I got a message inviting me to relieve the bramble bushes of their fruit on a friend's land, so I dutifully obliged. As I still had a few pears left I decided to make some fruit leather. This isn't really a well-known treat in Scotland but my uncle used to send us dried fruit leathers from South Africa so they always remind me of my childhood. I guess they are similar to Fruit Roll ups or Humzingers, but without the preservatives.
I cooked the brambles and pears separately because I don't have a blender with filter to remove skin, seeds and other bits and pieces which would be detrimental to making a smooth leather. If you do have a blender with this facility then you don't even need to peel the pears - just chop them up and cook everything together then blend it all through the filter and continue with the recipe at the drying stage.
Wild Pear Part 5: Wild Pear and Bramble Leather
Ingredients:
- 1kg brambles, rinsed
- 1 litre of water
- 1kg pears, peeled and chopped
- Sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 star anise
Method:
- Cook brambles and star anise in 500ml of water until very soft
- Cook pears and cinnamon in 500ml of water until very soft
- Blend pears in food processor/blender
- Sieve brambles to remove star anise and seeds
- Add sugar to taste but remember that the leather will sweeten as it dries so don't over-sweeten it!
- Boil mixture until it becomes a thick sauce
- Line dehydrator trays with baking paper and pour mixture on top - if you don't have a dehydrator then line a baking tray, pour the mixture into this and bake at your oven's lowest setting for 8+ hours - checking frequently
- Dry until no longer sticky but still pliable (about 8 hours at 80C)
- Roll leather up and cut into bite-sized pieces
Wild Pear and Bramble Leather |
And that's me finally add the end of my 5kg of pears and this ingredient's blog. Until next time xx