Hawthorn Berry Fruit Leather

[bushcraftbob]

Are there any tutorials on making the fruit leather from hawthorn berries?

I had a crack at it yesterday, just off the back of watching RM do it on his latest wild food series.

After mushing them in a bowl and adding water to the mixture, i then sieved the "gloop" on to a baking tray, and put it in a very low oven to try and dry it (as there was no sun where i was).

The only trouble is, is hasnt gone hard, its still quite flexible and spongey to touch, will it carry on drying out?? I have tasted it and it tastes quite refreshing, not a strong flavour but just pleasant and mildly fruity and cleanses the palate quite well.

Anyone else had a dabble at this??

[Mang]

Are the Hawthorns near you in good nick? maybe this has a bearing? I like eating them as they are but the ones near us are, on the whole, a bit dry this year.

[BushVen]

Nice to hear your've had a go at the hawthorn leather. I think you will find that you need to dry the 'leather' for a longer period of time, it can take up to 12 hours depending on how much water was used, the surface area / thickness and the temperature. It's best to do this slowly as you don't want to bake, only dry.
I tried this several years ago and dryed the hawthorn leather over 2 days, as you said its a bit bland, but thats the case with many wild foods.
All the best of luck and be patient.

[bushcraftbob]

yes the berries were pretty good, quite large and still relatively ripe for this time of year.

The mixture was spread about 3-4mm thick so hopefully will dry out and go hard. although its quite nice to have a bit of chew to it, but will it stay preserved soft, or does it need to be hard to be able to keep it for say, 6 months??

[Mang]

I can't recall Raymondo doing the leather but maybe overnight in an airing cupboard may help?

[Shewie]

A pal of mine made some a few weeks back and it`s been drying out in his kitchen since, I had a look at it on Saturday and it looked to be going mouldy. I have a suspicion the window sill where it is sat maybe gets a bit of condensation and the moisture is what`s going off. I had a little nibble but I`m not that keen to be honest.



Rich