Eating a yoyo or fruit winder is the only way that my son will eat berries. It's a sensory issue for him rather than the taste. I'm not happy about the waste that these products create so I wanted to make my own version especially whilst there's lots of free fruit around for the picking.

This recipe takes quite a long time due to the low temperature it's baked at. you are basically dehydrating the fruit. They also come out thinner and more chewy than a shop bought yoyo but they are very tasty.

I personally wouldn't recommend them for under 2 years.Also ensure that you keep serving and eating the whole berries in their natural form as much as you can.

home-made-fruit-leather

200g Blackberries and/or Raspberries (frozen is also good)

1 apple peeled, cored and chopped

1 pear peeled, top and bottom removed, chopped

squeeze of lemon juice

Pop all the fruit into a blender and blend until it's a smooth puree. If your little one is averse to the seeds, strain the puree at this point but just try to remove the larger seeds and not all the fibre.

Pour the puree into a saucepan and simmer for around 30 minutes until reduced to a thicker consistency. Allow to cool a little before pouring the mixture onto a baking mat on a baking tray. Place the tray in the oven at 120 degrees for around 2 hours or until the baked puree is dry and not tacky to the touch.

Check on the fruit after half an hour or so to check the edges aren't browning. If they start to discolour reduce the heat to 100 degrees.

After 2 hours turn the oven off and leave the tray in the oven for a while longer if the fruit sheet doesn't come away easily from the mat. Flip the fruit sheet and baking mat over and attempt to peel the whole mat off the fruit carefully. If it sticks, pop it back in the oven for a bit longer.

Roll up the sheet of fruit and cut up. I used scissors as I found it gave a cleaner cut than a knife.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 22, 2019 — Suzanne Moore

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