The easiest, simplest, and cleanest way to preserve apricots: fruit leather in the sun!

Fruit leather preserves the most important nutrients but removes the water so that the fruit can last much longer. Something about the drying process seems to make the sweetness of the fruit denser and more robust. It’s easy to pack fruit leather as a snack.

Some fruits are easy to make into leather, such as apricots and apples. Others can be added to an apple puree to make leather.

Every summer, the apricot trees get heavy with the gorgeous yellow, orange, and red globes of deliciousness. But there’s one problem! They all get ripe at the same time! How do you deal with that much ripe fruit all at once?

Solution: make fruit leather in the sun!

Tip: don’t eat it all yourself, all at once. Or you’ll be stuck in the bathroom!

Pros:

• Single ingredient. You really only need pureed fruit. Some other websites mention lemon juice, but I’ve found it unnecessary.
• No added sugar. The fruit is sweet enough on its own.
• Minimal tools and supplies. You only need a few tools (below) that most people have.
• You don’t need extensive supplies like canning equipment, water baths, jars, or sanitizing procedures. The sun does it all!
• Easy portable snack. Just take one roll of leather with you in a Ziploc bag.

What do you need?

• 8+ pounds of apricots.

You need a lot of fruit. At least 8 pounds. You’re going to make approximately 8 cups of puree, so that’s a lot of fruit. Either harvest it yourself, make friends with a local farmer, shop at your farmer’s market, or buy in bulk.

• Sunshine

Be sure to check the weather before attempting to make fruit leather this way. You’re going to need 8-12 hours of sunshine.

• Low humidity

The fruit leather will not dry sufficiently when the humidity is over 80-90%. This method works best in low humidity locations, like deserts or dry days.

• Blender

Any blender will do; I personally used a Blendtec blender. [This is an affiliate link–if you buy when you click on it I receive a small percentage. It doesn’t cost you any extra].

• Folding table

You need a large area for the fruit to dry. I use a card table and a folding table for my huge batches. My mother-in-law would use her trampoline with a large piece of plastic (at least a meter on each side).

• Plastic wrap

I used the plastic wrap from Costco, and unrolled pieces large enough to cover the length of the table. Then I’d pull another one out, overlapping the first one by about an inch.

Steps to make fruit leather:

1. Pick apricots (or buy)
2. Wash and slice or pull open to remove the pit.
3. Toss all apricots in a blender and fill to the top.
4. Blend until puréed smooth. Each Blendtec blender contains about 4 cups of finished puree. You need 8 cups of puree to cover a folding table.
5. Set a folding table out in a sunny spot.
6. Cover folding table with plastic wrap. Or use a large piece of plastic on a trampoline.
7. Pour apricot purée on plastic.
8. Spread purée into a layer about 1/4 inch thick using a spatula.
9. Leave in sun for 8-12 hours.
10. Test for done-ness to see if it’s dry.
11. Roll up the leather like wrapping paper.
12. Cut roll into 1 inch slices.

Enjoy!

Super Food for People on Prednisone

Apricot is a super food for people on prednisone. It is high in potassium which prednisone is stealing. Apricots are one of the best sources for potassium according to the United States Office of Dietary Supplements, with a whopping 1,101 mg per serving! Dried apricots or apricot fruit leather are a great snack for people on prednisone. Not only are they highly nutritious, but it’s a good way to get your sweet fix without any added sugars.

Check out this post on my Instagram account!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Easiest, simplest, cleanest way to preserve apricots: fruit leather! (Swipe for more pics) 1. Pick apricots (or buy) 2. Wash and slice or pull open to remove the pit. 3. Toss all apricots in a blender and fill to the top. 4. Blend until puréed smooth. 5. Set a card table out in a sunny spot. 6. Cover card table with plastic wrap. Or use a large piece of plastic on a trampoline. 7. Pour apricot purée on plastic. 8. Leave in sun for 8-12 hours. 9. Test for doneness to see if it’s dry. 10. Roll up the leather like wrapping paper. 11. Cut roll into 1 inch slices. Enjoy! Apricot is a superfood for people on prednisone. It is high in potassium which prednisone is stealing. #nutrientdensity #nutrientdepletion #prednisone #apricot

A post shared by Dr. Megan (@prednisonepharmacist) on Jul 2, 2019 at 3:53pm PDT

But what about the bugs?

Surprisingly, even though there is pureed sticky, sweet fruit out in nature, the bugs don’t get stuck in it. They might be attracted to the smell and try to land near there, but the heat of the drying fruit repels them once they get too close. Even if they do land, the heat from the drying process kills off the minimal residue. Also, you can flick them away on the rare occasion they get stuck.

What if I don’t live in a low humidity, sunny place?

You can also do this in the oven, at low temperatures (~200 degrees F) for several hours on cookie sheet pans. Check on it every few hours to make sure you don’t bake it too much! Or even buy a dehydrator. I tried it once using my Sun Oven, but it trapped too much of the moisture.

How do I store it?

I roll up the sheet of fruit leather like wrapping paper. Then I cut that into 1-inch wide rolls. You can put those rolls into a gallon Ziploc bag, and store it room temperature for about a week, or longer in the refrigerator or freezer. My family likes it pulled straight from the freezer since it crunches like candy.