Serviceberry Maple Fruit Leather
Wild serviceberries cooked down with maple syrup and dried flat. Seeds and all.
- calories
- 110
- weight
- 1.2 oz
- cal / oz
- 92
- protein
- 1 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 25 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Day hike
- Bikepacking
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Serviceberries | 4 cups | juneberries, saskatoons, same fruit |
|---|---|---|
| Maple syrup | 1/4 cup | sugar for the set, water for the spread |
| Kosher salt | a pinch |
Method
- At home: put the berries, syrup, and salt in a pot over low heat. Cook until the skins collapse and the whole thing goes jammy, about 15 minutes.
- Blend or mash to a coarse puree. Leave the seeds in. They are structure, not a defect.
- Spread it about 1/8 inch thick on dehydrator sheets or parchment. An offset spatula gets it even, and even is the whole game.
- Dry at 135F for 6 to 8 hours, or the lowest oven setting with the door cracked. Pull it when it is tacky and peels clean, not when it snaps.
- Cut into strips, roll each one in parchment, and bag them.
Serviceberries do something most fruit leather fruit does not: the seeds set the sheet. They are small and soft, closer to sesame than raspberry, and they hold the puree together as it dries. Straining them out gives you a thinner, floppier leather that tears in the pack. Leave them.
The maple is not only sweetener. Sugar pulls water out and keeps the finished strips stable at ambient temperature for months, which is the reason this travels at all. The syrup’s own water also loosens the puree enough to spread thin and evenly, and thickness is what decides whether it dries in six hours or stays gummy in the middle. Under-dry slightly rather than over-dry; a brittle leather shatters into crumbs at the bottom of a food bag.
Packing
Rolled in parchment so the strips do not weld together in a warm pack. A quart bag holds a week of snacks.
Variations
- Blueberries stretch a thin serviceberry harvest without changing the texture much.
- A splash of lemon juice sharpens fruit that came in flat and overripe.
https://foragerchef.com/serviceberry-maple-leather