This grape leather was made using seedless red grapes as soon as they came into season. Spices have been added for flavouring and cornflour used to thicken the fruit leather. I did not add any sugar to this recipe which made it perfect for me.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Grape Leather ♥
Let’s talk about fruit leather
Fruit leather gets its name because the end product is shiny and has the texture of leather. Pureéd fruit, or fruit juice, is poured onto a flat surface and dehydrated, before being pulled off and rolled. Or in the case of my grape leather, stuffed and then rolled. These homemade fruit rolls are very chewy, and really tasty. The best part of making your own is that you can use any fruit you want to. And of course, it is a money saving exercise as compared to buying them from the shops. Also, commercial fruit leathers may contain more sugar than you would use at home. In fact, you can omit the sugar completely for people like me who cannot tolerate sucrose. This is a healthy snack for children and adults alike.
Armenian pestil
If you have travelled to Turkey you may have seen pestil for sale. This is the same as fruit leather and is a popular dessert both in Turkey and Armenia. In South Africa, the most common flavour would be guava, but we also get pear, mixed berry and apricot here. In Turkey you will come across plum, apple, peach and melon. You can use any fruit juice so try mulberries, cherries or any other favourite. The grape leather I have made is influenced by the region of Anatolia. Originally, pestil or fruit leather was made to preserve summer fruits. Now, one could consider it a healthy sweet treat, available all year round. When rolled around nuts it is the perfect snack for lunch boxes.
Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Grape Leather ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Grape Leather
Ingredients
- 500 g seedless red grapes, stalks removed
- 3 whole cloves
- 1 star anise
- 1 quill cinnamon
- 10 g cornflour
For the filling (optional)
- 100 g walnuts
- 70 g dried figs
- ½ lime, zest and juice
Method
- Place the grapes into a large saucepan and gently crush using a potato masher
- Add the cloves, star anise and cinnamon then bring to the boil
- Lower the temperature and leave to simmer for 15 minutes, crushing the grapes often
- Remove from the heat, crush once more then leave to cool
- Place muslin into a sieve and place the sieve over a clean saucepan and pour the grapes into the sieve
- Gather the edges of the muslin cloth together and twist so you can release as much of the juice as possible
- Place the saucepan back onto the heat on a medium temperature and bring to the boil
- Place the cornflour into a jug and when the grape juice is boiling, add it to the jug and whisk to combine
- Pour the juice back into the saucepan and place onto the heat for a further 5 minutes, whisking the entire time
- When the juice has thickened strain directly into a small baking tray that has been lined with baking paper
- Preheat the oven to 100° Celsius
- Tap the baking tray a few times to get rid of any air bubbles and level with a palette knife
- Place into the oven and leave to dehydrate for 5 hours
- Check every hour to make sure that the edges are not cracking. If they are, you can brush a little bit of water along the edges
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly
- When it is cool enough to handle, remove from the tray and place onto a board to cool completely
- At this stage, if you don't want to stuff it, roll it along the shorter length into a tight roll
For the filling (optional)
- Place the nuts, figs, lime zest and juice into a blender and blitz until coarse
- Place the filling along the long edge of the grape leather, leaving a small gap along the bottom edge
- Fold this edge over the filling, then roll up, as tightly as possible
- Cut into slices 2.5cm thick and if you don't eat them all straight away, keep in an airtight container with some baking paper on the bottom to prevent them from sticking
See the links below for blog posts I published on March 14:
- 2023: Pressed Pork Belly
- 2022: Bacon And Leek Quiche
- 2021: The Last Days Of John Lennon
- 2018: Castleview Bed And Breakfast
- 2016: Cauliflower Relish
- 2014: Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream
- 2013: Wasabi
- 2012: Pomegranate Restaurant
I love the idea of stuffing the leather with nuts Tandy!
Thank you Sherry 🙂