Raw Fruit Preserves

Flexible recipe for any fruit you wish to make into a spreadable jelly/preserve. Adapted from Carol Alt’s Raw 50. This is very simple, but I added it because I didn’t see any other preserve recipes here and it is great for PB & J sandwiches or for breakfast or anything else you would normally use jelly for.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups fruit of choice
  • 1 tablespoon agave nectar, optional
  • H2O

Preparation

Process the fruit (I used strawberries) in a food processor for about 3 minutes or until completly smooth. Make sure to remove any seeds if you are using anything like apricots that has a pit. This is great for any type of berry like blueberries or raspberries. Spread thinly onto a Teflex dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 115 degrees for about 10 hours or until you get a fruit leather. (Hint: You could stop and tear into strips at this point and have fruit roll-ups!) When it is fully dehydrated, submurge in water and allow it to re-hydrate for about an hour. Drain well, then back into the processor. Add in the agave at this point if you desire to sweeten a bit. Process until smooth, transfer to a glass jar, and refridgerate for at least 30 minutes. This just helps it firm up some and makes it a bit more spreadable. Enjoy on raw breads, crackers, or whatever else you can come up with.

Comments

User_thumb

jparamax writes: (May 13, 2008)

Does it matter how much water you use during the “submerge”?

Rachel_flower1s_thumb

rawrach writes: (May 13, 2008)

Just use enough to cover it in a shallow dish. It won’t hurt it if you use more, but it may just be harder to drain.

Largealmy_thumb

queenfluff writes: (May 13, 2008)

I just wondering why the dehyration part is needed. What does it do for this recipe? Make it more flavorful or sweeter? Wouldn’t you have a pretty tasty jelly just doing the first blending step and adding the agave then?

Sand_thumb

harmonylia writes: (May 13, 2008)

I think the dehydration intesifies the fructose concentration and makes it more jam like than just a fruit spread. That’s just and opinion.

Rachel_flower1s_thumb

rawrach writes: (May 15, 2008)

I think you could skip the dehydration part if you wanted, it would just be a bit thinner. at least when I did it with strawberries it was quite watery after pureeing it, but if you refrigerated it at that point it might firm up some. I know it does seem redundant since you re-hydrate it anyways, but harmonlia has the right idea, I think.

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