Homemade Apple And Raspberry Fruit Leather - apples

Method

• - Peel and chop apples into small pieces. (no need to peel or chop.)
• - Place apples and raspberries (or any prepared fruits you prefer) into a large pot.
• - Pour in 1/2 cup water for every 4 cups fruit you add to the pot. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to lowest setting and simmer for about 5 minutes or until fruit has broken down and softened considerably.
• - Once fruit has softened, mash by hand with a potato masher until fruit mixture thickens. At this point, add lemon juice, spices and sugar to taste. If deciding to add sugar, go slowly with about a teaspoon at a time until you reach desired taste.
• - Continue to simmer on low heat for another 5 minutes, then transfer mixture to food processor and pulse until you get a really smooth pureed consistency.
• - Gently pour fruit puree onto parchment paper lined baking sheets, making sure the puree spreads evenly and thin at about 1/8 an inch thickness throughout the baking sheet (the thickness will go down a great deal during the drying process so don't worry if you think your spread looks too thick going in).
• - Place baking sheets in oven on the top racks at your oven's lowest heat setting - between 120 and 140 degrees if your oven will go that low. Now let sit and dry. We checked about every hour for 5 hours, then turned oven completely off and let sit inside overnight.
• - You'll know your leather is ready when it's still a little tacky to the touch but smooth and not clumping back up on your fingers - it should be sticky but firm. Once you think the leather is dry enough, try test peeling it back off the parchment paper. It should peel up freely and easily. If it begins to peel easily like this, stop there since you are ready!
• - Next, simply roll the parchment paper over itself to form a long roll and slice in even sections with a sharp knife to form each fruit rollup