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How to Make Apple and Blackberry Fruit Leather

apple-blackberry-fruit-leather

The one thing I miss most when backpacking for long periods is fresh fruit and vegetables. There are only so many rations of noodles, dehydrated meals and couscous I can take before I start longing for an apple and a plate of roasted veg. Or fresh blueberries. Mmmm…

My saviour in these times of need? Fruit leather. The sweet, sharp taste of real fruit in a neatly packaged, long-lasting roll. And they’re not just for backpacking – these make great snacks for kids or help grown-up kids get through a dull afternoon at the office. What’s more, they’re vegan and gluten-free.

If you live in the UK, you’ve probably noticed the brightly coloured packs of Bear Yo Yos in the snack aisle. If you’re based in the U.S. there’s a useful list of fruit leathers here. But if you’re anything like me, the price of these goodies are sometimes enough to make you wince. The good news is, they’re super easy to make at home. So if you’ve got a glut of fruit that you don’t know what to do with, read on to find out how to make your own home-made fruit leather.

apple-blackberry-fruit-leathe

What fruit to use?

You can make fruit leather out of pretty much any fruit you like! I happened to have a bag of frozen apple slices and some blackberries left over from last year’s harvest so I chose to go with this classic combination. Depending on the season, you could try some of these fun flavours:

Rhubarb and ginger
Mango and pineapple
Strawberry and vanilla
Wild blueberry
Raspberry and banana

The fruit you use will determine how much sugar or other sweetener you need to add. As the apples I had were quite sharp, I used a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar. Alternatively, you could use honey or agave syrup to sweeten the leather. If you’re using a sweet fruit, such as banana, you may not need to sweeten it at all.

apple-blackberry-leather-ingredients

Oven vs dehydrator?

Many fruit leather recipes recommend using a dehydrator to dry out the fruit paste and if you’re planning on making a lot of fruit leather then it may be a worthwhile investment. But if you’re making a one-off batch it’s just as easy in the oven. As we don’t have a dehydrator (yet!) the oven was the only option for me.

apple-blackberry-leather-puree

apple-blackberry-leather

Apple and Blackberry Leather recipe

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 4 – 10 hours (depending on thickness)

Ingredients:
3 cups (300g) diced apples
2 cups (200g) blackberries
2tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:

Place all the ingredients in a heavy-based saucepan and heat gently for around 20-30 minutes until the fruit has broken down into a thick mush.
While the fruit is cooking, line a baking tray with baking parchment or a silicone liner.
Let the fruit cool slightly then blitz in a food processor or blender to get rid of any lumps.
Sieve the pulp mixture onto the lined baking tray and use a spatula to spread it out – it should be no thicker than a pound coin. The thicker it is, the chewier it will end up. I went for a thinner option spread over two baking trays which ended up crispier. You can also skip the sieving if you don’t mind blackberry seeds in your fruit leather.
Place your tray in the oven and set it to 80°C / fan 60°C / gas mark 1/4. Leave the leather to dry out until it is slightly tacky. If you have very thin leather (like me) this will take around 4-5 hours. If you’ve opted for thicker leather this could take up to ten hours.
Cut the fruit leather into strips and roll up into coils. You can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month, or pop them in the freezer ready for your next backpacking trip!

Why We Should All Support Paralympic Sport

Runners at the Paralympic Games, London

Living in London during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was an incredible experience. I bought and begged tickets to as many events as I was able to attend. And I will hold my hands up and admit that, until that point, I hadn’t realised how incredible and fascinating Paralympic sport is.

London 2012 was a great moment for sport – perhaps the first time that the Paralympic Games received as much support and consideration as the Olympic Games. The achievements of Olympic and Paralympic athletes were celebrated equally.

It could have been a turning point in disabled sport, but sadly this equality hasn’t been reflected in the Rio 2016 Games. The last minute cuts to support the deliver of the Olympic Games and disappointingly low ticket sales made it seem doubtful at one point that the Paralympic Games would even go ahead. Fortunately, at the last minute the funding came through and many Paralympic athletes breathed a sigh of relief.

They may have saved the Games, but the very fact that the Paralympics was almost sacrificed for the Olympics, shows that we still have some way to go in putting our disabled and non-disabled athletes on an equal platform.

Why equality in sport matters

According to Sport England, a disabled person is half as likely to play sport as a non-disabled person. There are undoubtedly many reasons for this, but psychological barriers play a huge part. Not every disabled person wants to compete in the Paralympic Games, but when it comes to equality in sport, this should be led from the top.

Consider this. A non-disabled child watches the Olympics. They dream of one day running as fast as Usain Bolt, or are inspired to build the strength and tenacity to follow in Laura Trott’s golden footsteps.

A disabled child tries to watch their favourite Paralympic event. They’re told it’s not on TV, or they only get to see a short clip of the action. A clip where they see rows and rows of empty seats. They come away thinking that however hard they train and however good they are at their sport, the world is not interested in seeing them win. And if they feel they will always be second-rate, what kind of motivation is that to get into sport?

Provide opportunities, not just lessons

So how can we encourage more disabled people to get into sport and enjoy the outdoors? Perhaps the first thing we need to do is rethink our assumptions about what a disabled person can and can’t do.

In my experience, disabled people are incredibly adaptive. Take climbing as an example: a sport which most people would assume requires four functioning limbs. In the UK alone we have Jamie Andrew, a quadruptle amputee who is an active climber and mountaineer, Kev Shields, an epileptic with a partially deformed hand who is arguably one of Scotland’s best climbers (who needs fingers to climb E7?) and a two-time World Para Climbing Champion in Fran Brown. These are just a few of the disabled people who enjoy this sport.

Sometimes people don’t need to be shown how to do something, they just need to be given the opportunity to experience it and they’ll figure it out for themselves. This is especially true for children. Part of being a child is experiencing new things and learning new skills and techniques. Encouraging all children, regardless of disability to play outdoors and try out different sports will help them grow, develop and work out where their future path lies.

So in this Paralympic year, let’s cheer on our sporting stars, demand more equality in sport and show our children that they all have the potential to become champions. And more importantly, let’s give our disabled children all the opportunities their non-disabled counterparts get. Take them outdoors. Let them try different sports and work out for themselves how they can achieve their goals.