Red Raspberry with Cinnamon Fruit Leather

Making Fruit Leather has become a bi-weekly task for me. I am lucky to be a food preservervationist and have plenty of fresh and frozen fruit on hand. This week I made a Red Raspberry Fruit leather and took it up a notch by adding cinnamon. This was a good decision. 

My first batch was wonderful it was a Strawberry Fruit Leather.  That post gives you the "How To" of fruit leather. You can do this in the oven set at the lowest temperature 170 degrees or in your dehydrator. I have done both and this post will give you the Yeah ! and Nah! of that first try.

For this recipe you will use the following 

Ingredients

• 4 cups of fresh raspberries or One 12 ounce package of frozen raspberries 
• 1/3 of a cup of Turbinado sugar
• 1  tablespoon of cinnamon (this depends on how much you want to taste it)
• A squeeze of lemon 

I am using both methods of drying. The first thing I do is add the sugar, cinnamon and the dash of lemon. I stir this and let it sit for at least one hour stirring occasionally. I think the raspberries soak up more of the flavor of the additives when this is done. 

Now it time to turn on your oven and set it to 170 degrees if using an oven. Your dehydrator can be used depending on the type you will need special inserts for leather. Your oven you just need a cookie sheet with some parchment or a silicone pad. The nice thing I find is with the parchment paper you can cut and roll it right on that paper. Sweet ! 

Let us talk dehydrator. I watched endless YouTube videos on Fruit Leather and many people use the trays that insert into their dehydrator so I purchased some and used them. There was a note on one video that they use a spray of oil to keep the fruit leather from sticking. Well I said "Oh no I am to natural for that". Wrong decision it took my husband and a paint spatula to get it off the trays. Yet I have seen some people take it right off. Just a word of caution. I will use a small spray of canola oil next time I can always wipe the back of the fruit leather off after it has dried. 

Enough of that you get it. Next pour your mixture into your blender or food processor. Whip it until it is super thin and the fruit is blended. Take your blended fruit and pour it onto the cookie sheet/trays making it approximately 1/8" thin. Give or take. Just go with the flow. 

Spread the fruit mixture out either with a spatula or the back of a spoon. I just use a spoon then drop the tray on the counter slightly to rid it of bubbles ad even it out. Now it is time to put it into the oven/dehydrator. I can tell you the time is so variable. Oven takes 5 hours or so. The dehydrator depends on which kind you have. The thing you will look for is the fruit leather should no longer be wet but a tad bit tacky.

 Each hour in the oven rotate your Fruit Leather. 

Cool the pans on wire racks to room temperature. I leave mine overnight or for the day. 

You can wrap them up the next day they will keep for a week or so. I just keep them on the parchment paper they dried on cut that and rolI.

Wrap and then put them in a airtight container.