven temps. vary).
4. Line two rimmed baking pans with silicone baking mats or
parchment paper. Spoon half of the apricot mixture onto each baking mat or
parchment-lined pan. Thinly and evenly spread apricot mixture into a 12 x 8-in. rectangle;
repeat with remaining fruit.
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| Apricot mixture spread thinly and evenly on parchment paper. |
5. Bake 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until almost dry to the
touch. Leaving the fruit leather on the mats or parchment paper, cool completely
on a wire rack.
6. Carefully
remove the leather from the silicone mat – or – cautiously tear away the
parchment paper. Transfer each apricot leather rectangle to a cutting board, which
has been lightly sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar. Lightly dust the top of the leather with confectioner’s
sugar, too.
7. Cut into ½ x 8-in. strips using a pastry wheel, pizza wheel or
knife. If the fruit leather sticks to the cutting tool, air dry for about 15
more minutes then slice and roll.
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| Slicing and rolling |
airtight container in a cool dry place. If stored properly, fruit leather
should keep for about 1 month.
Any chance this works with mango?
Well Dave, are you talking about using some of the marvelous fresh mangoes from your trees? They'll have a higher moisture content than the dried apricots I used, so another recipe would be in order. We'll discuss it over dinner.
Thanks, cousin!
It was my pleasure, Wayne!
Funny timing. I opened my pantry the other day and saw a container of dried apricots and thought about making fruit leather with them. Every recipe I have seen calls for fresh fruit, but it seemed to make sense using the dried – seems like the process would be faster. Now I'll definitely have to try it! I was thinking for mixing in (or sprinkling on) some toasted almonds.
It's a pretty simple recipe, Chris. The addition of nuts would be a nice touch!
Pestil 🙂 It is very delicious and healthy. 😉