Summer means stone fruits and stone fruits have no chill. If you’ve found yourself in a fruit glut situation then do not panic. Make fruit leather and carry on.
Ingredients
1kg plums (or greengages)
2-3 Tbsp honey
Rind and juice of 1 orange (tip: use a potato peeler to peel long sections of rind so that they can be removed more easily)
1 Tbsp pomegranate molasses (or balsamic vinegar) — optional
7 cloves, whole (tip: gently drive the cloves through the orange peel so that they are easier to remove)
2 star anise pods
1 tsp vanilla essence
Method
Preheat the oven to 180⁰c.
Add all ingredients to a baking lined or non- stick baking dish and roast for 30 minutes, or until plums have softened and caramelised.
Remove whole spices and orange peel.
Blend using a stab mixer.
Spread mixture across 2 fruit leather sheets and dry in a dehydrator at 70⁰c for approximately 10 hours.
Tip: if leather is still tacky and can’t pull easily way from baking sheets then continue to dehydrate in 2 hour allotments. If leather becomes brittle in the dehydrator then leave it on the tray for 1-2 days at room temperature and it should soften.
Roll and cut into strips.
Keeps for 6 months in air tight storage.
Sapphire and Sommelier 