Saturday, May 10, 2008

Tasty Tools Event: Homemade Fruit Roll Ups



It's fate that this month's Tasty Tools event is The Mighty Blender. I've had this recipe bookmarked since I first saw it in the May issue of Gourmet, and it just happens to utilize a blender! And I mean, come on....who doesn't LOVE Fruit Roll Ups?!?!



So, a few tips on making this yummy, sticky-fingered treat:

  1. You can use parchment paper in place of the Silpat. You'll yield a less bumpy result with the Silpat, but not everyone has one, so use what ya got!
  2. I used a bit less sugar than the original recipe called for. It definitely depends on the strawberries you can get. I happened to find some that tasted as though they had been injected with sugar, so I cut the 3/4 cup down to a heaping 1/2 cup.

1 1/2 pounds strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

Purée strawberries with sugar in a blender until smooth, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large heavy saucepan. (Note: I skipped the straining step accidentally, and it came out fine.)

Bring purée to a boil, then simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally (more frequently toward end), until thick enough to mound slightly, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 200°F with rack in middle. Line a large baking sheet with nonstick liner (either Silpat or parchment paper).

Pour hot purée onto liner and spread thinly (as evenly as possible) into a 15- by 10-inch rectangle using spatula. Dry purée in oven until it feels drier (it shouldn't stick to your fingers) but is still slightly tacky, about 2 hours.

Cool on liner on a rack until completely dry, at least 3 hours and up to 24. (Note: Mine was cool in about 30 minutes!)

Place a sheet of parchment paper over leather, then peel leather off liner and roll up in parchment.

Yields 8 snack servings.

WW info:
1 point per serving

10 comments:

Sarah said...

Wow! I'm impressed. I would have never thought to make my own fruit roll-ups.

Maryanna said...

Sounds good.

Anonymous said...

How fun! I have an abundance of strawberries that I never really know what to do with. Maybe I'll give this a try. Thanks!

Beatrice said...

What a great idea! Strawberry sounds luscious, but I'm wondering if this would work with other fruits, too. (Watermelon-lime?)

Anonymous said...

I have not seen these in years - homemade that is. My mom use to make!

Stef said...

How cool! I've never seen homemade fruit rollups!

crunchLin said...

AHH! how creative! that looks so good!

Unknown said...

Great idea. I was looking for a way to use up the pureed fruit I have in the freezer that my baby refuses to eat (doesn't want to be spoon -fed anymore). Think I'll try this.

Dominique said...

In the oven now, can't wait to try them out on my kids. If they like them, I'll be selling them at the school bake sell. These are a totally new concept in The Netherlands, where they don't have fruit roll ups. I wonder if they'll take...

Amber said...

Very impressive! I didn't even know this was possible! I thought they just came from the land of fruit roll ups...yours are very cool. I will def have to try this one with my kiddos.