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| Strawberry flavored Organic Red Pear & Rhubarb fruit leather |
I'm going to share with you my recipe for Strawberry flavored Rhubarb and Red Pear fruit leather. This is a hit with patients who are looking for something different and even a little healthy to eat as a medible. Because this recipe contains rhubarb as one of the main ingredients I have added some additional sugar to counteract the tartness found in the rhubarb. Don't worry though, if you want to convert this you can easily substitute any fruit in the amounts listed in the recipe. If you use a sweet fruit in season you may leave the sugar out entirely or you can reduce it to taste. You may also substitute any desired sweetener for your dietary needs. While fruit leather may sound daunting or complicated it's actually quite simple to make. Let's get started!
What you will need:
- A large stock pan
- 2 greased cookie sheets with sides
- a blender (I like the stick type blender but you can use a counter top unit as well)
- 2 Cups of coarsely chopped Rhubarb
- 2 Cups of coarsely chopped Red D'anjo Pear with peel on
- 1 1/3 Cup of water
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar ( add more or less to suit your taste)
- 1 package strawberry flavor kool-aid (unsweetened)
- 2.5 grams of decarboxylated kief (or add more or less for desired potency)
- parchment paper for wrapping
- kitchen shears
- zip lock bags or other airtight container for storage
Instructions:
- In your stock pot combine the rhubarb, pears, water and sugar. Place on stove top on medium heat. Heat to a simmer stirring occasionally. Cook for approximately 15-20 minutes or until your rhubarb is softened.
- Use your stick blender to process the contents of the pot into a nice puree constancy. If you don't have a stick blender (immersion blender), pour the contents into your counter-top blender or food processor and pulse until you achieve a puree texture.
- Add to your mixture 1 packet of strawberry flavored unsweetened kool-aid and your decarboxylated kief.
- Again using your stick blender or counter top model pulse until everything is well blended.
- Divide your mixture into 2 equal 1/2s. Pour 1/2 of the mixture onto each of your greased cookie sheets. Spread until it's evenly distributed on each sheet.
- Set your oven to 170F (or your oven lowest setting).
- Place the pans in your oven. Use a wooden spoon to keep the oven door a little bit gaped. This will allow the moisture to leave the oven as your fruit mixture dehydrates.
- Now we wait. I found the mixture takes anywhere from 6-12 hours to dehydrate in the oven. You can check if it is done by attempting to peel up a corner of the fruit leather. When it's done the leather will easily peel up.
- Once you've achieved the desired texture, remove the sheet pans from the oven and allow it to cool on your counter.
- When your mixture has cooled completely, score all around the edges of your sheet with a sharp knife.
- Tear off a piece of parchment paper approximately the same size as your cookie sheet. Place this paper over the top of your fruit leather and use your hands to rub out any trapped air bubbles in the paper
- Starting in the corner, peel up your paper and fruit leather. If you have scored the edges of your pan well you will be able to pull the whole sheet out in one big piece.
- place parchment side down on a clean work counter. Using a sharp pair of kitchen shears cut your leather and parchment into 18 evenly sized pieces. To prevent the scissors from sticking you can grease the blades with cooking oil or non stick spray.
- Place the cut leather pieces into individual zip-lock bags or stack them into an airtight container.
If dehydrated fully this leather can last for a very long time. Store in a cool and dry place. If you still have some moisture in your fruit leather you will want to store in an airtight container in your refrigerator.
** Variations for other fruits: Simply substitute the fresh chopped fruit of your choice. You can certainly use blends of fruit as well, just be sure that you have a total of 4 Cups of fresh chopped fruit. Reduce the amount of sugar to taste and then follow the same instructions above. Feel free to use an alternative sweetener such as maple syrup for this recipe. Also if you don't want an artificial color/flavor you can make this without the kool-aid. I mainly use the kool-aid flavoring when working with rhubarb because it mellows the sour/tart rhubarb flavor a bit. When making with berries and other fruit I just allow the flavor of the fruit to shine through and eliminate the kool-aid from the recipe.
**Do not substitute wax paper for parchment paper. The wax paper will absorb some moisture and become almost impossible to remove easily from the finished leather
**Alternative to cutting into rectangles you could use a cookie cutter to cut out fun shapes or you could cut out a long strip and roll it up to make a fruit roll-up
I hope you will enjoy this recipe. If you have any questions, just leave a comment below and I will get back to you with my best answer.
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No time to make your own? Come find me at the Patient Cannabis Exchange farmers market in Tacoma, WA every Sunday. I will have medicated fruit leathers along with a lot of other medible and topical medication options.
Stay well my friends!
