Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 303 kcal | 86 kcal |
| Protein | 1.5 g | 0.4 g |
| Fat | 0.6 g | 0.2 g |
| saturated | 0 g | 0 g |
| Carbohydrate | 72.7 g | 20.6 g |
| sugars | 70.9 g | 20.1 g |
| Fibre | 4.3 g | 1.2 g |
| Sodium | 3 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
- 3.6 kg fresh strawberries
- 1 (3-ounce/85g) package of strawberry gelatin
- 4 cups sugar, powdered (or honey/lemon juice mix; 1/4 cup each)
Instructions
- Choose berries that are firm and just short of fully ripe. A soft strawberry falls apart on the board at this thickness, and the juice it sheds takes the flavour with it.
- Hull them with the point of a knife rather than pulling the tops out. Pulling takes a plug of flesh with it and leaves a crater that fills with syrup.
- Cut 10 mm slices through the widest part of each berry. These are deliberately thick — thin slices dissolve into the coating instead of keeping a fruit centre.
- Lay the slices out before you season them, and work quickly once you start. Cut strawberry begins weeping within a minute, and the gelatin wants a damp surface rather than a wet one.
- Dust the gelatin and icing sugar over from a height instead of tipping it on. Height gives an even film; tipping gives patches where the powder cakes into lumps that never dissolve.
- Use a solid sheet, never mesh. The coating liquefies before it sets and it will run straight through an open tray onto whatever is below.
- Dehydrate at 57 °C for 4 hours. They pass through a stage of looking wet and glazed along the way, which is the gelatin melting, and it is not a sign anything has gone wrong.
- They are done when the outside is dry and slightly crunchy and the centre still chews. Let one cool before you decide, because gelatin is soft while it is warm and sets hard as it cools.
- Treat these as a fresh sweet rather than a preserve: a tin on the bench for four days, or the fridge for two weeks, with paper between the layers so they do not weld together.
