Homemade dried fruit makes an economical, healthy, and portable treat, and a nice gift, too. Since tradition says to eat fruit that comes from trees on Tu B’Shevat (15th day of the Jewish month of Shevat), why not give drying fruit a try?
You’ll need: fresh fruit, lemon juice, water, mixing bowl, baking sheets, clean dish towels, sharp knife and a regular oven.
Directions: Preheat your oven to 170 degrees (F.) on the BAKE setting. Wash fruit well. Prepare a mixing bowl with lemon juice and water. Use one tablespoon of juice per each cup of water.
Cut fruit into thin, uniform slices. Make the slices about three times thicker than you want the finished product to be. Each piece should be about the same size, to allow them to dry at the same rate. If you’re using a fruit with a lot of juice and a skin, like plums, leave the fruit whole. As you slice the fruit, drop the pieces into lemon water. Allow to soak for about 5 minutes.
Drain off the water and pat fruit dry with a clean dish cloth. Line baking sheets with clean, dry dishcloths. Don’t let cloth hang over, or it might catch fire on the oven coils. Lay fruit out, not touching, on the cloth. Put into oven and leave alone.
Start checking fruit in about 4 hours. Test by taking a taste. When fruit is chewy and dry, not crisp, it is ready. Allow to cool on cooking sheets and test again. Is it too moist? If so, put into oven for another hour or so. Depending on the fruit, and how thick it is cut, drying can take from four hours to all day. When fruit is dried and completely cooled, loosely cover with another clean dry cloth and set aside in a cool, dry place for a few hours or overnight. Store in an airtight container in a dry place.
Copyright 2009, Kathryn A. Frazier http://preciousholidays.wordpress.com
See also: Tu B’Shevat Celebration Ideas
Plant a Tree in Israel for Tu B’Shevat
Filed under: Crafts, Holidays, Judaism, Recipes, Tu B'Shevat Tagged: | celebration, holiday, Holidays, how-to, Jewish, recipe, Tu B'Shevat
