Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 281 kcal | 80 kcal |
| Protein | 6.2 g | 1.7 g |
| Fat | 2.6 g | 0.7 g |
| saturated | 0.2 g | 0 g |
| Carbohydrate | 50.1 g | 14.2 g |
| sugars | 43.1 g | 12.2 g |
| Fibre | 17.6 g | 5 g |
| Sodium | 9 mg | 2 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 1.1 kg strawberries
Instructions
- Small berries beat large ones here. A big hollow-centred strawberry is mostly water and dries to a papery shell, while a small dense one keeps some fruit in it.
- Wash them before hulling, never after. A hulled berry takes water in through the cut, and you will be drying that as well as the fruit.
- Cut away the green and the pale core beneath it. That core stays hard and sour however long the machine runs.
- Slice at 3 mm — lengthways through the point for the familiar heart shapes, or crossways for rounds.
- Space the slices a thumb apart on the trays. Strawberry juice is sticky with sugar and any two pieces in contact will fuse into one.
- Dry at 57 °C for 11 hours. Start testing once the slices have shrunk to about half their width and the red has darkened.
- A finished slice is light and crisp and snaps. One that is still pliable at the centre is holding sugar syrup rather than plain water, and syrup is what ferments in a closed jar.
- Cool them spread out, then condition in a loosely closed jar for a week, shaking it each day and watching the inside of the glass. Misting sends them back to the trays.
- Sealed and kept dark they hold a year. The colour fades a long way before the flavour does, so a dark cupboard is worth considerably more than a pretty shelf.
