Plum Fruit Leather
Plum jam? Check. Made two batches.
Plum sauce, to use on chicken or ribs? Check. Made the delicious recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.
And still . . . a tree full of plums.
Seriously.
So today's project? Plum fruit leather. You just pit the little suckers, pop 'em in a saucepan with a bit of sugar (about 2 T. per each cup of plums), smash them up a bit with a potato masher, and cook over medium heat until mixture is just about boiling. Then, in batches, puree in a blender until mixture is smooth. If you want, at this point you can put the pulp through a fine wire strainer for extra smoothness.
Now tape plastic wrap onto a cookie sheet and pour the puree onto the wrap -- it should be about 1/4-inch thick.
Cover plum puree with cheesecloth, clipping it tight with clothespins, and set outside in the sun. I'll bring this in tonight so the critters don't get it, and set it out again tomorrow. According to the Sunset Cook Book of Favorite Recipes II, where I got this recipe, it should take 20 to 24 hours to dry."When fruit is firm to touch, try peeling fruit sheet off plastic (fruit is sufficiently dry when whole sheet can be pulled off plastic with no puree adhering . . .)" Sunset also says that after you roll them up and seal them in plastic, you can refrigerate for four months or freeze for up to a year.
Can't wait.
If this turns out to be wonderful, I know what I'll be doing for the next few days.
Anyone else inundated with summertime fruit? What are you making?