WV Culinary Team: Fruit leather rolls up flavor in a portable snack

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If you’re a ’90s kid like me, your first exposure to "fruit leather" may have come in the form of the brightly colored Fruit Roll-Ups.

The General Mills snack hit grocery stores in 1983, and it came in the form of a flat sheet rolled up with a cellophane backing. Sometimes they featured shapes that could be punched out or tattoos that could transfer to your tongue. Also of note are the sister snacks: Fruit by the Foot and Gushers.

These sweet, fruity snacks are derived from a more natural version called fruit leather. Fruit leather is a chewy, dried fruit product that is made from pouring puréed fruit onto a flat surface and allowing it to dry. It likely originated in the Middle East but has been found in various forms across the world.

The preserved fruit snack allows for fresh fruits to be enjoyed months later — especially important for those who have historically lived in Appalachia and experienced harsh winter seasons when fresh fruit was scarce.

Appalachia's diverse climate allows for the growth of a wide variety of fruit — like apples, peaches and berries — which can be made into fruit leather. It can be made using traditional methods or modern dehydrators and can be flavored with a wide variety of fruits, spices and sweeteners.

The healthy and nutritious snack has a long history in the region and continues to be a popular snack today. And many of the same reasons that made fruit leather popular in the region historically are reasons it remains popular today: It's made with easy-to-find ingredients, it's versatile and it is the perfect snack to take hiking or on road trips because it is preserved and doesn't require refrigeration.

It's just a bonus that fruit leather has a historical connection to Appalachia. Using local foraged or farmed fruits can strengthen that connection and provide a tie to the land. Whether you use a Golden Delicious apple or peaches from your back yard, fruit leather can give you a taste of home — all year round.

Candace Nelson is a marketing professional living in Charleston. She is the author of the book "The West Virginia Pepperoni Roll," from WVU Press. In her free time, Nelson blogs about Appalachian food culture at CandaceLately.com. Find her on Twitter at @Candace07 or email [email protected].

This recipe, based on one from Food Network Kitchen in Food Network Magazine, allows you to mix and match whichever fruits you like. You can recreate some of your favorite flavor combinations or keep it simple and straightforward. Here are some options to get you started:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds your choice of chopped fruit (ripe or slightly overripe works best)

3/4 cup sugar

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Rinse or scrub fruit; remove blemishes and peel fruits that need to be. Remove seeds, pits and cores.

Combine the fruit and sugar in a blender. Add the lemon juice to taste and puree until smooth.

Transfer the pureed fruit to a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally at first and then more often toward the end, until most of the liquid evaporates and the mixture is very thick, 35 to 45 minutes. Be careful that the mixture doesn't splatter.

Line a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with a silicone mat or nonstick foil. Use a spatula to spread the fruit purée into a thin layer. Bake until barely tacky, 3 to 3 1/2 hours.

Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and let the fruit leather cool completely. Peel off of the mat or foil. Lay the leather smooth-side down on a sheet of wax paper and use kitchen shears to cut it into strips on the paper. Roll up the strips and store in zip-top bags for up to a week.