It's Hawthorn Fruit Leather Time :)

[Pioneer72]

I looked out at my Hawthorn tree yesterday, and seeing it was loaded with berries I thought to have another go at hawthorn fruit leather.
So I picked a load, de-stalked them, and set to it.

I made some a few years ago using the cold process squeezing out the goo per Ray and Gordon on Wild Food, but I didn't really yield much leather from the resulting goo, so this time I have opted for the stewed fruit method, and see how that goes. More 'kitchencraft' than bushcraft but hey-ho

The last lot was rather bland too, so I am adding a few flavours but not much - I still want hawthorn leather primarily.

The raw haw flesh this year seemed reasonably moist, and the taste definitely reminded me of eating the tiny young leaves in spring, and not tart/bitter.

Ingredients :
500 grams of de-stalked haws
2 apples
A generous glug of honey, about 100ml I guess.

Process :
I chopped up the apples to smaller bits
Add haws and apples to a big pan with 150ml of water
Medium-high heat with the lid on
Stir occasionally
When the water got low they started to stick so I added more water a splash at a time to keep it wet
The haws refused to split open even after 20 minutes, so I helped them by squishing them with a wooden spoon
(avoided crushing any seeds, don't want that in the mix - I think there are traces of cyanide in them)
Gently stewed the lumpy goo for about another 10 minutes

I then tried to put it through a sieve to refine my goo, but it was too dry and wouldn't part with a drop
So, back in the pan, more water and a bit more simmer for 10 mins. I added probably 500ml of water all told, which seemed a lot but I figured I could evaporate it back out in the drying phase.
Anyway, the wetter lumpy goo was then quite happy to be sieved, pressing it with my wooden spoon to squeeze out as much as possible.

In the back of this photo is the squeezed dry lumpy remnants, and the runnier goo in the small pan.

I then added the honey, and brought it slowly to a simmer stirring all the time.
It seemed to be thickening slightly, which I figured was a good thing

Set the fan oven at about 50C
I poured the refined goo into a baking tray, and spread it out. It was probably about 3 or 4mm thick over the whole tray.

In the oven to dry...

So all that ^ was last night

And this is this morning, after about 10 hours drying, I can peel up a corner :

It's still a bit stuck towards the middle of the tray, so I put it back in the oven and will have another look in a few hours.

So far so good

 

[Pioneer72]

Gave it a few more hours and now it peels right off the tray

Have now turned it over and left to dry/cool a bit more. Taste test later

 

[Mesquite]

Looks good to me

 

[redneck]

Good job looks well

 

[Dave]

Wow, well done. Will have to try that.

 

[Pioneer72]

Update : the surface is tending to be a bit sticky - I guess its the honey.

I have sliced it into strips, and half of it I have left out to further air dry, and the other half I rolled in icing sugar to reduce the sticky

It is nice and chewy to eat, it's a lot firmer that what I made last time.
Tastes very hawthorny, and to be honest the honey and apple don't really appear much in the flavour, so maybe need to review the flavouring for next time.
Not going to win any taste contests, but its quite palatable to munch on.

Anyway I'm really rather pleased with the results, and just gives more ideas for another try

One thing I will aim for next time is to spread it thinner, maybe over 2 trays, so it dries out faster.

 

[Lithril]

Good article, thanks for that. This has been on my list to try for a while now.

 

[Pioneer72]

Longer term update :

I think the honey may have been a mistake, as it is really rather sticky now, despite some being rolled in icing sugar, so it might not have a lot of shelf-life in preservation terms, which of course is the idea. Ho hum I will have to make some more and see if I can sweeten it without it going sticky, maybe just add other sweet fruits to the mix instead of honey.

In the meantime, to be honest it tastes so nice now it won't need to keep, as I will likely have scoffed the lot in a week

 

[Robson Valley]

Try a dusting of corn (maize) starch, not corn flour or corn meal. Corn starch grains don't hydrate as easily as any sugars
so you should see an edible but drier surface.

 

[scarfell]

Longer term update :

I think the honey may have been a mistake, as it is really rather sticky now, despite some being rolled in icing sugar, so it might not have a lot of shelf-life in preservation terms, which of course is the idea. Ho hum I will have to make some more and see if I can sweeten it without it going sticky, maybe just add other sweet fruits to the mix instead of honey.

In the meantime, to be honest it tastes so nice now it won't need to keep, as I will likely have scoffed the lot in a week

Honey itself is a preservative, has antibacterial properties, might not have such a short shelf life... be interested to hear how its doing if you keep some


Wanted to try this myself, but wasnt sure if the berries would survive the journey home (cant build fires in the areas it grows so cant prep it on site)