An old fashioned way of preserving fruit; basically just make a thick puree and then dry it in a thin layer on baking parchment in a very low oven (bottom of the Aga). No sugar, easy peasy, and the result is a surprisingly delicious chewey snack.
Once dried, and the malleable layer of fruit peeled off the paper, it (and the paper) looked like a wonderful jewelled stained glass window! Then I just cut strips with scissors, rolled them up and stored in a glass container. Delicious.
dried out ready to peel
ready to snack
Huerto 
Brilliant. Will this work in a gas oven, I wonder. And will it work with apples, which have a high water content?
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Thanks Ashen. I’m sure it would work in a gas oven – at lowest setting. Takes up to 12 hours to dry out. I used a mix of blackberries and windfall apples to a proportion of about 1:4 in weight, so mostly apples – just what I had from my foraging. I’m sure you can find a handful of blackberries in local hedgerows or churchyard to add to your lovely apples, though I don’t see why it wouldn’t work with just apples. You don’t need to peel or anything as the apple pips etc. help with setting – just push the cooked down pulp through a fine sieve.
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I’m really interested in the old style methods so I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of this before but now I’ve seen what you have done I’ve made a mental note for my girls to take to school for snack. You’ve made my day. The brambles might to too sour but ‘I’m going to give it a go once they’re ready to be foraged. Thanks so much!
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Thank you! I’m so glad you found this idea. I was delighted by how easy and delicious this method is – and honestly not sour at all surprisingly (I used windfall eating apples). Hope your girls enjoy your results too!
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