Pumpkin is a delight of autumn. Unfortunately very short lived...It is a versatile fruit and has many uses. However making its availability throughout the year or during other seasons is limited...One foolproof and favorite ways to process pumpkin is by turning them into fruit leathers.

THIS INCREASES THE SHELF LIFE NO DOUBT BUT IS ALSO SPACE SAVING and not to mention the HEALTH factor

Rolled up and dry they make Healthy snacks be it on backpacker tours, picnics or school boxes.

I spice the fruit leather before dehydrating so that it can be enjoyed JUST LIKE THAT!

However the benefit of it is that it can be rehydrated anytime to give you a pumpkin puree(100% taste however the texture is a bit gluey)

I do not own a dehydrator and hence use my oven to dehydrate the fruit rolls to make fruit leathers.

Step 1: Materials and Tools

500g of pumpkin (sugar pumpkin or any other fleshy one)

2 apples(I used Golden delicious)I use them to give a better texture to the otherwise brittle only pumpkin fruit leather.

1tsp pumpkin spice powder

OPTIONAL: 1 tsp sugar(i didn't use any but if the apples are too tart you might want to use it)

tools:

steamer

mixer

strainer

baking tray

waxed parchment paper

Step 2: Method

Peel, core and cut the apples

peel and cube the pumpkin roughly.

Put all the fruits together and steam them till soft.

Strain the fruit flesh from the water. You can use the strained water to make gelée or so.

We need just the fruit meat.

Put the fruit solid in a mixer/blender and puree it.

Add 1tsp of pumpkin spice powder.

Step 3: Dehydrating

Line the baking tray with parchment paper.

Pour the fruit puree on the paper.

Spread it out evenly with a spatula.

Place the tray in an oven and bake it at 70C for 6-8 hours.

I generally make these at night, by early morning they are nice and done.

But yet I do bake a little longer turning the sheet upside down.

How do I know that it is done:

This is a very important question, because even the littlest moisture is going to spoil the shelf life of the leathers.

When done, the leather leaves the parchment paper easily. However if the leather is thick at some spots it might still be moist there and might stick to the underlying paper. In this case lift off the whole sheet and turn it upside down exposing the moist side. Bake for a further 4-5 hours till you find no soft spots.

Step 4:

Once the sheet is completely dry cut the sheet in strips of around an inch.

Roll up each strip and firmly press to hold in place.

Store in air tight containers.

Eat them right away or if you want to use them in pies or other recipes which ask for pumpkin puree Rehydrate them by soaking each roll of leather in water just enough to cover it.

Enjoy The Pumpkin Spice leather this way or that way!