Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 301 kcal | 85 kcal |
| Protein | 1.9 g | 0.5 g |
| Fat | 0.8 g | 0.2 g |
| saturated | 0.1 g | 0 g |
| Carbohydrate | 70.6 g | 20 g |
| sugars | 68.3 g | 19.4 g |
| Fibre | 5.5 g | 1.6 g |
| Sodium | 4 mg | 1 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
- 1.6 kg strawberries, hulled and chopped
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 jalapeno or serrano peppers, seeds removed
Instructions
- Taste the chilli before it goes anywhere near the blender — a sliver from the tip and another from the shoulder. Heat varies wildly between two peppers off the same plant, and this is a sheet you cannot correct once it is spread.
- Hull the strawberries with the point of a knife rather than slicing the tops off. The pale core under the crown is where much of the pectin sits, and pectin is what gives the leather its bend.
- Purée the fruit, sugar, lemon juice and deseeded pepper, then let the jug stand five minutes and stir the foam back in rather than skimming it. Strawberry foam carries colour and folds back without leaving holes.
- Spread the purée to 3 mm with an offset spatula, in long strokes all in one direction. Working back and forth drags ridges into the sheet, and a ridge is a thick spot.
- Dry at 60 °C for 7 hours. The sugar makes the rim darken noticeably before the centre is ready, which is a cue to start checking rather than a sign of trouble.
- Press a fingertip into the middle: it is done when the surface springs back dry and no colour comes away on your skin.
- Peel it off warm, cut it into strips with kitchen scissors, and wind each one up in baking paper. Sugar makes this leather grippier than a plain fruit one, and two bare strips left face to face become one.
- Rolls keep two months sealed in a cupboard jar. The chilli heat fades over that time where the strawberry does not, so the oldest rolls in the jar are the mildest.
